We live on a minute island of known things. Our undiminished wonder at the mystery which surrounds us is what makes us human. In science fiction we can approach that mystery, not in small, everyday symbols, but in bigger ones of space and time.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the human condition and our tendency to marvel at the unknown beyond our limited understanding.
Damon Knight emphasizes that while we exist on a small island of knowledge, our curiosity and wonder about the vast mysteries that lie beyond are what define us as humans. He suggests that science fiction serves as a bridge to explore these mysteries not through mundane symbols but by engaging with grander concepts such as space and time, highlighting our innate desire to comprehend the universe.
In practice
In a speech about creativity, you might say, 'As Damon Knight reminds us, our undiminished wonder at mystery is fundamental to our humanity.'
Observations indicate that the universe is expanding at an ever-increasing rate. It will expand forever, getting emptier and darker. Although the universe doesn’t have an end, it had a beginning in the Big Bang. One might ask what is before that but the answer is that there is nowhere before the Big Bang just as there is nowhere south of the South Pole.
A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.
The difference between screwing around and science is writing it down.
I try to show the public that chemistry, biology, physics, astrophysics is life. It is not some separate subject that you have to be pulled into a corner to be taught about.
A lot of my research time is spent daydreaming - telling an imaginary admiring audience of laymen how to understand some difficult scientific idea.
I would suggest that science is, at least in my part, informed worship.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.