March 24, 2014 Sombrio Beach, Vancouver Island
Part Fifteen – The
Ocean in Science Fiction (1)
Question: So here
we are on magnificent Sombrio Beach, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Today we are accompanied by our friend and
geophysical consultant (and sometimes impromptu Fringe Theatre performer),
Marvin Klafner. Marvin is a former
exploration geophysicist, and we want to talk to him later about “Geophysics in
Science Fiction”. But for now, with the
surf pounding against the nearby shore, it seems more appropriate to talk about
the ocean in Science Fiction. As usual
we also have Helena Puumala, author of the Kati of Terra series, and yours
truly, the Dodecahedron Books blogger and data analyst.
Helena Puumala, you have featured the ocean and ocean
imagery fairly prominently in your writing, particularly in the Kati of Terra
series. What is it about the ocean that
intrigues you, especially in Science Fiction terms?
Answer (Helena): It’s
hard not to be intrigued by the ocean, in general and as a Science Fiction
writer. After all, in literary and
psychological terms, the ocean is considered to be a powerful symbol of the
subconscious, and therefore of creativity itself. And according to current evolutionary theory,
we came from the ocean, so it is our mother, in a way. Plus, the ocean and waterways in general are
the conduits of transportation on inhabitable planets, the connective tissue
and bloodstream of the planet, so to speak.
So, the ocean is both very real and very mythical at the same time. Both of those aspects are of great value to a
Science Fiction writer.
Question: You
packed a lot of ideas into those comments.
I hope we can give them all their due.
What you said about the ocean being the mother of life is backed up by
NASA, in its program for the search for extra-terrestrial life. Their policy is “go where the water is”.
Answer (Helena): And
Science Fiction is all about going where the life is, at least in one’s
imagination.
Question: What do
you think about the idea of the ocean in SF, Marvin, as a former exploration
geophysicist?
Answer (Marvin): An
exploration geophysicist is always concerned about discovering or uncovering
the unknown. The ocean is full of unknowns,
like space is, so I suppose the ocean also represents that concept in science
and in Science Fiction. The ocean, or
water really, is also a great agent of change on Earth via its role in erosion
and plate tectonics. So, the ocean also
represents the power to change and transform things.
Answer (Helena): And
change is at the heart of story, especially Science Fiction stories.
Answer (Marvin): One
might also add that the ocean is a frontier, as is space. In both cases, those are physical facts, as
well as psychological. Frontiers attract
explorers, and Science Fiction is intimately bound up with idea of exploration.
Question: So
let’s try to unpack some of those ideas with some examples from well-known Science
Fiction works. We noted that the ocean
is a barrier. I would nominate H.G.
Wells novel “The Island of Doctor Moreau”.
I am thinking of the scientific idea of the ocean being a barrier to
movement, and that islands therefore become isolated in evolutionary
terms. I think Wells was using that idea
when he had his mad biologist set up shop on an island.
Answer (Helena): I
guess that works, though it’s a bit abstract. In “Kati of Terra Book 1: Escape
from the Drowned Planet”, I used the ocean barrier in a much more concrete
sense – Kati and Mikal had to cross an ocean to get to the beacon that would
help them to escape from that planet and the slavers that were pursuing them.
Question: The
ocean is seen as the source of life in a scientific sense. The fossil evidence indicates that life moved
from the ocean to the land.
Answer (Marvin): Though
there is now some thought that life might have started in the deep Earth, as
simple bacteria or bacteria-like forms.
Question: That’s
true. And now there is also speculation
about life arising in deep oceans on other planets or moons, cut off from solar
radiation by thick layers of ice, such as Jupiter’s moon Europa. But in any case, on Earth more complex life
started in the ocean before moving onto the land. That brings up the question of the centrality
of oceans to life in Science Fiction and the extent of oceans on other planets.
Answer (Helena): Such
as water-worlds. In the Kati series, I
have a planet that is mostly a water-world, Tarangay. And of course, Macros 3, the Drowned Planet
of Book 1 has had calamitous flooding due to a global warming event.
Answer (Marvin): Though
most worlds that we know of are dry worlds, with either no water or water bound
up in ice or rock. So, unlocking that
water to form oceans is a central part of SF books that deal with the notion of
terra-forming.
Answer (Helena): True. Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy comes to
mind. In fact, one book is even called
“Blue Mars”, which refers to the creation of the Martian oceans.
Question: Moving
on, let’s look at the idea of the ocean as the unknown, especially as the
threatening unknown. One obvious way
that the ocean can represent the unknown is via the presence of alien life,
especially the potential threat posed by intelligent aliens.
Answer (Marvin): Having
just been on a whale watching trip, one is reminded of how ocean bound “alien
intelligence” may already exist on Earth.
Didn’t “Star Trek IV – The Voyage Home” use something about whales?
Answer (Helena): Yes,
it was a sort of “save the whales” in order to save humanity idea. In that case the whales were both of Earth
and alien simultaneously.
Answer (Marvin): Star
Trek Enterprise also had a cetacean aspect to the Xindi world, if I recall
correctly. They were also a threat to
Earth, though they saw their aggression as pre-emptive self-defence.
Answer (Helena): When
it comes to the relationship between Star Trek and whales, I suppose you could
say “it’s complicated”.
Question: Doctor
Who also features some sea-based aliens who had complicated relationships with
humanity – the Sea Devils and the Silurians.
Plus, they had an episode with the Loch Ness Monster.
Answer (Helena): Yes,
let us not forget about the good old sea monster. I suppose the grand-daddy of all ocean based
SF is Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”. That certainly featured a sea-monster or two,
though not technically alien.
Answer (Marvin): Giant
squids, I think. The movie might have
even had a fight between a giant squid and a whale. Or maybe that was Moby Dick. And just as a point of interest, the 20,000
leagues isn’t how deep they go, but how far they travel while submerged.
Question: Interesting.
Anyway, we touched upon the fact that the ocean is often a stand-in for
the subconscious mind. At least that’s
what our English profs all said. How’s
that work in Science Fiction?
Answer (Helena): I
find the character of Odo in Star Trek Deep Space Nine to be quite fascinating
that way. He literally is a liquid, and
has to return to that state sometimes to stay sane and alive. And he eventually re-joins the great link, a
sort of merged and submerged entity, composed of many minds that are also one,
in a great sea. What could be more
indicative of the ocean as consciousness in SF than that?
Question: That’s a hard one to top, but I will put in a
pitch for Stanislaw Lem’s “Solaris”. In
that book, humans have to deal with an intelligent living ocean planet, but
can’t really communicate with it. The
two types of existence are just too far apart.
My take on it was that Solaris was actually a sort of reified human
consciousness, thoughts made solid, as the ocean wasn’t made of water but some
type of matter that held incredibly complex solid forms for a while, then
returned back to the more primal liquid state.
Human scientists study it, but they can’t really make sense of it.
Answer (Marvin): Which
is a pretty good description of how much scientists have been able to
understand about the human mind and human consciousness itself.
Question: True.
Well, we can leave it at that for now, and have our lunch here on the
beach, as we sit on these huge driftwood logs.
Perhaps next time we can discuss the ocean as it is portrayed in Helena
Puumala’s Science Fiction, at a nice pub near the ocean. Then we can enjoy that other liquid essential
to intelligent life, craft beer.
Answer (Helena):
But not too much, if we want to remain intelligent.
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