Language is humanity’s superpower. Without it, culture, cultural evolution, global cooperation, and the accumulation of knowledge across generations would be impossible. Through linguistic offshoots, such as writing, we are able to practice a unique phenomenon: exbodiment , in which byproducts of our cognition can be captured, stored, shared, and... See more

Readers of such fictions learn to imagine alien societies, technologies, histories, languages, and forms of consciousness. This excites their ability to envision new futures for themselves individually and humanity collectively—a classic, long-recognized function of science fiction and fantasy.