User:John Fader/recurrent myths in science fiction

A number of recurrent myths in science fiction are repeated, in various forms, over and over again. These reflect the ongoing anxieties of technological civilisations and reflects their ambivalent collective attitudes toward technology. The terminology of these myths is often used as a cultural shorthand when discussing real developments.

The Frankenstein myth
The myth that a helpful, controlled technological artifact can turn against its master.


 * golem
 * Frankenstein's monster
 * Lovecraft's shoggoth
 * The downfall of the Krel civilisation in Forbidden Planet, at the hands of their own technological servants
 * This subject is explored in depth (although in a subtler form) in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot series.
 * Nanotechnology's grey goo hypothesis.

The "beast within" myth
A common theme in literature is the idea that, under the veneer of civilisation, human beings contain a primordial beast. Literature such as Heart of Darkness and The Lord of the Flies contends that this beast can be released merely by removing the civilising effects of society. Science fiction and horror writers look for a technological cause


 * werewolf mythology (well, that's not really "technological")
 * Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, where the beast Hyde is released by a chemical potion
 * H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man, where the invisibility potion also drives its drinker mad. This is later retold in numerous films, including 2002's Hollow Man
 * the Incredible Hulk
 * this fear can be seen in media reporting (often as part of a moral panic) of illegal drug use

The danger of hidden knowledge
The myth that there is some knowledge that humans are not supposed to know, and that uncovering it will lead to their downfall. In some cases the forbidden knowledge takes on a physical, monsterous form; it remains (in allegory) a monsterous find waiting for the over-eager to unearth.


 * The forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden
 * Pandora's box
 * The legend of Doctor Faustus (perhaps the most extreme case, as he obtains the forbidden knowledge directly from the Devil himself)
 * The dwarves' excavations at Khazad-dûm in The Lord of the Rings, where they uncover the balrog Durin's Bane (of which Saruman remarks "they dug too greedily and too deep").
 * The knowledge used to design nuclear and biological weapons is regarded by some in this regard.

The unconcerned ubermench
The myth that a human being can move onto the next stage of human evolution, becoming a "superior" or "post" human, and that this "ubsermensch" will regard ordinary humans as inferiors (even as animals) and that rather than being a benefactor will be unconcerned about the plight of ordinary men, or even be hostile and dominating.


 * Man and Superman
 * Dr Manhattan in Watchmen
 * Star Trek's The Cage
 * criticisms levelled at posthuman ideas

The blurred lines between human and machine

 * Pinocchio, and retellings such as Spielberg's A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
 * The tin man in The Wizard of Oz
 * The story arc of the robot Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation
 * The borg creatures in Star Trek, and particularly the struggle of the character Seven of Nine to regain her humanity