The History of Science Fiction - Pseudo-Science - Extra Sci Fi - Part 3

[@extrahistory]

Why is so much science fiction inspired by the occult and the supernatural--the *opposite* of science? Let's investigate the philosophical atmosphere of the 19th century.

[@barrybend7189]

Extra Credits please remember to look at Japanese cyberpunk as they have a unique way of both telling and their views on the subject. Like GUNNM and Ghost in the Shell.

[@blockyuniverseproductions]

Can you do some stuff about the Doctor Who series?

[@MrRando-cs1sn]

I hope The King in Yellow gets a episode to itself.

[@adriennegormley9358]

Note 'N' Credit Academy Alternate history is indeed science fiction. The "what if" is keyed to "if things turned out differently" instead of "what might happen." Mike Resnick in fact edited a series of alternate history anthologies through the 90s, snd Harry Turtledove and L. Neil Smith have written a lot in this area.

[@cobramcjingleballs]

It's odd though that real science was heavily influenced by the occult or occult like influence of dreams. Einstein, Clarke, Tesla and others came up with their theories through dreams and even "spirits." You have a massive amount of occult symbolism around the CERN collider including a statute of Shiva the destroyer outside (not ominous at all) and their movies showing ritualistic symbolism. You have those people and some of the top guys in A.I talking about releasing demons. In the most bizarre science story ever, the father of the US space program was out in the desert with L. Ron Hubbard doing satanic rituals to impregnate his wife with the antichrist , like something out of Lovecraft's Dunwich Horror. Hubbard ended up running off with his wife, no word if she conceived. :)

[@ProjSHiNKiROU]

We are still doing this kind of science fiction in the 21st century: DOOM 2016, Wolfenstein, Star Wars, and most non-Real Robot science fiction anime.

[@DreadBirate]

That’s not what this is about. This is about stuff that was thought to be real by some at the time.

[@someguynamedsomething9612]

ah yes that pillar of extistencually horrifying sci fi, doom 2016

[@tmage23]

This series rivals "Extra History" in terms of quality. I hope it continues for a long time.

[@esirex7371]

I love the art in these videos ❤️😍

[@goyonman9655]

Armless hands

[@jakitron890]

Technically we can still "bury them at sea" since we don't know much about the deep ocean

[@imveryangryitsnotbutter]

Or we can hide them deep underground, or store them in buildings with unassuming facades.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Or in plain sight what with things beyond our detection

[@7Seraphem7]

Or have them be something that lives on some other plane of reality. So many options if you are creative enough.

[@bobbyallan2606]

It doesn't fly like it used to. 90 years ago you could hide Cthulhu at the bottom of the sea and be all "Who KNOWS what's down there?". Today if you hide Cthulhu at the bottom of the sea it's more a case of "Well the sea's pretty big so maybe all the explorers accidentally missed him?"

[@Alexaflohr]

Outer space is still an option, and plenty of writers thrive on the idea of what horrors could be lurking in the infinite expanse beyond this world.

[@damascus21]

The artist for this series is doing a FANTASTIC job, guys

[@ingonyama70]

1) Between Charles Xavier, John Constantine, and Eleven, you guys made this superhero nerd's day. 2) As a practicing witch with an interest in science, I firmly believe that belief in both scientific, proven facts and the possibility of there being more to the world than science can explain are necessary for a balanced mental & spiritual "diet". 3) I love all the EC artists, past and present, but Hueso's art remains some of the most amazing I've ever seen on this channel. 4) I'm more of a fantasy fan than a sci-fi one, but this cross-section of science and pseudo-science is where all the really creative, fun stuff happens. If we didn't have this place where science and the occult meet, superhero comics, particularly The Big Two, would not exist.

[@baranix3384]

Thank you for saying everything that I wanted to say but with better words. EDIT: Except I'm not a practicing witch, but you get the idea.

[@mostmost1]

As a Christian I believe the same.

[@firesonic23]

As a Christian, I believe in a similar view of the world/universe.

[@marlutteyestrelt3441]

The hint of looking at The King in Yellow and The House on the Borderland has me incredibly excited. Specially William Hope Hodgson. His work is one of the strangest type of fiction I've seen, particularly his work on "The Nightland" and he is a very spoken topic in modern times. I hope to learn new stuff about him, and more of course, in the next video.

[@nantukoprime]

Hope they talk about how the Hyperborean mythos and Cthulhu mythos are two tries at a very similar mythos, adapted to work in two very different settings.

[@XuntosIzor]

You guys don't know how much I appreciate this series and how important I consider it. I sincerely thank you

[@indigohalf]

David Hueso killed it again this episode. Absolutely gorgeous use of limited color palettes and precisely the right level of detail to evoke a strong mood.

[@joshualewis95707]

If anyone's read The Dresden Files, it reads a lot like occult sci-fi, even though it's actually urban-fantasy. Phenomenal series nonetheless.

[@merrittanimation7721]

It really is

[@7Seraphem7]

ALL OF THE YES!

[@Ghonosyphlaids]

It's got interesting lore ideas, but for anyone thinking about reading them, if dated tropes and bad dialogue bother you, I'd recommend steering clear.

[@7Seraphem7]

Ahem.. Zombie T-Rex

[@joshualewis95707]

Somebody's read the Evil Overlord List.

[@trupotato]

Still really happy about this series. Thanks for making it.

[@nerdamongus9629]

We know you're gonna give Star Wars, Star Trek, and Battle-Star Galactica a mention, but please give a wink at *StarGate* please, please, please!

[@JohnnyElRed]

Seriously? I'm writing a book about the mixing of science and magic in a early 20th century style fictional world, and you come up with videos about the mixing of science and magic in early 20th century fiction. I can only say... thank you.

[@tarupido100]

extra sci-fi is being my favorite series on this channel right now

[@arturoreyescortez2476]

I usually prefer scifi that is based on natural phenomenons or exploring the unknown, but it's really entertaining to see how this worlds of science and magic work. Gravity Falls is an example of dealing with paranormal stuff and solving puzzles, and it even trascends the show by motivating the fans to solve the show's puzzles themselves.

[@SteveVerstaka]

The supernatural will always have a place in sci-fi if handled properly. Clark stated it best when he said "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

[@MidnighterClub]

Great episode! I'm really enjoying this Sci Fi series. One thing I would like to see is maybe a Sci Fi Lies episode on the books that were too weird or bad to make it into the episode on the weird stuff. Also: when you get to the episode on Sci Fi, drugs and ESP, Akira (the manga by Katsuhiro Otomo) must be mentioned, it's a fantastic read.

[@alexanderfortier5488]

Do you have any Extra Sci-Fi merchandise in the works? Extra Sci-Fi has become a solid jewel of this channel, and I'm sure there'd be people who want a t-shirt related to this series.

[@davidhueso]

I shall ask the team about this :D

[@hollisrules6279]

Can't say enough how much i love this series

[@TheJboy88]

I just want to take a moment to say how awesome the art is for this series. Seriously, whoever does your drawings, I tip my hat to them :)

[@marsupialmole3926]

I take offense at the suggestion that pulp sci-fi is, by definition, bad It's goofy, totally impossible, and separate from the basis of most proper sci-fi, but it's fun as all hell

[@BritonRodenborg]

Seeing the name Chambers and hearing Lovecraft is what makes me really excited for the next episode

[@merrittanimation7721]

You know, when they mentioned the word foundation I expected that to be the hook for the next episode. Because, you know, Asimov

[@jean-philippedoyon9904]

I know ! But i'm so happy they are gonna do Frank Herbert Dune Saga in the next segment...Asimov will have his turn, that's for sure !! I just hope Philip K.Dick will have it too !!

[@profharveyherrera]

I love the way you all tell stories, and the art, and everything about your channel!! I would like to kiss, hug and shake the hand of everyone in your wonderful team!! keep it up!!

[@AfterDark00001]

This is my favourite channel on youtube

[@alymoose53]

I've got to say, the artwork in this series is top-notch.

[@Not_Zeta_Squid]

Two of my favorite examples include "the DOOM series" and the InFamous series! DOOM being based around how researchers are trying to solve Earth's energy crisis by tapping power through a portal into a suspiciously "Hell-like" deminsion full of brutal, demonoid creatures. The InFamous series revolving around the idea of using a special device (the Ray-Sphere) to syphon the neural energy of nearby "average" humans to enhance and enpower rare humans with the genetically passed down "conduit gene" (X-men style), making them absorb and manipulate a particular element and often weaponize said element. The ray field energy generated and emited after using the Ray-sphere device makes humans with or without the conduit gene become fataly ill, unless a potential "Conduit human" has been activated during or before initial exposure to high levels of ray field energy. Plus, at the cost of nearby normal humans: an already activated Conduit human with signifcant power( has absorbed grand amounts of ray field energy) can turn other unactivated, potential conduits into active ones. I hope others agrre with me on these and would like to chat here about such games and maybe even bring up others...

[@tomrivlin7278]

I know it's on point every week but holy crap was the art on point this week. That is just some phenomenal Constantine fanart at 2:55

[@zodayn]

The Lore podcast has has great episodes on how belief in the occult shaped culture on the 19th and 20th century for anyone who's interested.

[@92Slartibartfast]

Zodayn , you got me sincerely interested. Where I can find this podcast?

[@Alverant]

Thumbs up for the Discworld reference!

[@merrittanimation7721]

Where?

[@BSABJohnson]

5:53

[@simonlaw5529]

Hex the magic computer.

[@92Slartibartfast]

It was kinda familiar indeed. The total lack of ants tricked me.

[@Croz89]

Discworld seems to me to be a fantasy parody of our own modern world.

[@Katnissmeza]

I only see this for him, he showed me his channel, I learned many things, things that maybe I learned from him, he always ended up explaining what I did not understand

[@MartaTarasiuk]

I grew up reading that type of SF so I'm really excited to see you talking about it. I'll be looking forward to the next episode.

[@pughotel90]

I cant wait until they talk about love craft in his own video because I love his work. It really showed true space horror and he was one of the pioneers of space horror

[@swapnilkarmakar7473]

I've loved the art for a long time, and I love it the most now. Huge props to the artist

[@rexmundi3108]

L. Sprague de Camp wrote a series of stories featuring Harold Shea and his adventures into alternate universes via the use of a scientific approach to magic: fits this video's topic perfectly. "The Mathematics of Magic" (Aug. 1940) is one of his earliest.

[@GeistIV]

The art on this episode is particularly charming

[@noahgreer1497]

Would love to see an episide dedicated to Lovecraft's work.

[@michaelsuite9329]

I love the art you guys are using for this series

[@enottimon]

Art for this episode is just gorgeous!

[@xylaardhiafiorina6844]

This video’s art is amazing! Seriously top notch, kudos to the animator/artist.

[@flyguy23041]

Looking forward to an analysis of the King in Yellow series. I was surprised to stumbled upon something that was so eerie, unsettling and that has gotten such little recognition compared to Lovecraft's work. Never hearing about the King in Yellow before made The Repairer of Reputation of Reputation so much better, those freaking cat scenes were graphic. Also for anyone interested in listening to the series before the analysis, I would recommend Horror Babble KZbin channel, they did a great job on the series.

[@Heevan]

Yay! Loving this series and I love the little Pratchett reference you had thrown in there too. :D

[@Blizzic]

Dude I forgot that Hecknomancer was an adaptation from a science fiction novel.

[@dragonslayercorx]

Wow, the art is so gorgeous on this episode! Nice job!!! ❤️

[@the3nder1]

This episode was just a teaser for future episodes! Lol still great though. Can't wait for you guys to cover Hyperion.

[@leonardomartinez3300]

You never let me down extra credits thanks for doing what you do

[@LazyDogJumper]

5:52 HEX! The magical computer in the Unseen University of Discworld! Fantastic and very appropriate reference!

[@NotHPotter]

I cannot wait for you guys to get to Heinlein.

[@vanderkarl3927]

Definitely one of my favorite eras of Sci-Fi. Heinlein and Asimov were basically my heroes growing up.

[@TheCreepypro]

nice set up can't wait to see you guys connect the dots next week in my mind the occult and science were never at odds the occult was just the fringes of an explanation where as science was the most if not all of the explanation but that is just me

[@danmenard6917]

Nice, thank you for putting Falling Free on the list of examples of good science fiction. Bujold is one of my favorite sci-fi authors.

[@jean-philippedoyon9904]

Perhaps a dichotomy between the Star Trek universe and the Alien universe and their observations of the influence of science on human...one side good and beneficial and the other bad and stagnant...could be a cool way to end it !

[@Milnoc]

Futurama Brain Slugs! LOL!

[@henrypaleveda7760]

the hypnotode

[@daviddragoon82]

Been reading Lovecraft glad to see a mention. His mythology is fascinating. Sanity and the outer reaches.

[@crazyjackal]

I'm really enjoying this series

[@pkingo1]

The occult is coming back, as we discover life is stranger than we think. New mysterious realms are opening up to us. It's not just terrifying, also wonderous and liberating. I see these ideas seeping into modern storytelling.

[@Alexaflohr]

I was wondering when you would get to Lovecraft. Looking forward to it!

[@anextlomara5981]

And Lovecraft

[@lelagrangeeffectphysics4120]

Anextlomara yeah hastur was In the video

[@stantrien8106]

Mr. "Yellow Drapes McTentacle-face" Hastur isn't really one of Lovecraft's works, though he does mention him here and there.

[@Alexaflohr]

Hastur is not Lovecraft's invention. He was made by another writer to fit into the Mythos. Lovecraft himself only did a few gods: Cthluhu, Dagon, Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yig, etc. The rest are monsters lurking in the shadows, travelers from outer space, visitors from other dimensions, and civilizations lost to time. Something the newer mythos additions severely lack is the old-fashioned sense of vast untapped worlds that you get from At the Mountains of Madness or The Great Race of Yith.

[@videospawner]

Thank you guys for these great videos

[@catchamp1880]

When Mom calls you by your full name Science Fience

[@deadsoul7736]

Nice one

[@panie445]

Id imagine a really soft and short “JoJo” from Speedwagon in your pfp

[@SpecterVonBaren]

YES! We'll finally get to Lovecraft!

[@babygorilla4233]

oooo that penguin when you said you live in a world you cannot control.

[@leahperdue4655]

There are so many pop culture references in these videos and I love it

[@noahgreer1497]

I think you could still make mystery/horror stories about the deep sea and Antarctica, considering so little of it has actually been explored today.

[@CelestiaLily]

The Glass Scientists is a webcoming about a bunch of pseudoscientists (The Society for Arcane Sciences) living together and trying to fund their wacky projects by looking respectable. The Society is also run by a certain popular Victorian chemist with a dark side... it's quite a fun read! :)

[@BaronVonFisticuffs]

Hellblazer is an underrated reference, thanks for that!

[@AnonymousViewer]

5:35 - OW! Pointy! UUUUGGGH slimy! Oh God! Moving!

[@TORchic1]

Nice video, guys. Seeing the occult and science mixing together like this is pretty interesting. It reminds me of the Megami Tensei games. Like, the premise is weird when you think about it because people are able to summon demons through electrical devices with a special program that replicates summon rituals. Weirder still is that the program was designed by a version of none other than the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking.

[@bobbyallan2606]

aww yiss, you know a history of scifi's gonna be thorough when they do a whole episode just _setting up_ a look at pioneers of the Weird.

[@valentinpoussou7087]

Getting to science fiction and science fantasy I see ! I love that idea ; the loose border between magic and science where science can be treated as magic and magic as science.

[@onemanjack6912]

HECKNOMANCER RETURNS

[@viaxon6]

FINALLY someone getting the 'sci fi part' of Lovecraft... And some love for King In Yellow

[@delphynenull2136]

I know I already asked, but the mention of him in this video reminded me - could you do an Extra Sci Fi segment on Lovecraft? His works fall more into the genre they created, Cosmic Horror, but that’s arguably a type of scifi anyway.

[@Skund79]

Sergei Lukyanenko is one of the best modern Sc-Fi authors of our time. Exploring the human mind and challenge the reader to question his own beliefs, morals.

[@thegoldpaladin5494]

Did no one notice the Hecknomancer reference? Or just me?

[@pcachu]

You only saw one? You need to keep a sharper eye out for hecking sneks.

[@bazzarr9251]

I noticed it, I'm surprised that there isn't a comment higher up (at the time of my post) with more people commenting on it. There is a lot of stuff like that in Extra credits videos if you know where to look (the infamous wapole is the most well known one, and I probably just spelt it wrong).

[@fatalfeline]

If you want to experience some great pseudo-science sci fi in game form, you should get Zero Escape: The Nonary Games on Steam! (they're visual novel/puzzle games)

[@dinamyter2860]

2 BÖC references in one video i'm already loving it

[@Shadorin2]

David must have had so much fun making this video

[@quintoncraig9299]

People keep mixing reality and science, science is the discovery of knowledge through testing. "Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science."

[@quintoncraig9299]

As somebody whom has written overly complex world of my own, one that you could argue is more complex, and yet more thoroughly understood than our own world. Science and magic exist alongside each other because science is a tool of observation and magic is a tool of manipulation. Simply put, they can exist along side each other, and before you say nothing supernatural happens in our world, there are in fact many instances of anomaly's that science can't explain, because they're not trying to apply the scientific method, they're trying to use existing knowledge to explain what can't be explained with current knowledge, the only way to acquire new knowledge is to open your mind to the unknown so that you may see, basically, don't deny something because it doesn't fit in your existing model of the universe, and remember "Reality is often stranger than fiction".

[@101Mant]

Quinton Craig in everyday language people use "science" as a term for knowledge gained through the scientific process which can be confusing sometimes. Certainly if there was a work with supernatural powers or creatures but they followed some rules you could apply the scientific process. Discworld actually springs to mind with wizards of the Unseen University doing actual science and experiments (between meals). In fact fantasy settings where people know all the rules of magic without some scientific method often bother me, how do they know these things given how bad humans generally are at figuring out how things work without the scientific method. That said if a piece of scientific knowledge, or rather our current best scientific model, is well established and tested and someone makes a claim that contradicts it it's a perfectly rational response to be skeptical unless they have some solid proof. You have to be able to accept the current model maybe wrong, but you don't just accept something that contradicts it without good evidence either.

[@Bluecho4]

Wish we could have seen a snek devouring its own tail, with the caption "hex" on it. That would be a meme, alright. On a more serious note, this sort of blending of Science and the Occult is why I love Mage: The Ascension so much. A game where a high ritualist could team up with a ray-gun wielding genius to fight science fascists, dark wizards riding space squids, and floating ex-human who assaults with waves of pure madness. A game where a shaman will put on a VR headset, in order to commune with digital spirits in the vistas of cyberspace. Where a lone researcher straps an ancient artifact into a scratch-built apparatus, in order to derive some primeval power into a modern device. It's a game of mad, beautiful ideas.

[@JoshSweetvale]

It's Hammer Horror the RPG

[@Cassiuswasright]

I feel like the occult has a special relationship with the scientific community, because by taking all new scientific ideas to an absurd extreme and testing the very limits of confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance the occultists challenge everybody to prove them wrong, and force every scientist to look at their own mental process with scrutiny to ensure they aren't falling into old traps

[@101Mant]

Tyler Easley except you don't need to prove them wrong, if someone makes an extraordinary claim like being able to talk to the dead and can't provide any proof you can simply dismiss it. The burden of proof is on the person making the the claim, not on the scientific community to debunk every fraud or gullible idiot. There are sceptics who use scientific knowledge and methods to debunk occult claims but that has almost nothing to do with the vast majority of the scientific community. I really don't see this special relationship.

[@Cassiuswasright]

I'm mostly saying that occultists are going to crop up no matter how rational most of the populace becomes. And that occultists are in some part a result of breakthroughs in science being misunderstood, and that breakthroughs in science are often occultism misunderstood. Gunpowder being the elixer of life for example, or the idea that the brain runs on electricity being proof that telepathy is real. Both the inventor of gunpowder and the author of the ill-advised and overfunded decades-long government study on astral projection believed they were dealing with life and death and the secrets of the universe, but luckily only one of them discovered how to reach the land of the dead (gunpowder, lol), and the other discovered that you truly can get the military to fund anything if you're a charismatic physicist source on the moneysink of a government study: www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00788R001700210016-5.pdf

[@shadowdagger2]

At the end of this series could you do a separate smaller video (Or longer video) of suggestions for Sci-Fi? Perhaps by books that inspired famous authors or maybe if you like this then try this? I love this genre but sometimes it's hard to separate the good from the bad. Just a thought. Also as a side note I love your Extra History video's. It's made me learn about a lot of really cool people and events I either didn't know about (Like Urbino) or thought I knew a lot about but you put a different spin on it. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put in and James keep doing those Lies episodes their great!

[@paxonite-7bd5]

That artwork is beautiful! ❤

[@joyfullin]

So you may not see this, but a couple of days ago my teacher was teaching the class about the Articles of Confederation, and she showed one of your videos. At first I thought that I knew the art style, until I noticed that it could of only been the one and only Extra Credit Btw the video was great and it helped me on the test, so thank you

[@jean-philippedoyon9904]

Philip. K. Dick and the uchronia worlds...or dystopian future would be nice !! Also I'm so happy your gonna finally talk about Frank Hebert and the Dune Saga !!!

[@NorthandClark]

Thumbs up this whole damn series. Boy howdy.

[@Cyborg-zg6ml]

you guys should do the illuminatis! trilogy. To me it is the ultimate culmination of sci-fi, the occult, and psychedelics to create one of the most mind-bending reads ever.

[@bananasean5145]

I'm curious to know how you do your research for these videos. So many books and information surrounding their creation is all extremely fascinating!

[@samvimes9510]

2:54 fuck yeah, Constantine! Still one of my favorite comic series, along with Sandman, Lucifer and Transmetropolitan. It's a damn shame DC completely ruined his character in The New 52, and ruined it even more in that horrible TV show. 3:34 that's what I love most about the blending of horror and sci-fi. Today in western society, atheism and nihilism is on the rise. Incredible advances in science have become so commonplace that the idea of artificially extending our lives through cybernetics, or even uploading our consciousness to a computer, is seen as something within our grasp. We play around with technological marvels that even 50 years ago would have seemed absurd, and so notions of gods and devils have become laughable to many. Being religious is something that is frequently mocked, especially within scientific academia. That's why I love the idea that, no matter how advanced we become, there are still forces out there completely beyond our comprehension, that view us as little more than ants.

[@jpeg1991]

Great art, as always, in this episode.

[@sransom042]

"Thank you Fry it was very cold down on the floor"-Hermes 😂😂😂

[@robertwangenstein8569]

Great series. Thanks.

[@SwitchFeathers]

Glad to see a cameo from Hex the Thinking Engine in this episode!

[@beretperson]

"We live in the flicker - May it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday."

[@jamesembry4921]

Loved the Constantine art.

[@Refloni]

3:08 That might be the funniest image so far in this series.

[@KelbaughJAK]

Loved the Pratchett Reference

[@jjc5475]

the art in this video is really nice!

[@henrybartholomew3314]

I hope they talk about Warhammer 40K si-fi where they talk about grimdark or going overboard with your ideas of the far future or maybe the mixing of si-fi and fantasy elements.