--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Many people have tried to define science…" description: "\"Many people have tried to define science fiction. I like to call it the literature of exploration and change. While other genres obsess upon so-called ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d6/david-brin-3024_books_many-people-have-tried-to-define-science_900664.png" --- # Many people have tried to define science fiction. I like… ![“Many people have tried to define science fiction. I like to call it the literature of exploration and change. While other genres obsess upon so-called eternal verities, SF deals with the possibility that our children may have different problems. They may, indeed, be different than we have been.” quote by David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d6/david-brin-3024_books_many-people-have-tried-to-define-science_900664.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d6/david-brin-3024_books_many-people-have-tried-to-define-science_900664.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4d6/david-brin-3024_books_many-people-have-tried-to-define-science_900664.png) > “Many people have tried to define science fiction. I like to call it the literature of exploration and change. While other genres obsess upon so-called eternal verities, SF deals with the possibility that our children may have different problems. They may, indeed, be different than we have been.” [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) ## 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 future possibilities and challenges, focusing on change and new problems rather than static truths. **In simple terms:** SF imagines future challenges and change. Key Takeaway Embrace speculative thinking about future issues. Themes imagination future change exploration literature Mood hopeful thoughtful inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - creative writing - education - policy planning - technology forecasting Key Concepts Speculative fiction cultural critique technological anticipation Questions to Reflect On - How can we balance present concerns with speculative futures? - What current problems might become tomorrow’s sci‑fi themes? A Different Perspective SF may overlook present issues by focusing too much on imagined futures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Eternal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal/) [Exploration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exploration/) [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Genre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genre/) [Genres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genres/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Possibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/possibility/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Science](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [The great thing about the arts, and especially popular music, is that it really does cut across genres and races and classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bonnie-raitt/the-great-thing-about-the-arts-and-especially-popular-music-is-that/) [Bonnie Raitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bonnie-raitt/) > [The negative attitudes toward the genres - romance, science-fiction, westerns, suspense, etc. - are fallout from the academic world's long-standing fascination with existential philosophy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jayne-ann-krentz/the-negative-attitudes-toward-the-genres-romance-science-fiction/) [Jayne Ann Krentz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jayne-ann-krentz/) > [I never think about genre when I work. I've written fantasy, science fiction, supernatural fiction, and am now working on a suspense novel. Genres…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hand/i-never-think-about-genre-when-i-work-i-ve-written-fantasy-science/) [Elizabeth Hand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hand/) > [I don't think I make genre films. I think studios try to sell films as genres because they know how to do that. There's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-aronofsky/i-don-t-think-i-make-genre-films-i-think-studios-try-to-sell-films-as/) [Darren Aronofsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-aronofsky/) > [Writing is writing, and stories are stories. Perhaps the only true genres are fiction and nonfiction. And even there, who can be sure?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tanith-lee/writing-is-writing-and-stories-are-stories-perhaps-the-only-true/) [Tanith Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tanith-lee/) > [I'm eager to do movies of different genres. 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And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-longstreth/what-genres-are-good-for-is-being-like-here-are-the-parameters-here-s/) [David Longstreth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-longstreth/) > [Playing with different genres and perspectives and ways of telling stories is one of the perks of being a novelist, but at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linn-ullmann/playing-with-different-genres-and-perspectives-and-ways-of-telling/) Linn Ullmann > [Music is there for us to explore. To intentionally limit yourself to one, two, or three genres is limitation at its worst. Music is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/music-is-there-for-us-to-explore-to-intentionally-limit-yourself-to/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [I'm not a fan of any genre but am a fan of movies that are intelligent and/or funny. That goes across all genres: a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-not-a-fan-of-any-genre-but-am-a-fan-of-movies-that-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't really concentrate on Urban AC or whatever. I don't concentrate on genres or how people section off songs for radio.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-j-the-chicago-kid/i-don-t-really-concentrate-on-urban-ac-or-whatever-i-don-t/) [B.J. The Chicago Kid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-j-the-chicago-kid/) ## More by David Brin > [Beware of self-indulgence. The romance surrounding the writing profession carries several myths: that one must suffer in order to be creative; that one must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/beware-of-self-indulgence-the-romance-surrounding-the-writing/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Anything done in secret is more likely to result in terrible errors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/anything-done-in-secret-is-more-likely-to-result-in-terrible-errors/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Men can be brilliant and strong, they whispered to one another. But men can be mad, as well. 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Especially in humans. For every good idea, ten thousand idiotic ones must first be posed, sifted, tried out, and discarded.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/it-s-how-creativity-works-especially-in-humans-for-every-good-idea/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Tragedies such as Nevil Shute's 'On the Beach' and Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove' are so powerful because there's an underlying assumption that this did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/tragedies-such-as-nevil-shute-s-on-the-beach-and-stanley-kubrick-s-dr/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [In contrast, markets - oft mythologized as "natural" are the most unnatural things going. Libertarians will tell you "market laws are laws of nature",…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/in-contrast-markets-oft-mythologized-as-natural-are-the-most/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“Snow and soot covered the ancient tree's broken branches and seared bark. It wasn't dead, not quite yet. Here and there tiny shoots of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/snow-and-soot-covered-the-ancient-tree-s-broken-branches-and-seared/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [“As simple an act as reading or writing a sentence must be surrounded by perceptory nap and weave . . . an itch, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/as-simple-an-act-as-reading-or-writing-a-sentence-must-be-surrounded/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) > [Ideologies are too seductive anyway. It does a man good to see things from a different point of view.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-brin/ideologies-are-too-seductive-anyway-it-does-a-man-good-to-see-things/) [David Brin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) [Explore all 142 David Brin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-brin/) ## More Books quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [If what I write is literature, I guess you'd better emphasize the 'litter.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lydia-lunch/if-what-i-write-is-literature-i-guess-you-d-better-emphasize-the/) [Lydia Lunch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lydia-lunch/) > [My sentences got sharper and my stories more efficient, and I gradually learned to imagine the reader more clearly and to empathize with that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-thompson-walker/my-sentences-got-sharper-and-my-stories-more-efficient-and-i/) [Karen Thompson Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-thompson-walker/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [“Within the pages of books, I've journeyed to Mandalay, the Milky Way and Santa Fe, without once having to leave my armchair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-ansbro/within-the-pages-of-books-i-ve-journeyed-to-mandalay-the-milky-way/) [Kevin Ansbro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-ansbro/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“Tacitus did not write a most dangerous book. His readers made it so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-k-krebs/tacitus-did-not-write-a-most-dangerous-book-his-readers-made-it-so/) Christopher K. 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Some fine day you'll die of a misprint.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/markus-herz/be-careful-about-reading-health-books-some-fine-day-you-ll-die-of-a/) Markus Herz > [But editors are still the world's readers. And thus the eyes of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/but-editors-are-still-the-world-s-readers-and-thus-the-eyes-of-the/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) [Browse all 59,485 Books quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Many people have tried to define science fiction. I like to call it the literature of exploration and change. While other genres obsess upon so-called eternal verities, SF deals with the possibility that our children may have different problems. 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