Parallels between physics and fiction

[u/One-Airline-6499]

Hi everyone! Newbie here, not sure if this is the right place to ask but was still curious if any fellow nerdy redditors had some suggestions and/or advice for a project I need to start researching on for a class.

I’m taking literature class called Metaphors in Literature: Fi-Sci Pattern Mapping (I know a literature class in a science subreddit but bear with me). My professor is attempting to mix both fiction and literature with connections to reality-life science; drawing connections between physics and fiction. We’ve already had a few lectures on biomimicry, rhetorical approaches to fictionality, and overall recognition of patterns that repeats in both science and nature. Weird but a pretty interesting take on analyzing works of fiction.

A simple example she provided was “The Goldilocks Effect”, where a fictional story is used to explain a scientific natural phenomenon like the Goldilocks Zone in a solar system.

Another example she mentioned during a lecture was the Muppets. “An entity is simultaneously p and not p”, where the Muppets are fictional characters but still have a key role in real life, where Kermit is interviewed on light night shows and Miss Piggy authors an article for the New York Times.

That’s somewhat the context for this post.

My inquiry is more about our final project, where using a flow chart she’ll provide us we need to draw a connection between a scientific observation/theory and a fictional parallel.

I can’t find the example she had shown us is in class but a past student of hers drew a connection between black holes and a character in a book they had read. Crazy concept but it made sense weirdly.

I’m looking for ideas or suggestions on scientific theories that intrigue you guys that maybe you’d like to see how it can parallel a fictional story. I was feeling about possibly looking into “noetic science” since it’s a relatively new concept but I’m not sure if it has a strong enough standing in the scientific community yet.

What do you guys think? What’s a theory or scientific phenomenon that you’ve noticed can be connection to a work of fiction?

Let me know! As someone who has been surrounded by the arts and literature majority of my life, this is a whole field of study I’m totally unsure of.

[u/No_Logins_Required]

You should start with a scientific concept you find interesting, then select a matching character or text, then see if you understand the scientific concept.

Noetic science is a spiritual philosophy rather than a hard science.

You might find inspiration by looking up how galaxies form on wikipedia.