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Science Fiction Savant, issue 5, Summer 1946

Page 10

ANSWER TO "AN AIRPLANE FAN'S OUTLOOK ON THE SCIENTIFAN'S WORLD" [Unclear]

By Ex-Airplane Fan, Henry Ackermann

According to Mr. D.P. Redwood's version, a  science fiction fan is a cross between a cocaine addict and a nut with a persecution  complex. Sometimes I wonder if there can really be such a character as D.P. Redwood. Frankly, I think he is a clinic case. After all, he mentions so much about having bad dreams that it makes one suspect. Let me tell you, Mr. Redwood, very few science fiction fans even dream much less have such grotesque nightmares as you evidently undergo. This is significant.

All science fiction fans do no try to change non-fans over to an appreciation of science and science fiction. I, for one, have tried it a few times and frankly, it is like casting pearls before swine so  very little do these petty, narrow-minded non-fans think. Their limited brain-pans will not expand sufficiently for them to admit the healing ideals of science fiction; consequently their sub-normal minds continue on their same degenerate courses of thought.

Where you, D.P. Redwood, state "Every small insect or reptile a scientifan sees he asks 'What would I do if this thing was as big as me?'" I answer, "Yes, that is true. That healthy mental attitude acts as a prepatory exercise so that the fan's mental capacities will grow and whenever that fan meets with a problem in real-life he is better fitted to cope with it than less prepared people such as non-fans. Science fiction foretold the present American-Japanese conflict more than a decade ago. It is science fiction's task to prepare the minds of the human race to readily accept any new calamity Mother Nature or Man poses in the future. Even the young boy scouts believe in being prepared. Do you remember Orson Wells' famous broadcast a few years ago of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds?" As you might remember, hundreds of people evacuated New York city and its vicinity because they really believed that the Martians had invaded Earth. And this in spite of the fact that the announcer interrupted the story four times to say that the story you are now hearing is only a radio drama broadcast. But did the science fiction fans evacuate? No. That is what I mean by the difference in mental attitude of fans and non-fans. Now who are the opium-smokers?

Model airplanes do not teach the construction of real airplanes because there is no resemblance between the modeller working with his razor, knife, balsa, banana oil, dope, etc. and the tool used in actually building real 'planes. Only the outward form (in proportion) is the same. The inward form is not. Building model airplanes is still a child's pasttime. Science Fiction is a training for the mind.

In conclusion I present the following verse to sum up my opinion:

SCIENCE FICTION ENLIGHTENS THE MASSES

Part One: The Actual Model

An airplane has its wings;
A science-fictionist knows things.
An airplane speeds at four-hundred-four;
A science-fictionist goes on a tour,
Moving book pages with the speed of light;
Visioning new vistas with clear sight.

Saving...

ANSWER TO "AN AIRPLANE FAN'S OUTLOOK ON THE SCIENTIFAN'S WORLD" [Unclear] By Ex-Airplane Fan, Henry Ackermann According to Mr. D.P. Redwood's version, a science fiction fan is a cross between a cocaine addict and a nut with a persecution complex. Sometimes I wonder if there can really be such a character as D.P. Redwood. Frankly, I think he is a clinic case. After all, he mentions so much about having bad dreams that it makes one suspect. Let me tell you, Mr. Redwood, very few science fiction fans even dream much less have such grotesque nightmares as you evidently undergo. This is significant. All science fiction fans do no try to change non-fans over to an appreciation of science and science fiction. I, for one, have tried it a few times and frankly, it is like casting pearls before swine so very little do these petty, narrow-minded non-fans think. Their limited brain-pans will not expand sufficiently for them to admit the healing ideals of science fiction; consequently their sub-normal minds continue on their same degenerate courses of thought. Where you, D.P. Redwood, state "Every small insect or reptile a scientifan sees he asks 'What would I do if this thing was as big as me?'" I answer, "Yes, that is true. That healthy mental attitude acts as a prepatory exercise so that the fan's mental capacities will grow and whenever that fan meets with a problem in real-life he is better fitted to cope with it than less prepared people such as non-fans. Science fiction foretold the present American-Japanese conflict more than a decade ago. It is science fiction's task to prepare the minds of the human race to readily accept any new calamity Mother Nature or Man poses in the future. Even the young boy scouts believe in being prepared. Do you remember Orson Wells' famous broadcast a few years ago of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds?" As you might remember, hundreds of people evacuated New York city and its vicinity because they really believed that the Martians had invaded Earth. And this in spite of the fact that the announcer interrupted the story four times to say that the story you are now hearing is only a radio drama broadcast. But did the science fiction fans evacuate? No. That is what I mean by the difference in mental attitude of fans and non-fans. Now who are the opium-smokers? Model airplanes do not teach the construction of real airplanes because there is no resemblance between the modeller working with his razor, knife, balsa, banana oil, dope, etc. and the tool used in actually building real 'planes. Only the outward form (in proportion) is the same. The inward form is not. Building model airplanes is still a child's pasttime. Science Fiction is a training for the mind. In conclusion I present the following verse to sum up my opinion: SCIENCE FICTION ENLIGHTENS THE MASSES Part One: The Actual Model An airplane has its wings; A science-fictionist knows things. An airplane speeds at four-hundred-four; A science-fictionist goes on a tour, Moving book pages with the speed of light; Visioning new vistas with clear sight.