Science fiction and the medical humanities

Miller, Gavin; McFarlane, Anna

doi:10.1136/medhum-2016-011144

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…However, it is the way in which Baymax appears to strike a satisfactory balance between giving autonomy to the human subject while providing protection and assistance, as suggested by Sharkey and Sharkey, 19 that earns Hiro's respect. The autonomy exhibited by Baymax, Robot in RF and the synths in Humans function as both fictive novum (typically found in science fiction narratives) 20 and emergent technology. The novum is typically an innovation extrapolated through the perceived 'cognitive effect' of believable technological advancements.…”

Section: Fears and Expectations Replacement Fearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition, collaboration and community: science fiction representations of robot carers inRobot & Frank,Big Hero 6andHumans

Teo

2020

Med Humanities

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In the 2010s, a small number of science fiction films and television series exploring the theme of the robot carer and how humans respond to them were released. This paper explores three works in this regard: the films Robot & Frank (dir. Jake Schreier, USA 2012), Big Hero 6 (dir. Don Hall/Chris Williams, USA 2014) and the television series Humans (UK/USA, Channel 4/AMC, 2015–2018). Examining these works with some of the ethical issues currently being discussed in the use of robot technology in care work, this paper demonstrates how they align themselves with, but also challenge some of these ideas, and ultimately direct viewers to consider their own expectations of personalised healthcare. The essay begins by examining the fears of the care industry deploying robots to replace the work of human carers, followed by a discussion of the effectiveness of robots as carers as depicted in these fictional representations, and the final section considers the social environment that these robot carers are situated in, and how the robots become a reflection of human lives and a repository of memories of affective relations. These texts suggest alternate ways of thinking about human–robot interactions and care work, advocating for a more mutually dependent and reciprocal working relationship that might lead to a better quality of care.

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Section: Fears and Expectations Replacement Fearsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognition, collaboration and community: science fiction representations of robot carers inRobot & Frank,Big Hero 6andHumans

Teo

2020

Med Humanities

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“…This media portrayal may also serve economic or political interests. “Because of cinema’s technoscientific impact, Hollywood science consultants deliberately use the medium ‘to convince the American public that a research field or a scientific subject needs more political, financial, and scientific attention’” (Miller & McFarlane, 2016, p. 214). As Miller and McFarlane indicate, science fiction circulates within the technoscientific imaginary —a cultural space in which the “potentiality” of science fiction, to use Eugene Thacker’s (2001) words, provides a futuristic and fantastical platform from which to consider and promote new developments in science and technology.…”

Section: Inception Avatar and The Technoscientific Imaginarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Rehabilitating the mind: Avatar (2009), Inception (2010) and the science fiction imagining of lucid dreaming in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in the U.S. military

Smith

2020

Transcult Psychiatry

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Transcultural psychiatry has increased awareness of alternative approaches to mental health and wellbeing, influencing developments in Western psychotherapeutic treatments. In this article, I look at the recent interest in alternative therapies by the U.S. military, which has explored the possibilities of lucid dreaming in order to help soldiers cope with the adverse mental and emotional effects of combat—commonly referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this context of concerns about effective rehabilitation and the cost of veteran care, I examine the popular science fiction films Avatar and Inception, which have been discussed in the media as illustrations of the potential use of lucid dreaming and digitally created virtual worlds to “heal” the minds of soldiers affected by modern warfare. In these media portrayals, psychology and science fiction come together to envision and promote human-machine fantasies of the endlessly salvageable and, therefore ultimately, invincible American soldier.

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“…As Gavin Miller and Anna McFarlane write in their introduction to a special edition of Medical Humanities that focused on science fiction, ‘research on science fiction within the medical humanities should articulate interpretative frameworks that do justice to medical themes within the genre. This means challenging modes of reading that encourage unduly narrow accounts of science fiction’ (Miller, 213) 15. Literature theorists Hans Robert Jauss and Elizabeth Benzinger touched on this very point when they presented the term ‘horizon of expectation’ (Jauss, 18)16 to describe the social context and expected aesthetic framework against which a given group of individuals will interpret and understand a piece of work.…”

Section: Disability and Science Fictionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Graphic illustration of impairment: science fiction,Transmetropolitanand the social model of disability

Gibson

2018

Med Humanities

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The following paper examines the cyberpunk transhumanist graphic novel through the theoretical lens of disability studies to demonstrate how science fiction, and in particular this series, illustrate and can influence how we think about disability, impairment and difference. While is most often read as a scathing political and social satire about abuse of power and the danger of political apathy, the comic series also provides readers with representations of impairment and the source of disability as understood by the Social Model of Disability (SMD). Focusing on the setting and fictional world in which takes place, as well as key events and illustration styling, this paper demonstrates that the narrative in this work encompasses many of the same theoretical underpinnings and criticisms of society's ignorance of the cause of disability as the SMD does. This paper aims, by demonstrating how can be read as an allegory for the disabling potential of society as experienced by individuals with impairments, to prompt readers into thinking more creatively about how narratives, seemingly unconcerned with disability, are informed and can be understood via disability theory.

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Science fiction and the medical humanities

Cited by 15 publications

References 11 publications

Recognition, collaboration and community: science fiction representations of robot carers inRobot & Frank,Big Hero 6andHumans

Recognition, collaboration and community: science fiction representations of robot carers inRobot & Frank,Big Hero 6andHumans

Rehabilitating the mind: Avatar (2009), Inception (2010) and the science fiction imagining of lucid dreaming in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in the U.S. military

Graphic illustration of impairment: science fiction,Transmetropolitanand the social model of disability

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