The fatal error of much science fiction has been to subscribe to an optimism based on the idea that revolution, or a new gimmick, or a bunch of strong men, or an invasion of aliens, or the conquest of other planets, or the annihilation of half the world–in short, pretty nearly anything but the facing up to the integral and irredeemable nature of mankind–can bring about utopian situations. It is the old error of the externalization of evil.

The fatal error of much science fiction has been to subscribe to an optimism based on the idea that revolution, or a new gimmick, or a bunch of strong men, or an invasion of aliens, or the conquest of other planets, or the annihilation of half the world–in short, pretty nearly anything but the facing up to the integral and irredeemable nature of mankind–can bring about utopian situations. It is the old error of the externalization of evil.

– Brian W. Aldiss –

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