In the nineÂteen-sixÂties, the music media encourÂaged the notion that a young rock-and-roll fan had to side with either the BeaÂtÂles or their rivals, the Rolling Stones. On some levÂel, it must have made sense, givÂen the growÂing aesÂthetÂic divide between the music the two world-famous groups were putting out. But, at botÂtom, not only was there no rivalÂry between the bands (it was an invenÂtion of the music papers), there was no real need, of course, to choose one or the othÂer. In the fifties, someÂthing of the same dynamÂic must have obtained between Ray BradÂbury and Isaac AsiÂmov, two popÂuÂlar genre writÂers, each with his own worldÂview.
BradÂbury and AsiÂmov had much in comÂmon: both were (probÂaÂbly) born in 1920, both attendÂed the very first World SciÂence FicÂtion ConÂvenÂtion in 1939, both began pubÂlishÂing in pulp magÂaÂzines in the forÂties, and both had an averÂsion to airÂplanes. That BradÂbury spent most of his life in CalÂiÂforÂnia and AsiÂmov in New York made for a potenÂtialÂly interÂestÂing culÂturÂal conÂtrast, though it nevÂer seems to have been played up. Still, it may explain someÂthing of the basic difÂferÂence between the two writÂers as it comes through in the video above, a comÂpiÂlaÂtion of talk-show clips in which BradÂbury and AsiÂmov respond to quesÂtions about their reliÂgious beliefs, or lack thereÂof.
AsiÂmov may have writÂten a guide to the Bible, but he was hardÂly a litÂerÂalÂist, callÂing the first chapÂters of GenÂeÂsis “the sixth-cenÂtuÂry BC verÂsion of how the world might have startÂed. We’ve improved on that since. I don’t believe that those are God’s words. Those are the words of men, tryÂing to make the most sense that they could out of the inforÂmaÂtion they had at the time.” In a latÂer clip, BradÂbury, for his part, conÂfessÂes to a belief in not just GenÂeÂsis, but also DarÂwin and even Jean-BapÂtiste LamarÂck, who theÂoÂrized that charÂacÂterÂisÂtics acquired in an organÂisÂm’s lifeÂtime could be passed down to the next genÂerÂaÂtion. “NothÂing is proven,” he declares, “so there’s room for a reliÂgious delÂiÂcatessen.”
One sensÂes that AsiÂmov wouldÂn’t have agreed, and indeed, would have been perÂfectÂly satÂisÂfied with a regÂuÂlar delÂiÂcatessen. Though both he and BradÂbury became famous as sciÂence-ficÂtion writÂers around the same time — to say nothÂing of their copiÂous writÂing in othÂer genÂres — they posÂsessed highÂly disÂtinct imagÂiÂnaÂtions. That works like FahrenÂheit 451 and the FounÂdaÂtion trilÂoÂgy attractÂed such difÂferÂent readÂerÂships is explicÂaÂble in part through BradÂbury’s insisÂtence that “there’s room to believe it all” and AsiÂmov’s disÂmissal of what he saw as every “get-rich quick scheme of the mind” pedÂdled by “con men of the spirÂit”: each point of view as thorÂoughÂly AmerÂiÂcan, in its way, as the BeaÂtÂles and the Stones were thorÂoughÂly EngÂlish.
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Isaac AsiÂmov Explains His Three Laws of Robots
Carl Sagan Answers the UltiÂmate QuesÂtion: Is There a God? (1994)
50 Famous AcaÂdÂeÂmics & SciÂenÂtists Talk About God
Based in Seoul, ColÂin Marshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall or on FaceÂbook.