Ulme-argument ja uus teadmine

Abstract

Kas üks bambus võiks tõepoolest mõelda ja kõneleda? Kas taimedega saaks ja tuleks võrdsetel alustel koostööd teha? Sue Burke’i ulmeromaanis “Semiosis” (2018) tehakse see usutavaks. Romaani alusel tekkivas ulme-kujutluses kerkib esile teadmine, et taimmõtlemine ja -kõnelemine ei pruugi olla midagi müstilist. Selle teadmise kergitab esile ulme-argumendi mehhanism. Ulme-argument on ulmeteostele omane uute teadmiste hankimise viis. Esimeses osas selgitame ulme-argumendi toimimist ja teises uute teadmiste sündi “Semiosises”.

Could a bamboo plant really think and speak? Could we, and should we, cooperate with plants on equal terms? Sue Burke’s science fiction novel "Semiosis" (2018) makes this seem plausible. The science-fictional imagination that emerges from the novel gives rise to the insight that plant thinking and communication need not be anything mystical. This insight is brought to the fore by the mechanism of the science fiction argument. A science fiction argument is a way of acquiring new knowledge that is characteristic to science fiction. In the first part, we explain how the science fiction argument works; in the second, we examine how new knowledge emerges in "Semiosis“.