this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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Cool story, but I'ma need some sources for these points. Submarines, for example, predate HG Wells by a lot. They even predate the other major novel about one, by Jules Verne. I absolutely agree that fiction sparks innovation, but let's use sourced examples instead of just throwing stuff out there.
Yeah, I think that list overemphasises the role of fiction in individual inventions. Most significant inventions have messy histories of iterative development and multiple sources of inspiration with varying degrees of influence. Here is a patent for a taser-like devices that predate the taser and doesn't use that name: https://www.freepatentsonline.com/3523538.html. It was also invented by a Japanese guy who probably never read the electric rifle book. The later company and commercial product just used the book as loose inspiration for the name.
On the other hand, that last paragraph in the long post undersells the role of fiction in how people's worldviews are shaped and how it can influence their everyday decisions. I think that's way more significant than any one invention, but it's even messier and hard to trace conclusively.
They made a mistake by just saying submarine. HG Wells wrote about a man exploring the ocean in a sphere. It was written in 1896. In the 1930s, the bathysphere was created. I don't know if they were inspired by his story or if it was a coincidence, but it's pretty cool either way!
I'm also not buying the idea that star trek was needed to invent cellphones after we had already invented wireless communication
Needed? No
Directly inspired? Literally yes. Look up a communicator and compare it to an early flip phone, for example. Also the nerds who did it admitted it lol
fair enough