The Medium Newsletter for today ~ Does science fiction teach us how to feel?

[Julie]

In E.T., a boy learns to care for an alien. In Lilo & Stitch, a genetically engineered creature becomes part of a young girl’s family. Writer and illustrator Gabriel Quinteroargues these movies don’t just entertain — they teach children how to feel. Citing research by psychologist Paul L. Harris, he explains that kids use fiction to simulate unfamiliar perspectives. When a child imagines what it’s like to be scared, lonely, or far from home, they start building emotional templates for experiences they haven’t had. And when adults ask questions like “Why do you think the alien is sad?” they help sharpen that emotional awareness. The next time the child sees someone left out or afraid, they’re more likely to recognize it and care.

A 2024 study in Communication Research likewise investigates how science fiction cultivates emotional perspective in adults. The researchers found that people who regularly engaged with the genre felt a stronger sense of connection to humanity as a whole. The key driver was awe, a feeling associated with vastness, uncertainty, and the recognition of being part of something larger. Science fiction prompts readers and viewers to imagine planetary threats, distant futures, and forms of life beyond their own. In doing so, it encourages them to see themselves not just as individuals, but as members of a shared species. By placing human life in a broader context, science fiction makes it easier to care about people outside our orbit.

Both Quintero and the 2024 study show how fiction teaches us to care beyond ourselves. For a child, imagining the loneliness of a stranded alien builds the instinct to care for someone unfamiliar. For an adult, science fiction stories that explore distant futures or planetary threats evoke a deeper sense of connection to humanity as a whole. Both foster connection with others, even when they seem strange or far away.

— Anna Dorn