The proof is in the...how do they say... Robotic Body Suit

I have been asserting for a long time that art affects life, that the decisions that scientists make as well as other professionals, are influenced by art. And the example I have often used when scratching my way toward the top of this soapbox, is the example of Science Fiction...that strange genre that is demonized by the literary establishment, yet which often outsells the Horrors, Westerns, and Romances it is shelved with. We need only look at human cloning, or even the physicists trying to send molecules back in time, inspired perhaps by John Titor. 

However, a new inventor in Seattle supports my theory much more  directly. 
Monty Reed is a robotocist whom I heard on KUOW the other day. In his interview, he admits 
that it was after he was injured while parachuting and after reading Starship Troopers that he
got the idea for a suit that will allow the wearer to walk and lift 1000 lbs. Yet, just as this suit was inspired by a Science Fiction story, how long before the inventor ratchets it down, as he promised, so that it is available for home use. 

More than just a tool to help quadapalegics regain mobility, there are those who will want to acquire one, I'm thinking Billionaire Bachelors, anointing themselves real-life superheroes. In fact, I think Batman already has one of these.

Will I have a kid, some day who while absently playing in traffic will be saved from a speeding car 
by some crippled war veteran in a robot suit? 

How long before a police officer caught in the wrong end of a gunfight, is remade into a Robocop?

The future is now, and look around. Because the fantastical and scientifically impossible ideas
floating through our movie theaters, and Saturday morning cartoons is what lies in store for the 
next generation. After all, as Robert M. Persig proves in:
"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
scientific inquiry doesn't breed more answers, but rather generates an increasing flow of questions. So even science needs to turn to inspiration to make progress, even if that inspiration comes from somewhere else. 

I'm fascinated by the idea that one can influence society by planting the seeds of an idea or concept into the collective mind. But this is a bit scary, given that our social graces and our communities rife with prejudice, rascism, nepotism, et al is so far behind our technological development. Hopefully we can elect an administration to take greater strides toward equality before Japan sends their Mech Warriors to battle our Quadrapalegic Army.