By Noah Dawson

Over the past year, I’ve had the chance to indulge again in one of my favorite hobbies: consuming science fiction novels, movies, and shows. The genre is a great one, especially in years like this. The genre doesn’t just provide an escape from the bleak pictures painted by daily headlines. It also offers a hopeful message about our possible future.

Works like Foundation and Star Trek show a glimpse of the future humanity can have by utilizing science and ingenuity. They promise us the stars and help reveal the importance of understanding our universe to the human identity.

At the same time, there is plenty in the genre that reminds us of our limits. Works like Dune and The Expanse remind us that reaching beyond Earth doesn’t guarantee we will be able to set aside our differences.

(By the way, if you’re looking for recommendations, I can’t recommend The Expanse highly enough. Both the show and the books are some of the best contemporary science fiction being produced today.)

Still, it’s hard to ignore the idea that the call to explore strange new worlds could help unite us. And, such a future might not be too far away. The actual space industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy. Several companies are building, developing, and flying reusable rockets. In a time when most headlines are so negative, it can be genuinely uplifting to see the progress being made in spaceflight.

This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for my science fiction novels. I’m thankful for our humanity. Most of all, I’m thankful for our future.