Generation Inspired | Garrett Mills & Abigail Koesser | TEDxYouth@Louisburg
in the episode day of the moon of the hit science-fiction television show Doctor Who the eleventh Doctor claimed the human race will spread out among the stars you watch them fly billions and billions of them for billions and billions of years and every single one of them at some point in their lives look back at this man taking that very first step and they will never ever forget it the doctor was of course referring to the 1969 moon landing and this really Illustrated how the things we here we'd watch all impact our decisions because up until that point space travel is considered to be merely science fiction the fantasy of authors like Jules Verne and Isaac Asimov however thanks to the work of hundreds of dedicated people it became a reality in 1969 but science fiction stories about the moon surfaced as early as seventy nine BCE in ancient Greek myths and they continued throughout all the major ears of history from ancient Greece to medieval Europe through the Enlightenment and into modern literature though science fiction is still fiction it contains realistic elements that inspire inspire people to make the impossible reality through the years science fiction has grown in popularity it is something a majority of people have been exposed to and a large number of people enjoy now the doctor had it right when he claimed we would never forget the moon landing it was such a monumental achievement that people all around the world heard about it imagine for the first time ever people are walking around on a little rock more than 200,000 miles away this event sparked a wave of interest that created a generation passionate about space exploration it created it gave way to a whole culture of space inspired entertainment for movies and TV to books and toys this culture was key to motivating the budding young scientists of the time in a paper about the impact of science fiction on our generation and now a professor of educational foundations dated a science fiction novel ER story may peak a child's interest and turn his or her attention in a new direction what better way to learn about astronomy than by flying around the planets in the spaceship science fiction has been mainly looked at as a means of entertainment but now it's time we view it as it should be a key to inspiring future innovators of the war now most of us when you hear the phrase science fiction you probably imagine some stereotypical movie in which a mad scientist unleashes an entire race of alien invaders upon the world and the hero or heroine has to go and save the world single-handedly to emerge victorious however the diversity of science fiction has come a long way since the days of Wells is 1898 War of the Worlds make no mistake science fiction still contains many a far-fetched alien Crusades but as mankind has become more scientifically advanced so the stories as nauman puts it the science fiction writer must do more than simply speculate about the future he or she must be able to be must be knowledgeable in the principles and practices of science and technology and be able to construct on paper a new world whose advances are based on scientific fact now for most of us when we go to the movies you don't walk in there thinking oh boy I hope I learned how to invent insert currently fictional invention here if you're like me you're probably just going to see a movie but think about this though have you ever gone to see a superhero movie in which a ragtag band hero saves the entire world and then left the theater wishing you could do the same thing it's the same basic principle in the Martian a popular novel and movie by Andy weir astronaut Mark Watney is stranded on Mars during a not too far-fetched Mars landing mission where's book is founded on scientific fact and closely resembles what an actual Mars mission might look like however as we're puts it all the technology in the book exists it's just that the book versions are the more effective or the more efficient versions of that technology and the Martian is a great example of what a Mars landing mission might look like in real life and the science fiction can break through or the science could rake through the fiction sooner than you think according their website NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to Mars as soon as the 2030s during an interview we're talked a lot about how science and fiction influenced him saying I loved classic sci-fi as a child I'm lynn clark and asthma if i had to pick a favorite i'd probably say I Robot where is a great example of someone who is inspired by science fiction and interred paid it forward so to speak by writing to inspire further generations in fact many of the technological impossibilities the past have been brought to life thanks to science fiction and we have been like all men sing haul the thing for that as a young boy in India almut was inspired by the world to science fiction as well he said those are my favorite times as a child sitting in my room on a hot summer day in India watching Star Trek sync Hall would eventually grow up to be one of the leading engineers at google's voice recognition program a passion to eat attributes to his love of Star Trek particularly the way they vocally ask the computer questions and it provides answers seeing Hall says the sci-fi show really piqued his interest in technology history files subject former governor colors of Tarsus for also known as kodos the executioner after that background on actor Anton karidian working go does the executioner summary governor of Tarsus 420 earth years ago invoked martial law slaughtered fifty percent of population earth colony that planet earned body found when earth forces arrived no positive identification that sounds awfully familiar so let's try this raise your hand if you own a smartphone so that's most of the people now raise your hand if you've ever used google on your smartphone yes so almut later went on as every said to become one of the leading engineers for google's voice recognition program and thanks to the inspiration that Star Trek gave him more than 20 million teens can pick up their phones and ask Google a question every single day a surprising number of honored inventions can be traced back to science fiction authors for example Simon Lake the inventor of the submarine gathered his inspiration from one of Jules Verne's most famous novels 20,000 Leagues over to see in which the crew of explorers were taken aboard a great submarine ship that was completely unheard of the time Lake then created his first experimental submarine the Argonaut jr. without the invention of the submarine we wouldn't be able to reach the deep depths of the sea like burn dream to his novel in fact a number of famous inventions have been inspired by Vern's novels teak Igor Sikorsky for example he was inspired by one of urns lesser-known books the Clipper the clouds and he later went on to invent the world's first helicopter these men are great examples of people who found inspiration in other's work and his Verne famously said anything one man can imagine another can make real the science fiction culture of the past paved the way for today's great inventions many of which were thought impossible just as the past paved the way for today so today's science fiction inspires the future innovators as nauman states the genre may provide for children and adults alike a window on the future a means of predicting how life might be at some future date the study of history shows us how the events in the past have affected the present science fiction gives us an idea of how the decisions we make now may affect our lives in the future now imagine how incredible some of today's commonplace inventions would be to our ancestors giant hunks of metal that can fly all around the world in just under a day tiny robots that can go to the deepest depths of the sea and take pictures of exotic sea of exotic life-forms and rockets that can carry people farther away from Earth than anyone has ever before gone is incredibly critical that a generation rises up with not just the ability but the motivation to fix the world's problems debt conflict pollution etc as science fiction author neil Steffensen wrote speaking broadly the techno optimism of the Golden Age of science fiction has given way to fiction written in a darker more skeptical and ambiguous tone the darker future has begun to replace the shining future one scene in fact science-fiction writings of old back then science fiction writers dreamed of unattainable inventions rockets to the moon time travel in living robots however today's science fiction is notably less ambitious so we challenge you don't forget to dream imagine the Impossibles time travel teleportation and yes colonies on Mars well the little innovations that today are undeniably important we must be careful to work toward a greater mission it was no wonder that some of humanity's greatest achievements fell during the so-called golden age of science fiction it was an era of big dreams and even bigger successes so let us go read sci-fi novels watch sci-fi movies and above all dream go and let us be a generation inspired thank you you