The Ultimate Mind Meld: Why We Read Science Fiction

This he Question has been put to me. The future of Science Fiction: Where do you see the genre heading in the next decade?

 Where it's always been, since H. G. Wells wrote "The Time Machine" in 1894 and Edgar Rice Burroghhs wrote "A Princess of Mars" in 1912, to worlds where adventure and imagination abound. That's what people have always wanted. We want to be lifted out of our lives. Working with computers, washing dishes, building houses, plowing fields, raising children, nursing the injured and the elderly--after long days and hard work we want adventure that takes us from the mundane to the wonderful and the magnificent. We want good stories and good characters, humor, romance and good endings, even if we lose some of the characters we care about along the way.

Science Fiction has always been about new things, new adventures, new people, new technology, new conflicts, new challenges, new worlds, new dangers. We want to use our imaginations.

And imagination is all that really matters!

We don't mind if someone has done all the heavy work and labor as long as we have a new adventure to dive into!

And after all, we get to plug our imagination into someone else's imagination. It might not be real telepathy, or even a Vulvan mind meld, but who really cares as long as we have a new adventure to experience?

Another Question: Is Science Fiction still predictive, or is it more reflective of present realities? 

My answer is: Who cares?

If you need to talk about different subjects, you write them into your story. Often writers place the ideas they want to talk about as part of the background.  Sometimes, the subject matter is front and center. A good example is the Hunger Games. In order to control society, the Government collects young people every year from every district to engage in life and death battles until only one is left. That person becomes society's hero for that year.

Is it predictive, or reflective? It could be both, or neither. A lot to consider.

More to talk about this subject later on.