I remember the first science fiction book I read, Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon.
From the Moon to the Earth” was written more than 150 years ago. The story of the book takes place after the end of the American Civil War, in the city of Baltimore on the Atlantic coast of the United States, there is a “cannon club”, the president of the club Babicon proposed to launch a cannonball to the moon to establish a link between the Earth and the moon.
An adventurer from France named Michel Adam suggested building a hollow cannonball so that he could ride it to the moon to explore.
Later, Babicon, Michel Adam and another captain Nichore finally set off in this hollow shell overcoming many difficulties, but they failed to reach the moon in a cool way, and the two fools flew around the moon 2800 miles from the moon.
At that time, I was just in junior high school when I read this science fiction novel. Now, more than twenty years later, I still remember the novelty and shock I felt when I read this book.
The distant starry sky and the deep ocean have held the imagination of many people since ancient times. They are fascinating precisely because they are unknown and can be left to our imagination.
Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Because, imagination can be free from the constraints of real life, opening up a wonderful and vast world for us.
In recent years, the release of many science fiction movies has made many science fiction literature works hot as well. With the science fiction novel “Take Her Eyes” officially entering the secondary school language textbook, “Micro Era” being selected for the national paper of the college entrance examination language, and “Wandering Earth” film being selected for the Ministry of Education’s “Recommended Outstanding Film Catalogue for Primary and Secondary School Students”, science fiction has received unprecedented recognition and attention in the basic education of young people today.
The American science fiction writer Asimov believes that science education focuses on the cultivation of the sense of scientific exploration, and science fiction is an important part of science education. He also stated, “Children should read science fiction as early as possible, at the age of 9 or 10, and no later than 11.”
As parents, how can you foster your children’s interest in science fiction literature and help them read it effectively?
First, be sure to choose excellent science fiction children’s literature, especially the first science fiction books your child is exposed to. Good children’s science fiction is extremely charming and can be obsessive when read.
The works of science fiction suitable for children must be in line with children’s psychological development and beneficial to their psychological health, and those excellent children’s literature will transcend the limitations of time and nationality and be widely welcomed by children, such as the classic trilogy by Jules Verne, the “father of science fiction”, which I still can’t forget.
Secondly, when first encountering science fiction works, how to help children enter the fantastical and magnificent world of imagination requires proper parental guidance and even shared reading. For example, first help your child understand the basic information of the author and the outline of the work, and then go into the specific story.
In the process of reading, when you encounter wonderful passages and beautiful sentences, you can lead your child to repeatedly recall and carefully understand them, and to empathize with the characters in the book. After reading a book, you can also relate it to real life and review the plot of the book in various ways, such as painting, crafts, or even rewriting the ending of the story.
Of course, when children are first introduced to science fiction, parents are advised not to choose works that are too long to avoid reading fatigue. The Future Affairs Administration has released a set of short science fiction novels for young people, all of which are short and concise science fiction novels by famous science fiction authors.
Beyond the Unexpected – Sunfire
This collection of novels is divided into three books, namely Beyond the Unexpected: Sunfire, Beyond the Unexpected: Nine Lives, and Beyond the Unexpected: Black Mirror, with a non-existent universe, a non-existent future, and a non-existent time as the core themes, representing three different dimensions of science fiction, respectively.
The book Sunfire mainly describes the classic science fiction setting of the “non-existent universe”, with a total of eight selected works, four from foreign writers and four from domestic writers.
The one that impressed me the most was David Brin’s “The Stone of Meaning”.
In “The Stone of Meaning,” the story takes place in the post-Singularity era, when machine intelligence has surpassed humans, and the technology and knowledge of machines and their super computing power surpassed humans. At that time, people no longer have to work for a living, but as a “manager” in charge of the planet, like a God.
However, is that world really beautiful? Do the other “intelligences” of various levels and types that live on the planet with humans also have the same power as humans? This is a question that needs to be pondered.
And, can humans really be sure that they are at the top of the “management” rather than a link in the infinite downward chain?
Being a deity is never an easy task. As a deity, you have to take care of hundreds of millions of intelligent beings who are smart and have to listen patiently to their bizarre dreams, cries of pain, and fussy complaints. The job of a deity is as difficult as any other job.
You see, in just 10,000 words, it can stimulate countless thoughts and imaginations. So, where exactly does the future of humanity lie? Will be replaced by artificial intelligence? Will we migrate to outer space? Will the Earth be invaded by aliens?
I believe that after reading this set of books, children’s hearts must be able to touch, and perhaps will plant a seed to really go to study a scientific problem in the future.
At that time, what awaits them will be the endless journey of the starry sea.
