2020-02-01_Fortean_Times

FT389 41

Thecharactersin DarklingWoodmention
“X-FilesSyndrome”–the wayevidence
of strangenessvanishes at the end of each
episode.Andof courseitstrikes in the
book... are phenomena in biology sometimes
frustratinglyelusive in real life?

By“X-files Syndrome”Imeant torefer to
aproblem of narrative construction that
afflictsseries fictioninwhich there is an
assumedresponsibilitytoleave the fictitious
worldessentially unchanged,in order to aid
the reader/vie werint he pretence that the
world-within-the-text is thelived-inworld.
Biological phenomenacan bevery elusi ve,
though,becausetheysuffe rterribl yfrom
theuncertainty principle.Being active,
biologicalsystems tendtobeaffect ed by
the process of observation–the discoveries
of microscopy,for instance,have always
beenhauntedbyartefacts introducedby
the preparationofs lides.In th ehuman
sciences,of course,almost all behaviour is a
productofb eingobser ved,scientifically or
otherwise,justasmost“news”onlyhappens
in order to bereported.

What doyouthinkwould happen in a
situation likethe one in the book’s Tenebrion
Wood in real life–would therebeaproper
scientific investigation,or wouldthe story
onlymakeittothe pagesofForteanTi mes?

In real life,an essentially elusi ve
phenomenonlikethe one featured in the
story would bevery difficulttoi nvestigate,
as the observationsHazardisabletomake
aredifficulttosharewithother observers,
who would have alot of latitude to interpret
them.Most peoplereject novelobser vations
thatdon’tfitinwith theirpreconceptions.
If onl ythey’ dlaughed at Galileo he’dhave
had aneasier time ofit,but alas,theycalled
him ahereti cand pu thim in prison,in order
to defend theirfatuousconvictions against
the evidence.Faithist he deadliestform of
mentalillness.

It is always difficulttopickfavourites, but
out ofyour own‘metaphysicalfantasies’ are

there anyfavouritespeculations thatyou

have particularly enjoyed?

My mostenduringfascination has always

beenthe further possibilitiesofl ife –the

future evolutionofl ifeonEarth and the

strangerpossibilitiesofl ifethereand

elsewhere.My next novel,TheRevelations

of Time andSpace,due from SnugglyBooks

early in 2020,sketches out an entire

speculative futurefor life on Earth and in

the Universe,picking up andextrapolating

ideasfrom earlier no vels,most significantly

Alien Abduction:TheWiltshireRevelations

(Borgo Press,2009).

Theproblemwithtexts lik ethat,of

course,isinteg rating suchextreme ideas into

storie swithhumancharacters,and linking

essentiallytrivial human problems with the

far-reaching notions–whichnecessarily

raises such questions aswhatrelevance

our li vescould possiblyhave in th egreat

schemeoft hings.If I’ve achie vedanything

in my caree rasanSFwrite r, that’ swherethe

achie vement lies–orwherethe ambition lay,

at least.

In the past, biology wasafruitful fieldfor

scholarly fantasy–dragons,sea serpents,

mermaids and the elusive yeti.Isthisafield

that mightstill producesomesurprises?

Biology has indeed beenafruitfulfield

forscholarly fantasy ,and stillis,including

but not limitedto th efascinationsof

cryptozoology .Icertainly hopethat there

might be moregenuine surprises in storeas

we learn moreabout the diversityofl ifeon

Earth–tow hich,of course,we might beable

to ma ke contributions of ourown.

Weappeartobeentering an erawhere

expertsare ignoredand scepticismabout

science is atan all-timehigh.Wouldyou

agree with this,andwheredoyou see us

going next?

Idon’tthink thatscepticismregarding

science is atan all-timehigh; my

acquaintance with the speculative literatu re

of the pastsuggeststhatit’salwaysbeen

strong andstubborn.Nobody, including

scientists,ever wants to be confusedby an

incon venient truthwhen they’vealrea dy

made up their mind,and the naturalreaction

to havingyour pr ejudices challenged is to

digyour heels in.

One problemwithcontemporary

science is thatthe truth has turned out,

on conscientious investigation,tobev ery

complicated andreallyrather odd,defying

“common sense”in many diffe rent ways.

Thus,ablanketdenial of its pretensions

becomes psychologicall yattractivetomany

people,justase xaggeratedfaithins cience

becomes psychologicall yattractivetot hose

whothinktheycan and do understand

it –thus theargument tends to become

polarised.Astowhere we’reheadin gnext,

we’reheadingfordisaster –every body

knowsthat apart from professional liarsand

optimists.

Yo ur writingshave covered an astonishing

half-centuryofscientificdevelopment, from

the first man on the Moon to thecyber era,a

periodwhichhas also beenaremarkable one

forspeculativefiction.Wouldyousee it as a

goldenage, or is it all subjective?

Idon’t knowabouta“GoldenAge”–tricky

notion–but th elast half-century has

certainly seenspectaculardevelopments in

science and technology that have changed

the worldmoreinafewdecades than

allthe pr eviouscenturiescontri vedto

do.Inmyyouth,when the microchiphad

yettobeinvented,the possibilitiesnow

inherent in electronic technologywere

literallyunimaginable ,and nobodycould

begintof oresee what possibilitiesmight

develop fr om th ediscoveryof th emolecular

structureofDNA and the subsequent

“cracking”ofthe geneticcode.Thosetwo

areas of discovery have helped to promote a

spectacular leap in socialevolution,whose

consequences willcontinue to unfoldfora

whileyet,until we contrivethe collective

suicidethat we areall trying so hardto

commit...