Stanislav Lem and Ivan Yefremov: a failed meeting

Two outstanding science fiction writers and social thinkers, Ivan Yefremov and Stanislav Lem, never met in person or corresponded, although they had many mutual acquaintances and closely followed each other's publications. The purpose of the article is to identify possible reasons for the failed meeting(I. Yefremov's illness, rumors about S. Lem's "arrogance," etc.). The research methods include an analysis of the correspondence, fiction, and memoirs of I. Yefremov, Stanislav Lem, and people from their close circle. The author concludes that the underlying reason for Yefremov's refusal to contact Lem was the discrepancy in their ideological views on the main issues that both Yefremov and Lem considered in their works: the essence of man, his predisposition to good or evil, and man's place in space. I. Yefremov was an anthropological optimist, convinced that man is basically good, and that manifestations of evil are connected with improper upbringing and a bad social structure. S. Lem, on the contrary, was an anthropological pessimist, believing that human nature has an inherent tendency towards evil (anthropological Manichaeism), which is partly restrained by heredity and upbringing. Unlike Yefremov, Lem was pessimistic about the possibility of establishing contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, and, as a rationalist and neopositivist, was skeptical about occultism and paranormal phenomena.