The psychological origins of science fiction

Abstract

Science fiction has become very popular across all mediatic forms (e.g., in short stories, in novels, in movies, in TV series). The cultural success of this genre is both geographically widespread and rather recent in history. Although such observations seem consensual, many problems remain and are debated in science fiction study, notably (1) the defining characteristics of the genre, (2) the reasons for its late emergence, and (3) the interindividual variability of its appeal. Previous attempts to solve such puzzles focused on proximate How-questions (e.g., How did the genre emerge?). The article presents a contribution from cognitive and evolutionary sciences, which make it possible to ask Why-questions (e.g., Why did the genre emerge?). We hypothesize that science fiction, with its emphasis on new and innovative features (e.g., new civilizations, innovative technologies, futuristic worlds), appeals to the human desire for new abstract information. We review research in neuroscience, evolutionary psychology, and behavioral ecology, showing that some specialized biological mechanisms in human cognition prompt exploratory preferences for such information. We show that this hypothesis can explain (1) why science fiction works are perceived as homogenous and different from works of fiction of other genres, (2) why science fiction emerged and became culturally successful rather late in literary history, and (3) why the preference for science fiction varies across time, across space, and across individuals. We provide empirical testable predictions that should be tested in the future to confirm this hypothesis.