Forked Thread: What is the difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy?

[Corjay]

Forked from: Is D&D 4E too "far out" to expand the market easily?

On Dune being SF.

Repeating myself here, but, it's not setting but THEME that makes Dune SF. The question of what it means to be human in the face of omnicience.

That's a philosophical question, not a scientific question.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Forked from: Is D&D 4E too "far out" to expand the market easily?

That's a philosophical question, not a scientific question.

And fits well into a science fiction story. In many ways, science fiction uses all its tropes to give us more tools to reflect on us. Humans with bumps on their foreheads and a stereotypical culture for example can be used as such.

Spock, Data or Odo and Quark are used in Star Trek to help us reflect about human traits - both strengths and weaknesses.

Yes, it is philosophical, not strictly "scientific". But the difference is not as strong as it might seem today - Philosophers typically were Scientists and vice versa. Einstein pondered the meaning of "randomness" or unpredictability inherent to the Quantum Theory (which he helped developed!) when he said "Gott würfelt nicht". The heliocentric world view had strong philosophical implications and was one of the reasons why Galileo and many other people of his time got into trouble defending it.

Science Fiction typically uses its fictional science to explore the implications of them on our world or our world view.

PS: I like Hussars attempt to define science fiction about this "exploration" aspect. I am not sure it's in any way common usage, but it works well for me. Still not sure if that doesn't mean that Star Wars can't count as Sci-Fi - after all, part of its theme is exploring what it means to have unusual power. Maybe a further differentiation might be whether the exploration is personal or universal. Maybe even the exploration view is to attempt and Sci-Fi is like D&D or porn - you know it when you see it?

 

[Fenes]

For me, the main difference between Fantasy and SF is first the technology, second the way characters think and act.

Star Wars, for example, is Fantasy in my opinion because the technology for SF is there, but the characters act and think like medieval characters. There are no modern tactics, no "if this works, then that must work too" thinking, and not much of a technological advancement. Even society is modelled after Fantasy, with kings, nobles, knights, and people trusting in mythical supernatural forces. The whole world feels "unoptimised", not like our own world, as if there never was an arm's race in any conflict.

 

[hong]

If it has katanae, it's fantasy.

 

[Kaisoku]

Wikipedia has some good info on this subject in their Science Fiction entry.

Specifically this quote nails it pretty well:

"In general, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possible, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible."

Basically, Science Fiction will look at things in a scientific way. It can be in a setting of future or present or even past (unknown past usually), but it's always looking at things in a more technical way.

Fenes has it right with Star Wars in that it really doesn't focus on the technical side of things, and that's what makes it more fantasy. Is there some problem that needs fixing? Bring out the doodad to fix it without explaining a single thing, or bring in the mystical unexplained 'force'.

This is why Episode One rubbed a large portion of the fans the wrong way (and I'm not talking about Jar-Jar molesting our ears). They tried to go the "explain it scientifically" route for the force. It felt out of place in the current theme of the story.

The flipside to this is having magic written about in a more technical way, to the point that it's observed scientifically. You can have a "fantasy" setting, that takes magic in a scientific way, and you end up with a more Science Fiction work than Fantasy.
The wiki entry talks about this and names a few authors that "blur the lines" between the types, creating "science fantasy".

 

[Fenes]

I would add that a lack of scientific thinking characters often helps Fantasy games - it avoids the possible problems of "magic industrial revolution" thinking, i.e. the use of modern concepts (industry, tactics, communication, mass transport, information distribution, etc.) in a fantasy setting not designed for them.

 

[Dice4Hire]

To me it is the kinds of stuff you carry, and the monsters and opponents you face.

So in many cases, not much at all.

But both have a very different feel to them, mostly based on the movies made in each genre.

 

[Derren]

it avoids the possible problems of "magic industrial revolution" thinking, i.e. the use of modern concepts (industry, tactics, communication, mass transport, information distribution, etc.) in a fantasy setting not designed for them.

Which gives most fantasy setting a very unrealistic/unbelievable feel. Humans have always used the tools at hand to improve their life, so why wouldn't they do that with magic?

SciFi has the advantage that there is no single big work of SciFi (or at least there are multiple ones). In Fantasy you have one big work, Lord of the Rings, where the vast majority of all other fantasy works are clones from. (The ones which are not give a nod to Conan). Nearly every fantasy work features elves, dwarves and often orcs in the same way as how they were portrayed in LotR. On the other hand you will have to search very hard to find an alien race which appears in the majority of SciFi works.

Fantasy is literary stagnating because nearly no one tries to escape the influence of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Asmor]

The below is based entirely on my opinion and not on any objective definition.

Science fiction REQUIRES something very different from the real world with a scientific explanation.

Fantasy REQUIRES something very different from the real world without a scientific explanation.

Fantasy: Orcs were humans which were mutated due to exposure to fel magic.

Sci-fi: Orcs are humans which mutated due to exposure to radioactivity.

Sci-fi: Psionics is a collection of abilities which allow a person to alter the physical world by controlling it with their mind at an atomic level.

Fantasy: Magic is a collection of abilities which allow a person to alter the physical world by tapping into the manna which permeates everything and shaping it through sheer force of will.

Put another way, fantasy is whenever something is different; sci-fi is when that difference is explained by science (though not rigorously, and often incorrectly). So sci-fi is basically a subset of fantasy.

 

[Asmor]

Fantasy is literary stagnating because nearly no one tries to escape the influence of Lord of the Rings.

Harry Potter, Eberron, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer would like to have a talk with you.