EVOLUTION AND SCIENCE FICTION
By Alex Ness
December 7, 2022
A CHANGING WORLD
I have tried in the entries on this blog to do more than share pics of groovy stuff, to interview groovy people, or to present comics that need to be collected in TPB form. My original goal, and a goal that still informs my writing, even if I occasionally lose my way, is to ask questions about the process of creation, the underlying messages of the created work, and to ask how society consumes product and will use the ideas inherent within. In recent days I've observed some events, societal trends, modern perspectives that are important enough as cultural messages that they should be considered for the potential within. These considerations are not meant to criticize them at all, nor nearly as much as discern the importance within. Also, please remember, there is an enormous difference between advocacy and analysis. I might be wrong, and I might not fully understand a trend or cultural moment, but I am not saying, it is wrong or right, unless I say that directly.
Leaders of human culture have most often replied to, or acted in response to events, rather than lead society and then comprehend future trends. They've no concept of the information that already exists that might inform them, and if they do, it hasn't had an impact upon their decision making. There is a concept in the field of history, that Conservatives react, Progressives act. This all might be accurate enough to be a trope or stereotypical concept, but there is more to it than just that. We often elect or are led by people who are ill equipped to lead, but not write and create laws. Leadership is not popularity, it is not morality, it is much closer to electing people who are able to perceive the trends, and lead a collective voice to create a change ahead of time, so that catastrophic flaws do not overwhelm us.
I am not a skeptic of Global Warming, but am skeptical of numerous aspects of the interpretation of data. Climate changes, it always has, so that we are warming I've no doubt, exactly why and what can be done about it, I have doubts. But beyond the stats and trends, most humans tend to make decisions that are influenced by their selfish nature, and they also find reasons for self doubt and cast blame, without an accurate picture of the subject. But now that we are in the dead center of the consequences of lack of action due to selfishness, we can't do anything to prevent the damage, nor do anything to change the momentum that leads to the catastrophes. If we are to change our path, we must change our ways, and we try to change the path in a manner of a tail wagging the dog. We live in a world that has information for use that we must understand or we will fail. So far, we have failed.
That society has risen and it has fallen, is for reasons we often mistake for evolution and change for negativity, when it is something we not only participate within but approve of, without our knowledge. We buy products or view entertainment that actually contribute to the momentum of that cultural product. I often swear when I speak, it is a vice perhaps, but there it is. But people I know who used to take issue with the words crap or poop, now use the phrase shit or shitting. People once horrified by the phrase Fuck now use it as a word in such a casual manner, it would seem they even like the phrase. That isn't to condemn them for doing so, however, it does reveal the methods and the ways that society and its forms of communication, such as social media, reduce our perceived boundaries for taste and civil behavior. And it show how this casual outlook on social media and popular culture creates a manner of communication that is based upon the lowest common denominator, rather than the past considerations of proper and civil dialogue.
I am aware that the term Transgender now has a cultural implication that is changing, as an ongoing definition of it has been transformed from one sort of meaning to another. The phrase is one that seems to mirror a change in culture regarding gender and orientation. Personally, I've seen the transgender experience to one requiring compassion rather than scorn, as there are known and proven differences in the minds of those who have the disorder. Additionally, it cannot be easy to endure, with our society having concrete assumptions and perceptions of gender and orientation, that to be seen as not fitting, or being composed of one form, but seeing one's self in quite another, would be close to impossible to deal with. But, I see it as a moment in society that means that we are changing our outlook from disgust and repulsion to acceptance, at best, and intolerance and rejection of the concepts that gender and orientation might be fluid, and determined by the person rather than the society, at worst. Acceptance will be needed, I think, since this along with my next topic, transgenderism is about a change that is growing, and perhaps might be a phase of evolution in process.
Incidents of Autism and Asperger's are rising at an enormous rate. The original view of Autism could be of a closed off mind, unable to deal with the sensory information of sound, sight, taste, or feeling. But a far more nuanced vision of the mind and behaviors of people on the scale of Neurodivergence has made the perceptions from the past obsolete, and rather more a stereotype without a reality to reflect. It used to be argued that there were environmental reasons, of toxins in the water sources, radiation from nuclear tests and atmospheric pollutants that were the direct cause of the mental changes that can be seen in the minds of those on the scale of Autism's scale. With the numbers rising and the awareness of many more kinds and depths of the condition, we might not be seeing a result of change, but the result of evolution. People have included other mental issues such as Attention Deficit Disorder, but, I've read specifically that ADD and/or ADHD might well be ancient in origin. They might well not even be disorders so much as having particular skill sets that doesn't work as well within the more urbanized modernity, such as that it becomes visible to those seeing the consequences of it in modern life.
Is difference and change always positive? Well no, of course. We have erasers on pencils for a reason, we make mistakes, and sometimes change is not good. There have been many examples where a change has resulted in a worse result than what might be considered otherwise. Sports is a realm where that is clear. Some owners of teams fire coaches and managers who had been the sole reason the team didn't completely deeply suck. Washington DC's football team changed head coaches as often as some change their air filter in their car. Otherwise, sometimes change happens due to a miscalculation, other times it involves a change in philosophies in whoever leads or guides a corporate entity and humans are not perfect, and change is not always a good thing.
On to other things: BATMAN AND SUPERMAN STORIES THAT NEVER HAPPENED
I've mentioned Elseworlds here before, and I think they are a fun way to enjoy characters you love in non canonical type stories. The reasons they work so well at DC is that the characters of DC are iconic, made from legends and not real persons. They don't reflect the average Joe, but a rich kid who lost his parents and could therefore fund a lifetime of revenge upon the criminals. Or an orphan from a distant planet that died, growing up to learn he had powers that normal humans could never have.
In THE DOOM THAT CAME TO GOTHAM DC Comics allows Batman to deal with and
fight horrors of HP Lovecraft's CTHULHU mythos. With cover art and
stories written by Mike Mignola of HELL BOY fame, there is a synergy
between the concepts of Lovecraft and those of the makers of the story
of Batman. It is a genius work.
While I like the darkness from Batman, Superman is more about watching how someone with massive power remains moral and heroic, while having the ability to do almost anything to those he deals with, and doesn't do the things we'd do in that same set of circumstances.
In Superman:War of the Worlds there is an irony ever present, as the
original story featured an invasion of Earth by Martians, an aggressive
alien culture, and Earth is defended by another alien. Superman:
Speeding Bullets switches origins with Kal El being raised by Bruce
Wayne's parents, and witnessing their murder, and becoming a vigilante,
with super powers. Superman: A Nation Divided, abolitionists in Kansas
discover Kal El and he becomes a warrior on the side of Anti Slavery,
changing the path of a nation at war with itself.
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