Science Fiction (sci-fi) often relates to stories that take place in the distant future and because of this, the genre heavily focuses on the elements of technology, innovation, change, growth, evolution, etc… It’s practically associated with the genre to include technological change and innovation. However, technology’s role and purpose in sci-fi books isn’t just to exist for the sake of existing, but rather exists for a symbolic purpose that helps to show something in the world and also helps to drive society and your plot forward. So, for today’s post, I’ll be discussing the importance of how technology impacts societies in sci-fi books and why you should consider these things when you go to write your own book.
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Technology Can Serve as a Catalyst for Change
Throughout history, it’s pretty observable that technology has been used as a catalyst and driver for change in society. For example, the printing press being introduced allowed for the dissemination of books, which made access to print material easier, allowing for people to have a reason to read more and thus boosting literacy in the population. This is a pretty big deal when it comes to change and shows how one little innovation can affect so many other things.
When it comes to your own story, you need to think about what sort of technological breakthroughs and changes have been/are being made and how these things will influence the society of your story. Additionally, you want to think about what ripple effects this breakthrough and if people will accept it, resist it, adopt it slowly, etc…
Technology Can Shape and Adapt to Cultures
Technology also impacts the way culture develops and how people respond to the world around them. There are people that will adopt technology that fits their cultural standards or they will at least try to develop technology that services them as a culture. For example, a culture that prioritizes individualism and efficiency might start creating technology that helps to make the work flow faster. A society that heavily relies on capitalistic thinking might try to create technological solutions to labor to make profits higher.
For people as well, technology’s use changes depending on the culture of the people in question. An example of this would be the smartphone. Some people use smartphones for work and productivity. Others use it to keep up with social connections. Some people just use them for gaming. It really depends on what sort of values, ethics, ideals, and more that a certain group has in order to adopt a certain piece of technology for their own reasons.
Creating New Ethical Dilemmas
One of the biggest issues that arises with technological developments and changes is the idea of ethical dilemmas that arise with innovation. For instance, the hot topic right now is AI and how it impacts people’s jobs, livelihoods, etc… Genetic engineering a few years back was a really big one in a lot of discussions and how it opens positive and negative doors like eugenics but also the ability to cure diseases.
A lot of sci-fi likes to look into the ethical dilemmas of how technology impacts societies and the sort of “what if” scenarios that come with those. For instance, what if there was technology that created cyborgs and enhanced people? How would this affect everyone? Would only some people afford it? Could it be used to create crime? These are some really interesting sorts of avenues you can take when you’re thinking about ethics and the way technology works in your world.
I explore ethics and technology a lot in my series, The Fallen Age Saga, because I feel like with the main character being a hacker, his role in society is literally an ethical dilemma and so this creates a great atmosphere to explore the other ideas of ethics in this story and how we apply ethics.
Economic Inequality May be More Apparent
The divide in technology is something that a lot of sci-fi stories like to analyze. It’s pretty factual to say that people with more wealth get first access to new innovations while everyone else is left behind and this is something that permeates as a theme in many sci-fi books.
Societies are inevitably impacted by this because there will be people who might have access to things that could really save lots of lives, but most people are barred due to their wealth or status in society.
The more technology changes, the more there are people who won’t be able to keep up, and this will inevitably create problems in society. Now, whether those problems are wide and sprawling or they are small and felt only on a microscale is up to you to decide in your story, but the way technology impacts economic inequality exists and is something you should consider for your own story.
Government Control and Surveillance
One of the biggest and most prominent themes in sci-fi when it comes to technology is authoritarian abuses of technology and how the government can utilize the tool for controlling the population. 1984 talks about this a lot and it’s one of the biggest themes of that book actually. Even my series, The Fallen Age Saga, delves a lot into this and in the general impacts of how technology exposes everyone to being vulnerable to bad faith actors. In fact, one of the earlier pages of the book, the main character discusses how technologically controlled worlds created new opportunities for him to exploit everything to his own benefit. This is also something that the government uses for their own benefit in the story.
For instance, surveillance systems: We know that they can help society because we can catch criminals faster. However, they can also be used to essentially keep tabs on anyone and anything, leading to privacy concerns.
In your world, does the government utilize technological advancements and innovations to abuse society? Does it use it to help society? This ties a bit into ethical dilemmas as well, so think about these types of things.
War and Conflict
Military sci-fi tends to be really good when it comes to showing how technology can impact societies in terms of warfare and how conflicts are fought. We are also seeing this in today’s world. Whereas back in World War I and II, a lot of trench warfare with face-to-face action was used. However, aviation also developed in that era and so we saw lots of fighter jets begin to develop. Today, there’s drone warfare, cyberattacks, and more. In the future, there may be space-based weaponry.
Technology changes war and that’s something that can be considered in your stories. For instance, in my series, The Fallen Age Saga, Book 2 talks a lot about technology and warfare and how soldiers are trained with simulations, how guns now communicate with helmets, and more. I recommend playing some games like Halo or Call of Duty where there are some military sci-fi themes and changes or even watching some movies that delve into technology and warfare so you can get a better idea about this.
Conclusion
When you go to create a society that heavily relies on technology or a society that is coming up in new technological innovations, you need to think about the way that it impacts that society, how it will impact that society, and how that society will ultimately change. I remember a world before smartphones and now look at the world today: Realistically, can we really imagine what it would be like to not have smartphones anymore? Practically everything we do is on a phone! That’s wild to think about because the smartphone was introduced in 2007. Laptops weren’t introduced all that long ago. These are small changes that have quite literally changed the landscape of the world.
Technology in sci-fi should not just be something brushed aside: We need to, as readers, see exactly how technology has changed society and how it continues to impact your society.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga, and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates on all my latest posts, WIPs, book releases and more!