---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Science fiction is the search for a…"
description: "\"Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowled..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg"
---

#  Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind…

![“Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post Gothic mode.” quote by Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg)

> “Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post Gothic mode.”

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Science fiction explores humanity’s identity and place in the cosmos, often using gothic or post‑gothic settings to reflect our complex, evolving understanding of science.

**In simple terms:** It asks who we are and where we fit in the universe.

Key Takeaway

Use speculative stories to examine human nature.

Themes

identity existence future genre culture

Mood

thoughtful inquisitive reflective

Type

analytical inspirational literary

When to use this quote

- creative writing workshops
- university literature courses
- science communication
- film script development
- philosophical debate

Key Concepts

philosophy cosmology literary criticism

Questions to Reflect On

- How does the gothic tone affect our view of progress?
- Can sci‑fi inspire scientific curiosity?

A Different Perspective

The genre can become overly bleak, obscuring hopeful possibilities.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) [Mankind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mankind/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/)

## Related quotes

> [That's a point that Dan Ellsberg has made for years. He said it's kind of like if you and I go into a grocery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/that-s-a-point-that-dan-ellsberg-has-made-for-years-he-said-it-s-kind/)

[Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/)

> [Human nature is full of riddles; . . . one of those riddles is: how is it that people who have been crushed by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/human-nature-is-full-of-riddles-one-of-those-riddles-is-how-is-it/)

[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandr-solzhenitsyn/)

> [“A good enemy can be better than the best of friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simona-panova/a-good-enemy-can-be-better-than-the-best-of-friend/)

[Simona Panova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simona-panova/)

> [Below are some quotations along these lines. Select a quote for your Gothic Myspace layout or contribute one of your own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ramirez/below-are-some-quotations-along-these-lines-select-a-quote-for-your/)

[Laura Ramirez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ramirez/)

> [“And so the afternoon stretched on, and Ezbon toasted their imminent defeat to the dregs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/and-so-the-afternoon-stretched-on-and-ezbon-toasted-their-imminent/)

[C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/)

> [Most buildings, whether they're Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high tech for their time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/most-buildings-whether-they-re-gothic-cathedrals-or-romanesque-ones/)

[Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/)

> [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/)

Maggie Sn

> [“Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house that tilted on the crest of Foster Hill. Its gables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-jo-wright/cavernous-windows-opened-in-a-silent-scream-on-the-face-of-the-gothic/)

[Jaime Jo Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-jo-wright/)

> [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/)

[Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/)

> [“And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-le-fanu/and-when-she-had-spoken-such-a-rhapsody-she-would-press-me-more/)

[Sheridan Le Fanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-le-fanu/)

> [There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make one almost enamoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-few-of-us-who-have-not-sometimes-wakened-before-dawn-either/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/)

Echo and the Bunnymen

> [“The marine underworld stretched below the ship and embodied many secrets. The disappearance of Olga had become one of the mysteries that would remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-apan/the-marine-underworld-stretched-below-the-ship-and-embodied-many/)

Tiffany Apan

> [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/)

[Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/)

> [Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by by journalists - 'goff'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siouxsie-sioux/gothic-in-its-purest-sense-is-actually-a-very-powerful-twisted-genre/)

[Siouxsie Sioux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siouxsie-sioux/)

## More by Brian Aldiss

> [My briefest ever definition of science fiction is 'Hubris clobbered by Nemesis.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/my-briefest-ever-definition-of-science-fiction-is-hubris-clobbered-by/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [Man was an accident on this world or it would have been made better for him!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/man-was-an-accident-on-this-world-or-it-would-have-been-made-better/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [Whatever creativity is, it is in part a solution to a problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/whatever-creativity-is-it-is-in-part-a-solution-to-a-problem/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [Its at night, when perhaps we should be dreaming, that the mind is most clear, that we are most able to hold all our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/its-at-night-when-perhaps-we-should-be-dreaming-that-the-mind-is-most/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [The day of the android has dawned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/the-day-of-the-android-has-dawned/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/when-childhood-dies-its-corpses-are-called-adults/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [I was hardly fit for human society. Thus destiny shaped me to be a science fiction writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/i-was-hardly-fit-for-human-society-thus-destiny-shaped-me-to-be-a/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [I am a writer and always was; being a writer is an integral part of my identity. Being published, being well regarded, is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/i-am-a-writer-and-always-was-being-a-writer-is-an-integral-part-of-my/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [However you envisage your role in life, all you can do is perform it as best you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/however-you-envisage-your-role-in-life-all-you-can-do-is-perform-it/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [There are two kinds of writer: those that make you think, and those that make you wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/there-are-two-kinds-of-writer-those-that-make-you-think-and-those/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [Civilization is the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/civilization-is-the-distance-man-has-placed-between-himself-and-his/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [I can't help believing that these things that come from the subconscious mind have a sort of truth to them. It may not be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/i-can-t-help-believing-that-these-things-that-come-from-the/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [The fatal error of much science fiction has been to subscribe to an optimism based on the idea that revolution, or a new gimmick,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/the-fatal-error-of-much-science-fiction-has-been-to-subscribe-to-an/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

> [Relax, enjoy yourself. Have another drink. It's patriotic to overconsume.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/relax-enjoy-yourself-have-another-drink-it-s-patriotic-to-overconsume/)

[Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

[Explore all 49 Brian Aldiss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/)

## More Casts quotes

> [Everything comes home, my mother used to say; every word spoken, every shadow cast, every footprint in the sand. It can't be helped; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanne-harris/everything-comes-home-my-mother-used-to-say-every-word-spoken-every/)

[Joanne Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanne-harris/)

> [Politics only makes the difficult challenge of marriage even harder, with the demands of the job and the public spotlight it casts on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-mckinnon/politics-only-makes-the-difficult-challenge-of-marriage-even-harder/)

[Mark McKinnon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-mckinnon/)

> [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/)

[Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/)

> [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/)

[John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/)

> [I was focused on The Hunger Games movie with my director, with the studio, and with the cast and crew. We all just focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-jacobson/i-was-focused-on-the-hunger-games-movie-with-my-director-with-the/)

[Nina Jacobson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-jacobson/)

> [All my life I've been involved with racial politics. I was a Freedom Rider in the South. I was the author of books on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hayden/all-my-life-i-ve-been-involved-with-racial-politics-i-was-a-freedom/)

[Tom Hayden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hayden/)

> [God hath work to do in this world; and to desert it because of its difficulties and entanglements, is to cast off His authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/god-hath-work-to-do-in-this-world-and-to-desert-it-because-of-its/)

[John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/)

> [The bullet that will kill me is not yet cast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/the-bullet-that-will-kill-me-is-not-yet-cast/)

[Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/)

> [All progress in literary style lies in the heroic resolve to cast aside accretions and exuberances, all the conventions of a past age that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/havelock-ellis/all-progress-in-literary-style-lies-in-the-heroic-resolve-to-cast/)

[Havelock Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/havelock-ellis/)

> [And as regards Adam and Eve we must maintain that before the fall they were virgins in Paradise: but after they sinned, and were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/and-as-regards-adam-and-eve-we-must-maintain-that-before-the-fall/)

[St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/)

> [I think that people who stand up for what they believe in, no matter how unpopular, should be celebrated, not cast aside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-lancaster/i-think-that-people-who-stand-up-for-what-they-believe-in-no-matter/)

[Craig Lancaster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-lancaster/)

> [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/)

[Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/)

> [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/)

[Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/)

> [Sometimes you choose the wrong actor, he could be the best actor ever, but hes not cast in the right part then it doesnt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-marceau/sometimes-you-choose-the-wrong-actor-he-could-be-the-best-actor-ever/)

[Sophie Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-marceau/)

> [I would always cast Meryl Streep for everything. I would do with something inspired by the work of Guy Bourdin, my favorite photographer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-cruz/i-would-always-cast-meryl-streep-for-everything-i-would-do-with/)

[Penelope Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-cruz/)

Browse all 2,106 Casts quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is characteristically cast in the Gothic or post Gothic mode.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Brian Aldiss"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-definition-of-mankind-and-his/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Casts"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-definition-of-mankind-and-his/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5f2/brian-aldiss-13847_casts_science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-defi_778044.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Science fiction is the search for a definition of mankind and his status in the universe which will stand in…” — Brian Aldiss",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Brian Aldiss",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Science fiction is the search for...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-definition-of-mankind-and-his/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/science-fiction-is-the-search-for-a-definition-of-mankind-and-his/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
