Isaac Asimov? Leonard Nimoy? Allen Ginsberg? Jane Kramer? Donald A. Wollheim? Chester Whitehorn? Ric Ocasek? Greg Hawkes? Apocryphal?
We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact.
There’s nothing to be learned from history any more. We’re in science fiction now.
Surprisingly, these pronouncements were made several decades ago. Would you please help me to find citations?
Reply from Quote Investigator: Here is an overview with dates and attributions which presents a sampling of similar declarations:
1954: We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact. — Chester Whitehorn, Editor of short-lived “Science Fiction Digest”
1957 Jan: The bizarre fact that we do live in a science-fiction world. — Canadian Journalist James Cameron (not the moviemaker)
1968 Jun: We do live in a science fiction age. — John M. Connor, Librarian
1969: There’s nothing to be learned from history any more. We’re in science fiction now. — Allen Ginsberg, Poet
1971: I have had the disturbing conviction that we are all living in a science-fiction story. — Donald A. Wollheim, Science fiction editor
1974 May: We live in a science fiction age. — Leonard Nimoy, actor who played Spock in “Star Trek”
1975: We live, indisputably, in a science fiction world. — James E. Gunn, Science fiction scholar and author (not the moviemaker)
1978: Everything is science fiction. And I ought to know. — Ric Ocasek and Greg Hawkes, members of the rock group The Cars
1982: I think we’re living in a science fiction world right now. — Isaac Asimov, Science fiction author
2023 May: On what date do you expect @GreatDismal to go from being science fiction writer to historian? — UK director Duncan Jones
In 1954 optimistic editor Chester Whitehorn founded a periodical called “Science Fiction Digest”. Sadly, only two issues were published before the effort failed.[ref] 1993, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, Entry: Science Fiction Digest, Quote Page 1064, Column 1, St. Martin’s Press, New York. (Verified with scans) [/ref] Whitehorn was convinced that the world had entered a new era of futuristic possibilities. He wrote the following in an editor’s note:[ref] 1954, Science Fiction Digest, Volume 1, Number 1, Editor Chester Whitehorn, Article Title: S.F.D. Notes, Quote Page 1, Publisher: Specific Fiction Corporation, New York. Note about date: The month of the issue was not specified in the hardcopy; “The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction” (1993) edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls states that issue number one appeared in February 1954. (Verified with hardcopy) [/ref]
We live in a science-fiction age. Yesterday’s fantasy is already today’s fact; and today’s imaginings, well, perhaps only 24 hours from now, they too will have come to pass.
Additional details and citations are available in the article on the Medium platform which is located here.
Image Notes: Illustration of geometric shape embedded in space from spirit111 at Pixabay. The image has been cropped.
Acknowledgement: This article is dedicated to the memory of science fiction fan and librarian extraordinaire Dennis Lien who asked fascinating questions and helped QI on many occasions. Special thanks to Charles C. Doyle who accessed the issue of “Science Fiction Digest”. Also, thanks to Ben Zimmer who told QI about the tweet referencing William Gibson. Additional thanks to Fred Shapiro who placed the quotation from Alan Ginsberg in “The New Yale Book of Quotations” where QI encountered it for the first time.
Update History: On May 18, 2023 the 1954 citation was updated with details after the hardcopy of issue number 1, volume 1 was accessed. Also, on May 18, 2023 the tweet from Duncan Jones was added to the article.