Misplaced Pages

#979020

67-665: SFF can refer to: Arts [ edit ] Initialism for "science (or speculative) fiction and fantasy"; see speculative fiction Sarajevo Film Festival , in Bosnia and Herzegovina Saraqusta Film Festival , in Spain Sydney Film Festival , in Australia sff, subito fortissimo , a dynamic marking in music Businesses and organizations [ edit ] Science Festival Foundation , organizers of

134-406: A "literature of ideas". Some science fiction authors construct a postulated history of the future called a " future history " that provides a common background for their fiction. Sometimes authors publish a timeline of events in their history, while other times the reader can reconstruct the order of the stories from information in the books. Some published works constitute "future history" in

201-536: A "no Martians " type of science fiction, "about things that really could happen." Speculative fiction is also used as a genre term that combines different ones into a single narrative or fictional world such as "science fiction, horror, fantasy...[and]...mystery". The Internet Speculative Fiction Database contains a broad list of different subtypes. According to publisher statistics, men outnumber women about two to one among English-language speculative fiction writers aiming for professional publication. However,

268-557: A Namibian paramilitary police unit Special Frontier Force , an Indian paramilitary special force Science and technology [ edit ] Small form factor PC , a desktop computer with minimal volume and footprint Standard flowgram format , a binary file format to encode results of pyrosequencing Sports [ edit ] Seychelles Football Federation Somali Football Federation Other uses [ edit ] Felts Field , an airport near Spokane, Washington, U.S., IATA airport code SFF Topics referred to by

335-476: A category ranges from ancient works to paradigm-changing and neotraditional works of the 21st century. Characteristics of speculative fiction have been recognized in older works whose authors' intentions , or in the social contexts of the stories they portray, are now known. For example, the ancient Greek dramatist, Euripides , ( c.  480  – c.  406 BCE ) whose play Medea seems to have offended Athenian audiences when he speculated that

402-446: A completely imaginary way or been followed by major new events that are completely imaginary (the genre of alternative history ). Or, it depicts impossible technology or technology that defies current scientific understandings or capabilities (the genre of science fiction ). Contrarily, realistic fiction involves a story whose basic setting (time and location in the world) is, in fact, real and whose events could believably happen in

469-473: A conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive personal attitudes and by extension is linked to more philanthropic behaviours. Pessimism as stated before is the opposite of optimism. It is the tendency to see, anticipate, or emphasize only bad or undesirable outcomes, results, or problems. The word originates in Latin from Pessimus meaning worst and Malus meaning bad and has

536-503: A critical eye. More generally, one can regard science fiction as a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology . Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theater, and other media. Science fiction differs from fantasy in that, within the context of the story, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically established or scientifically postulated laws of nature (though some elements in

603-454: A distinctive thrust towards rationalism and modernism through the use of advanced building materials. The ideals of futurism remain as significant components of modern Western culture ; the emphasis on youth, speed, power and technology finding expression in much of modern commercial cinema and commercial culture. Futurism has produced several reactions, including the 1980s-era literary genre of cyberpunk —which often treated technology with

670-510: A genre term has often been attributed to Robert A. Heinlein , who first used the term in an editorial in The Saturday Evening Post , 8 February 1947. In the article, Heinlein used "Speculative Fiction" as a synonym for "science fiction"; in a later piece, he explicitly stated that his use of the term did not include fantasy. However, though Heinlein may have come up with the term on his own, there are earlier citations:

737-582: A holistic or systemic view based on insights from a range of different disciplines. Third, futures studies challenges and unpacks the assumptions behind dominant and contending views of the future. The future thus is not empty but fraught with hidden assumptions. Futures studies do not generally include the work of economists who forecast movements of interest rates over the next business cycle, or of managers or investors with short-term time horizons. Most strategic planning, which develops operational plans for preferred futures with time horizons of one to three years,

SECTION 10

#1732776488980

804-406: A life after death. Members of some generally non-theistic religions such as Buddhism , tend to believe in an afterlife like reincarnation but without reference to God . Agnostics generally hold the position that like the existence of God, the existence of supernatural phenomena, such as souls or life after death, is unverifiable and therefore unknowable. Many religions, whether they believe in

871-443: A link to misanthropic belief systems. Religions consider the future when they address issues such as karma , life after death , and eschatologies which consider what the end of time and the end of the world will be like. In religion, major prophets are said to have the power to change the future. Common religious figures have claimed to see into the future, such as minor prophets and diviners . The term "afterlife" refers to

938-400: A more literal sense—i.e., stories or whole books written in the style of a history book but describing events in the future. Examples include H.G. Wells ' The Shape of Things to Come (1933)—written in the form of a history book published in the year 2106 and in the manner of a real history book with numerous footnotes and references to the works of (mostly fictitious) prominent historians of

1005-605: A piece in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1889 used the term in reference to Edward Bellamy 's Looking Backward : 2000–1887 and other works; and one in the May 1900 issue of The Bookman said that John Uri Lloyd 's Etidorhpa , The End of the Earth had "created a great deal of discussion among people interested in speculative fiction". A variation on this term is "speculative literature". The use of "speculative fiction" in

1072-475: A specific time in the future, and actions described by the future perfect continuous tense are expected to be continuing as of a specific time in the future. "The trouble with the future is that it's so much less knowable than the past."   John Lewis Gaddis , The Landscape of History . The linear view of time (common in Western thought ) draws a stronger distinction between past and future than does

1139-406: A story might still be pure imaginative speculation). Settings may include the future, or alternative time-lines, and stories may depict new or speculative scientific principles (such as time travel or psionics ), or new technology (such as nanotechnology , faster-than-light travel or robots ). Exploring the consequences of such differences is the traditional purpose of science fiction, making it

1206-583: Is a part of theology and philosophy concerned with the final events in the Human history , or the ultimate destiny of humanity , commonly referred to as the end of the world. While in mysticism the phrase refers metaphorically to the end of ordinary reality and reunion with the Divine, in many traditional religions it is taught as an actual future event prophesied in sacred texts or folklore . More broadly, eschatology may encompass related concepts such as

1273-427: Is also not considered futures. But plans and strategies with longer time horizons that specifically attempt to anticipate and be robust to possible future events, are part of a major subdiscipline of futures studies called strategic foresight. The futures field also excludes those who make future predictions through professed supernatural means. At the same time, it does seek to understand the model's such groups use and

1340-441: Is an interdisciplinary field, studying yesterday's and today's changes, and aggregating and analyzing both lay and professional strategies, and opinions with respect to tomorrow. It includes analyzing the sources, patterns, and causes of change and stability in the attempt to develop foresight and to map possible futures. Modern practitioners stress the importance of alternative and plural futures, rather than one monolithic future, and

1407-474: Is characterized by a lesser degree of adherence to realistic or plausible individuals, events, or places, while the umbrella genres of realistic fiction or literary realism are characterized by a greater degree of adherence. For instance, speculative fiction may depict an entirely imaginary universe or one in which the laws of nature do not strictly apply (often, the sub-genre of fantasy ). Or, it depicts true historical moments, except that they have concluded in

SECTION 20

#1732776488980

1474-404: Is completed as of a specific time in the future. Finally, verbs in the future perfect continuous tense combine the features of the perfect and continuous tenses, describing the future status of actions that have been happening continually from now or the past through to a particular time in the future. In the sentence, "She will have been walking home," the verb phrase "will have been walking" is in

1541-556: Is considered one of the most important and influential texts in 20th-century musical aesthetics. Other examples of futurist music include Arthur Honegger 's " Pacific 231 " (1923), which imitates the sound of a steam locomotive, Prokofiev 's " The Steel Step " (1926), Alexander Mosolov 's " Iron Foundry " (1927), and the experiments of Edgard Varèse . Literary futurism made its debut with F.T. Marinetti 's Manifesto of Futurism (1909). Futurist poetry used unexpected combinations of images and hyper-conciseness (not to be confused with

1608-421: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Speculative fiction Speculative fiction is an umbrella genre of fiction that encompasses all the subgenres that depart from realism , or strictly imitating everyday reality, instead presenting fantastical, supernatural , futuristic , or other imaginative realms. This catch-all genre includes, but

1675-450: Is in the future continuous tense because the action described is not happening now, but will happen sometime afterwards and is expected to continue happening for some time. Verbs in the future perfect tense indicate actions that will be completed at a particular point in the future. For example, the verb phrase , "will have walked," in the sentence, "She will have walked home," is in the future perfect tense because it refers to an action that

1742-538: Is known to encompass anticipation of the future. Anticipatory behavior can be the result of a psychological outlook toward the future, for examples optimism , pessimism , and hope . Optimism is an outlook on life such that one maintains a view of the world as a positive place. People would say that optimism is seeing the glass "half full" of water as opposed to half empty . It is the philosophical opposite of pessimism. Optimists generally believe that people and events are inherently good, so that most situations work out in

1809-406: Is many years in the future. Some physicists claim that by using a wormhole to connect two regions of spacetime a person could theoretically travel in time. Physicist Michio Kaku points out that to power this hypothetical time machine and "punch a hole into the fabric of space-time" would require the energy of a star. Another theory is that a person could travel in time with cosmic strings . In

1876-437: Is not limited to, science fiction , fantasy , horror , slipstream , magical realism , superhero fiction , alternate history , utopia and dystopia , fairy tales , steampunk , cyberpunk , weird fiction , and some apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction . The term has been used for works of literature , film , television , drama , video games , radio , and their hybrids. The umbrella genre of speculative fiction

1943-559: Is similar to forecasting but is used more generally, for instance, to also include baseless claims on the future. Organized efforts to predict the future began with practices like astrology , haruspicy , and augury . These are all considered to be pseudoscience today, evolving from the human desire to know the future in advance. Modern efforts such as futures studies attempt to predict technological and societal trends, while more ancient practices, such as weather forecasting, have benefited from scientific and causal modelling . Despite

2010-399: Is sometimes abbreviated "spec-fic", "spec fic", "specfic", "S-F", "SF", or "sf". The last three abbreviations, however, are ambiguous as they have long been used to refer to science fiction (which lies within this general range of literature). It is sometimes also known as "the fantastic" or as fantastika , the latter term attributed to John Clute who coined it in 2007 after the term for

2077-402: Is that a person can travel into the future (but never come back) by traveling at very high speeds. While this effect is negligible under ordinary conditions, space travel at very high speeds can change the flow of time considerably. As depicted in many science fiction stories and movies (e.g. Déjà Vu ), a person traveling for even a short time at near light speed will return to an Earth that

SFF - Misplaced Pages Continue

2144-483: Is the belief that only the present exists and the future and the past are unreal . Religions consider the future when they address issues such as karma , life after death , and eschatologies that study what the end of time and the end of the world will be. Religious figures such as prophets and diviners have claimed to see into the future. Future studies, or futurology , is the science, art, and practice of postulating possible futures. Modern practitioners stress

2211-413: Is traveling away from a reference object, the slower that object seems to move through time. Hence, the future is not an objective notion anymore. A more modern notion is absolute future , or the future light cone . While a person can move backward or forwards in the three spatial dimensions, many physicists argue you are only able to move forward in time. One of the outcomes of Special Relativity Theory

2278-464: The Buddhists (in the tradition of Indian Buddhism ). A leading scholar from the modern era on Buddhist philosophy is Stcherbatsky , who has written extensively on Buddhist presentism: Everything past is unreal, everything future is unreal, everything imagined, absent, mental... is unreal... Ultimately real is only the present moment of physical efficiency [i.e., causation ]. Human behavior

2345-594: The Messiah or Messianic Age , the end time , and the end of days . In grammar , actions are classified according to one of the following twelve verb tenses: past ( past , past continuous , past perfect , or past perfect continuous ), present ( present , present continuous , present perfect , or present perfect continuous ), or future (future, future continuous , future perfect , or future perfect continuous ). The future tense refers to actions that have not yet happened, but which are due, expected, or may occur in

2412-404: The philosophy of time , presentism is the belief that only the present exists , and the future and past are unreal . Past and future "entities" are construed as logical constructions or fictions . The opposite of presentism is ' eternalism ', which is the belief that things in the past and things yet to come exist eternally . Another view (not held by many philosophers) is sometimes called

2479-542: The soul to transfer to another body ( reincarnation ). The major views on the afterlife derive from religion , esotericism and metaphysics . There are those who are skeptical of the existence of the afterlife, or believe that it is absolutely impossible, such as the materialist -reductionists, who believe that the topic is supernatural , therefore does not really exist or is unknowable. In metaphysical models, theists generally, believe some sort of afterlife awaits people when they die. Atheists generally do not believe in

2546-412: The ' growing block ' theory of time—which postulates that the past and present exist, but the future does not. Presentism is compatible with Galilean relativity , in which time is independent of space, but is probably incompatible with Lorentzian / Albert Einsteinian relativity in conjunction with certain other philosophical theses that many find uncontroversial. Saint Augustine proposed that

2613-436: The 2008 World Science Festival Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party , an Australian political party Small Form Factor Committee , an electronics industry group Space Frontier Foundation , an American space advocacy non-profit organization Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship , an American not-for-profit volunteer organization Stone Family Foundation , a charity Military [ edit ] Special Field Force ,

2680-423: The 20th-century movement futurism . In physics, time is the fourth dimension. Physicists argue that spacetime can be understood as a sort of stretchy fabric that bends due to forces such as gravity. In classical physics the future is just a half of the timeline, which is the same for all observers. In special relativity the flow of time is relative to the observer's frame of reference . The faster an observer

2747-632: The actual length of the poem). Futurist theater works have scenes a few sentences long, use nonsensical humor, and try to discredit the deep-rooted dramatic traditions with parody. Longer literature forms, such as novels, had no place in the Futurist aesthetic, which had an obsession with speed and compression. Futurism expanded to encompass other artistic domains and ultimately included painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic design , industrial design, interior design, theatre design, textiles, drama, literature, music and architecture. In architecture, it featured

SFF - Misplaced Pages Continue

2814-481: The assumption that it is possible to identify the underlying factors that might influence the variable that is being forecast. If the causes are understood, projections of the influencing variables can be made and used in the forecast. Judgmental forecasting methods incorporate intuitive judgments, opinions, and probability estimates, as in the case of the Delphi method , scenario building , and simulations . Prediction

2881-452: The context of the real world. One realistic fiction sub-genre is historical fiction , centered around true major events and time periods in the past. The attempt to make stories feel faithful to reality or to more objectively describe details, and the 19th-century artistic movement that began to vigorously promote this approach, is called "literary realism", which incorporates some works of both fiction and non-fiction. "Speculative fiction"

2948-403: The continuation of existence of the soul , spirit or mind of a human (or animal) after physical death , typically in a spiritual or ghostlike afterworld. Deceased persons are usually believed to go to a specific region or plane of existence in this afterworld, often depending on the rightness of their actions during life. Some believe the afterlife includes some form of preparation for

3015-765: The creative design and generation of lore and mythology for works of fiction. The term's definition comes from its use by J. R. R. Tolkien , whose novel, The Lord of the Rings , demonstrates a clear application of this process. Themes common in mythopoeia, such as the supernatural , alternate history and sexuality , continue to be explored in works produced within the modern speculative fiction genre. The creation of speculative fiction in its general sense of hypothetical history, explanation, or ahistorical storytelling , has also been attributed to authors in ostensibly non-fiction modes since as early as Herodotus of Halicarnassus (fl. 5th century BCE), for his Histories , and

3082-704: The destructive gesture of freedom-bringers, beautiful ideas worth dying for, and scorn for woman." Though it owed much of its character and some of its ideas to radical political movements , it had little involvement in politics until the autumn of 1913. Futurism in Classical Music arose during this same time period. Closely identified with the central Italian Futurist movement were brother composers Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) and Antonio Russolo (1877–1942), who used instruments known as intonarumori —essentially sound boxes used to create music out of noise. Luigi Russolo's futurist manifesto, " The Art of Noises ",

3149-784: The development of cognitive instruments for the comprehension of future, the stochastic and chaotic nature of many natural and social processes has made precise forecasting of the future elusive. Futurism as an art movement originated in Italy at the beginning of the 20th century. It developed largely in Italy and in Russia , although it also had adherents in other countries—in England and Portugal for example. The Futurists explored every medium of art, including painting , sculpture , poetry , theatre , music , architecture , and even gastronomy . Futurists had passionate loathing of ideas from

3216-429: The discipline thus seeks a systematic and pattern-based understanding of past and present, and to determine the likelihood of future events and trends. A key part of this process is understanding the potential future impact of decisions made by individuals, organizations, and governments. Leaders use the results of such work to assist in decision-making. Take hold of the future or the future will take hold of you. Futures

3283-438: The end for the best. Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. Hope implies a certain amount of despair, wanting, wishing, suffering or perseverance—i.e., believing that a better or positive outcome is possible even when there is some evidence to the contrary. "Hopefulness" is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas some theories point to optimism as

3350-432: The future perfect continuous tense because it refers to an action that the speaker anticipates will be finished in the future. Another way to think of the various future tenses is that actions described by the future tense will be completed at an unspecified time in the future, actions described by the future continuous tense will keep happening in the future, actions described by the future perfect tense will be completed at

3417-425: The future. For example, in the sentence, "She will walk home," the verb "will walk" is in the future tense because it refers to an action that is going to, or may, happen at a point in time beyond the present. Verbs in the future continuous tense indicate actions that will happen beyond the present and will continue for a period of time. In the sentence, "She will be walking home," the verb phrase "will be walking"

SECTION 50

#1732776488980

3484-451: The genre in some Slavic languages . The term has been used by some critics and writers dissatisfied with what they consider to be a limitation of science fiction: the need for the story to hold to scientific principles. They argue that "speculative fiction" better defines an expanded, open, imaginative type of fiction than does "genre fiction", and the categories of "fantasy", "mystery", "horror" and "science fiction". Harlan Ellison used

3551-452: The importance of alternative and plural futures, rather than one monolithic future, and the limitations of prediction and probability , versus the creation of possible and preferable futures. Predeterminism is the belief that the past, present, and future have been already decided . The concept of the future has been explored extensively in cultural production, including art movements and genres devoted entirely to its elucidation, such as

3618-503: The interpretations they give to these models. Forecasting is the process of estimating outcomes in uncontrolled situations. Forecasting is applied in many areas, such as weather forecasting , earthquake prediction , transport planning , and labour market planning. Due to the element of the unknown, risk and uncertainty are central to forecasting. Statistically based forecasting employs time series with cross-sectional or longitudinal data. Econometric forecasting methods use

3685-424: The limitations of prediction and probability, versus the creation of possible and preferable futures. Three factors usually distinguish futures studies from the research conducted by other disciplines (although all disciplines overlap, to differing degrees). First, futures studies often examines not only possible but also probable, preferable, and "wild card" futures. Second, futures studies typically attempts to gain

3752-400: The more common cyclic time of cultures such as India, where past and future can coalesce much more readily. Futures studies or futurology is the science, art, and practice of postulating possible, probable, and preferable futures and the worldviews and myths that underlie them. Futures studies seek to understand what is likely to continue, what is likely to change, and what is novel. Part of

3819-503: The past, especially political and artistic traditions. They also espoused a love of speed , technology , and violence . Futurists dubbed the love of the past passéisme . The car, the plane, and the industrial town were all legendary for the Futurists because they represented the technological triumph of people over nature . The Futurist Manifesto of 1909 declared: "We will glorify war—the world's only hygiene—militarism, patriotism,

3886-415: The percentages vary considerably by genre, with women outnumbering men in the fields of urban fantasy , paranormal romance and young adult fiction . Academic journals which publish essays on speculative fiction include Extrapolation and Foundation . Speculative fiction may include elements from one or more of the following genres: Futuristic In the philosophy of time , presentism

3953-485: The present is a knife edge between the past and the future and could not contain any extended period of time. Contrary to Saint Augustine, some philosophers propose that conscious experience is extended in time. For instance, William James said that time is "...the short duration of which we are immediately and incessantly sensible." Augustine proposed that God is outside of time and present for all times, in eternity . Other early philosophers who were presentists include

4020-403: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title SFF . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SFF&oldid=1248486113 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

4087-608: The sense of expressing dissatisfaction with traditional or establishment science fiction was popularized in the 1960s and early 1970s by Judith Merril , as well as other writers and editors in connection with the New Wave movement. However, this use of the term fell into disuse around the mid-1970s. In the 2000s, the term came into wider use as a convenient collective term for a set of genres. However, some writers, such as Margaret Atwood , who wrote The Handmaid's Tale , continue to distinguish "speculative fiction" specifically as

SECTION 60

#1732776488980

4154-444: The soul's existence in another world like Christianity, Islam and many pagan belief systems, or in reincarnation like many forms of Hinduism and Buddhism, believe that one's status in the afterlife is a reward or punishment for their conduct during life, with the exception of Calvinistic variants of Protestant Christianity, which believe one's status in the afterlife is a gift from God and cannot be earned during life. Eschatology

4221-500: The term to avoid being pigeonholed as a science fiction writer. Ellison, a fervent proponent of writers embracing more literary and modernist directions, broke out of genre conventions to push the boundaries of speculative fiction. The term suppositional fiction is sometimes used as a sub-category designating fiction in which characters and stories are constrained by an internally consistent world, but not necessarily one defined by any particular genre. Speculative fiction as

4288-591: The titular shamaness Medea killed her own children, as opposed to their being killed by other Corinthians after her departure. Additionally, Euripides' play, Hippolytus , narratively introduced by Aphrodite , Goddess of Love in person, is suspected to have displeased his contemporary audiences, as his portrayal of Phaedra was seen as too lusty . In historiography , what is now called "speculative fiction" has previously been termed "historical invention", "historical fiction", and other similar names. These terms have been extensively noted in literary criticism of

4355-486: The works of William Shakespeare , such as when he co-locates Athenian Duke Theseus , Amazonian Queen Hippolyta , English fairy Puck , and Roman god Cupid across time and space in the Fairyland of the fictional Merovingian Germanic sovereign Oberon , in A Midsummer Night's Dream . In mythography the concept of speculative fiction has been termed "mythopoesis", or mythopoeia . This practice involves

4422-409: The world, and responds to it by creating imaginative , inventive , and artistic expressions. Such expressions can contribute to practical societal progress through interpersonal influences, social and cultural movements , scientific research and advances, and the philosophy of science . In its English-language usage in arts and literature since the mid 20th century, "speculative fiction" as

4489-445: Was already both practiced and edited out by early encyclopedic writers like Sima Qian ( c.  145 or 135 BCE–86 BCE), author of Shiji . These examples highlight the caveat that many works, now regarded as intentional or unintentional speculative fiction, long predated the coining of the genre term; its concept, in its broadest sense, captures both a conscious and unconscious aspect of human psychology in making sense of

#979020