Evolution of the Science Fiction Writer's Capacity to Imagine the Future

TL;DR

This paper explores the evolutionary development of human creative and visionary abilities, particularly in science fiction writing, highlighting social benefits of diverse temporal thinking and creativity.

Contribution

It proposes a comprehensive theory linking evolution of language, thought, and creativity to the emergence of science fiction and future-oriented thinking.

Findings

Recursive thought evolved ~2 million years ago

Language and thought modes evolved ~100,000 years ago

Social benefits of diverse creativity and temporal focus

Abstract

Drawing upon a body of research on the evolution of creativity, this paper proposes a theory of how, when, and why the forward-thinking story-telling abilities of humans evolved, culminating in the visionary abilities of science fiction writers. The ability to recursively chain thoughts together evolved approximately two million years ago. Language abilities, and the ability to shift between different modes of thought, evolved approximately 100,000 years ago. Science fiction dates to at least the second Century AD. It is suggested that well before this time, but after 100,000 years ago, and concurrent with the evolution of a division of labour between creators and imitators there arose a division of labour between past, present, and future thinkers. Agent-based model research suggests there are social benefits to the evolution of individual differences in creativity such that there is a balance between novelty-generating creators and continuity-perpetuating imitators. A balance between individuals focused on the past, present, and future would be expected to yield similar adaptive benefits.