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Science Fiction vs. Science Fantasy
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<blockquote data-quote="Mallus" data-source="post: 6127246" data-attributes="member: 3887"><p>I'd go even further and say it needs to be a (semi) logical working through of a premise; a thought experiment. However, if you're including the "soft sciences" in with scientific knowledge --ie, economics, poly-sci, sociology, gender studies, whatever, etc-- then I agree (completely, even!).</p><p></p><p>Look at some well-known SF... </p><p></p><p>Wells's <em>The Time Machine</em> is about the British class system. The time-travel part is just the satiric lens used to examine it. Wells doesn't care how time machine works, nor does he care to investigate any of the fun, head-scratching paradox stuff. </p><p></p><p>Bester's <em>The Stars My Destination</em> posits life in a society where nearly everyone can teleport using their power of their own minds. I don't think this was ever considered remotely scientific.</p><p></p><p>Herbert's <em>Dune</em> is, to be really reductive, about the intersection of colonialism, religion, and oil. With some neat stuff about an imaginary ecology that produces sand-dwelling Leviathans. Probably the SF-inal thing in Dune is the musing about human development requiring an <em>absence</em> of certain technologies. But it also has a ton of literalized mysticism, space witches, and FTL travel that relies on shrooming psychics. </p><p></p><p>More recently, there Bank's <em>Culture</em> series. The technologies in it are so unscientific/magical the author actually makes jokes about them in the text. But it's still SF; speculation about the shape and politics of a post-scarcity economy. </p><p></p><p>These are just top-of-my-head examples. </p><p></p><p>Trying to distinguish between "science fiction" and "science fantasy" is tough. Scientific accuracy is, in my book, the least important criterion. You're better off looking to the themes involved, to what purpose the fantastical elements are being put toward. If you use "science" as your primary benchmark, "science fiction" quickly becomes a pretty sparse genre.</p><p></p><p>So this means <em>Star Trek</em> (TOS in particular) is usually SF, despite the countless examples of ludicrous science, while <em>Star Wars</em> almost never is (I can't any recall any real SF themes in SW, but I might be overlooking something).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Mallus, post: 6127246, member: 3887"] I'd go even further and say it needs to be a (semi) logical working through of a premise; a thought experiment. However, if you're including the "soft sciences" in with scientific knowledge --ie, economics, poly-sci, sociology, gender studies, whatever, etc-- then I agree (completely, even!). Look at some well-known SF... Wells's [i]The Time Machine[/i] is about the British class system. The time-travel part is just the satiric lens used to examine it. Wells doesn't care how time machine works, nor does he care to investigate any of the fun, head-scratching paradox stuff. Bester's [i]The Stars My Destination[/i] posits life in a society where nearly everyone can teleport using their power of their own minds. I don't think this was ever considered remotely scientific. Herbert's [i]Dune[/i] is, to be really reductive, about the intersection of colonialism, religion, and oil. With some neat stuff about an imaginary ecology that produces sand-dwelling Leviathans. Probably the SF-inal thing in Dune is the musing about human development requiring an [i]absence[/i] of certain technologies. But it also has a ton of literalized mysticism, space witches, and FTL travel that relies on shrooming psychics. More recently, there Bank's [i]Culture[/i] series. The technologies in it are so unscientific/magical the author actually makes jokes about them in the text. But it's still SF; speculation about the shape and politics of a post-scarcity economy. These are just top-of-my-head examples. Trying to distinguish between "science fiction" and "science fantasy" is tough. Scientific accuracy is, in my book, the least important criterion. You're better off looking to the themes involved, to what purpose the fantastical elements are being put toward. If you use "science" as your primary benchmark, "science fiction" quickly becomes a pretty sparse genre. So this means [i]Star Trek[/i] (TOS in particular) is usually SF, despite the countless examples of ludicrous science, while [i]Star Wars[/i] almost never is (I can't any recall any real SF themes in SW, but I might be overlooking something). [/QUOTE]
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