American vs. Chinese Sci-fi

The rise of Chinese science fiction, led by Cixin Lin and Hao Jingfang, has given me another perspective on how societies perceive the future.

Sci-fi, particularly that which is focused on solar system exploration, sits within the possible future but also requires a level of human effort in technology and exploration that has only been seen during times of great stress (i.e. world wars). So author have to credibly establish that humans have a motivation to push into space and weather the level of risk that space exploration engenders.

When I think about the types of scenarios presented by Western sci-fi (particularly Star Trek, Andy Weir’s Artemis and the Asimov robotics series that includes space travel), it is often economic and ‘light on the hill’ reasons. Economic, in that business see space as an opportunity for profit. I am unsure about how modern companies would navigate the risks and time frames associated with developing businesses that rely on space travel. I imagine it would be more like the trading vessels of the Dutch East India Company with shares in the spoils rather than a corporate finance structure with equity and debt. The economic scenario feel more like a Columbus expedition.

The second scenario is ‘we go to space, not because it is easy, but because it is hard’. The light on the hill and leading from the front are associated with American optimism. They want to project their strength because they can. I often feel with Star Trek that basic premise is that mankind was a destructive force until it discovered space travel which subsequently reformed them.

What is also striking about space travel development in the Western context is that it seems to rarely come at a high cost to the rest of the planet. Resources just appear and technologies are developed.

These scenarios feel distinct from the Chinese scenarios that I have read. Cixin Lin, author of the Dark Forest Trilogy and a number of short stories, sets up space exploration as a response to an external threat and the Earth has to impose rationing on the population to realize this exploration. People suffer in mines, extracting resources and technological development creates pollution. During the development phases of new technology in the Dark Forest Trilogy, there is a military junta type feel to the government as the society is bent towards a single purpose: survival.

Read the The Wandering Earth to see how Lin portray the damage to the planet and society from attempting to escape a major solar catastrophe. People don’t agree on what the right response is and there is indecision at the top of governments. There are riots and mob justice.

At a government level, western Sci-fi  often skates around democracy in space by emphasizing a meritocracy based on who is best. There are few under-achievers in Star Trek and societies in space are proposed to operate similarly to previous human societies.

In contrast, Lin proposes that as soon as humanity is free from its bond to earth, it will be free from many of its traditions and norms. If survival is paramount, anything will be permissible in its name. A much darker view of humans in space.