I honestly don't understand people who say, "I don't like fiction." As in, I am flummoxed and my mind is boggled when I hear such a statement. What does that even mean? "I don't like fiction." You don't like stories? In my mind, storytelling is an essential and integral part of being human. Stories are how we make sense of the world, especially those aspects of the world we don't understand (yet?). Fiction, be it science or otherwise, is a method to work out hypothetical scenarios, without actually having to commit them. It can teach us about human nature through a kind of petri dish. It's all very scientific.
Using X-Men and Community characters, Rachel Edidin discusses how her affinity for fictional characters helps her make sense of the world, especially through her self-diagnosed spectrum prism. It's heart-breaking and heart-warming and it will give you an insider's perspective on what it means to see the world through a different lens. Queer-identified folx like us can certainly relate to that.
