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Kristen Nygaard on Science Fictitious Research :-) Issac Asimov on Lord of The Rings . But. There is a "but". How many of you read science fiction? Do you read science fiction in order to become a better researcher? You should, and if you get unnerved and irritated by the impossibility of what is described, you should read on. You should read on and reverse your attitude: "If this is the truth, what are the consequences? What has now become possible on the next page?" The best science fiction employs the least amount of gadgetry, and explores worlds resulting from one or two crucial factors being different from what we are accustomed to. Ursula K. LeGuin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" is the best illustration that I know of, but Isac Asimov's "The Naked Sun" is perhaps more directly relevant to our field, when we discuss the impact of networks. When you are brainstorming, ideas may turn up that are interesting in some respect, are fun, or are utterly different from those you have pursued till now, but ideas that obviously are wrong, in the sense of being incorrect, not corresponding with reality. A well behaved, realistic, no fuss-oriented researcher will relegate such ideas to their proper place in the trash can, and quickly so, to avoid throwing away important time. The science fiction reader is better trained and will behave differently, as described above: "If this is the truth, what are the consequences? What has now become possible on the next page?" The idea must of course meet the final test of correctness in the confrontation with the executioner, but only after having been played around with. "It is not correct, but how could we modify it to become correct, and still keep its usefulness?" The willingness of keeping your mind open in such processes is an important asset in a research team. - Kristen Nygaard . Issac Asimov's Interpretation of the Lord of The RingsBut what is is this ring that is so powerful yet so evil? Why is it that those who possess it are corrupted by it and cannot give it up? Is such a thing pure fantasy or does it have an analogoue in reality? My own feeling is that the ring represents modern technology. This corrupts and destroys society (in Tolkien's view) and yet, societies which gain it and are aware of its evil, simply cannot give it up. I have read the The Lord of The Rings five times so far [1984] and yet, I have not exhausted my own symbolic reading of it. I do not agree with, and I resent, Tolkien's attitude, and yet I get pleasure from the intricacy and skill of the structure. ... And when I published an essay in which I maintained that Tolkien's ring symbolized modern technology, and I reader wrote to me that Tolkien himself had denied it, I responded with "That doesn't matter. The ring nevertheless symbolizes modern technology." Science Fiction I have recently read:
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