My experience with science fiction

Until fairly recently, I have been a hardcore star wars fan. I played lots of video games associated with the franchise, and I loved the philosophy involved in Star Wars. However, I was introduced to Star Trek: The Original Series not too long ago, and I have to say, I'm in love. Obviously, special effects are not the draw; it's the spirit of Star Trek that hooked me. There is some amazing optimism and boldness within the original show that seeps out before you even see a first episode. The cast was light-years ahead of its time in terms of diversity. The had to fight for Uhura to be played by a black woman. In place of the self-centered Odyssey that Star Wars presented, Star Trek was a vision of how the human race was going to improve, taken directly from present day on Earth, rather than an arbitrary setting in a galaxy far, far away. Anyway, that's how I see science fiction now: as a way for us to examine our government, cultural values, religion, ethics, etc. by placing them in a utopian setting and getting a fresh look at how we as humans define ourselves.

So, my definition of science fiction is influenced by my experience with Star Trek: Science Fiction is a story concerning humans' projected cultural, technological, or political progress or decline, set in another time, space, or some other setting isolated from the realistic present day.

In defense of the "humans'" part of my definition: while Star Trek may've involved Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, and a host of other non-human species, ultimately these are beings introduced to act as a stereotype for a human trait. Just as Disney movies involve animals with human characteristics, SF involves 'aliens.' That is why human-ness is central to SF. While a book about a totally non-human species that has no anthropomorphic qualities whatsoever may exist somewhere, I sincerely doubt anyone would be interested in reading it.