I can say what I want to say better in science fiction. Science fiction can transcend into mainstream fiction, says Dr. Kenneth Knoespel. Jurassic Park is a good example. Environmental issues oftentimes today become components in discussions about science fiction. The scene may be some exotic landscape in a far-off galaxy and the inhabitants may be as strange as they are remote, but don't be misled.
Science fiction is often about the politics of the here and now.
He makes the comparison to a computer simulation. You start at a given set of initial conditions, which are the present. You write a novel about that, and what you're doing is illuminating certain aspects of the initial conditions by exaggerating. It's a kind of metaphor. I think of science fiction as a kind of prose poetry because it is filled with metaphors.