Surrendering To Fiction In Scifi....

[Spacescifi]

 

Often when writing scifi, reality presents problems that cannot be solved using real or even theoretical stuff we could make using rare stuff we know exists.

So the solution often is to surrender to the fiction part of scifi to grease the wheels of plot.

 

On some level I view that as defeat, but on the other hand... there is a positive way to view it.

 

Inspiration: Make fictional tech we can strive to make real one day that does not exist right now. Sure you will get plenty wrong, but someday, somewhere, some human WILL make a close facsimile.

Because humans are just THAT good at science if you give them enough time.

 

So I guess that is the ultimate difference between fantasy and scifi.

Scifi has the option of giving us something to strive for to build even if it seems impossible, whereas fantasy seems more along the lines of wish fullfillment rather than inspiring to build anything.

Superheroes for example... are a sub-catergory of fantasy.

 

Edited April 3, 2020 by Spacescifi

[Bill Phil]

I think it's very interesting to consider what's possible under our current understanding of physics.

Settling the solar system is very possible, and the possible stories in the solar system as a setting have by no means been fully explored.

Another interesting possibility is exploring the consequences of certain technologies and then involving them in a science fiction setting.

For example:

http://panoptesv.com/RPGs/Settings/VergeWorlds/VergeHistory.php

This is written by a physicist - he knows how wormholes would work in theory. So he's applied that - and we get some interesting consequences. Assuming wormholes are possible and aren't too expensive and so on. In this setting wormholes are accelerated to relativistic velocities so the frame of the wormhole at the original location will experience the arrival at the target sooner. But this means that if the wormhole connection is cut, the time lag of the colony reconnecting to the original world could be huge. It also leads to interesting consequences for warfare in the setting. 

[Spacescifi]

1 hour ago, Bill Phil said:

I think it's very interesting to consider what's possible under our current understanding of physics.

Settling the solar system is very possible, and the possible stories in the solar system as a setting have by no means been fully explored.

Another interesting possibility is exploring the consequences of certain technologies and then involving them in a science fiction setting.

For example:

http://panoptesv.com/RPGs/Settings/VergeWorlds/VergeHistory.php

This is written by a physicist - he knows how wormholes would work in theory. So he's applied that - and we get some interesting consequences. Assuming wormholes are possible and aren't too expensive and so on. In this setting wormholes are accelerated to relativistic velocities so the frame of the wormhole at the original location will experience the arrival at the target sooner. But this means that if the wormhole connection is cut, the time lag of the colony reconnecting to the original world could be huge. It also leads to interesting consequences for warfare in the setting. 

 

Perhaps... it matters not whether or current understanding is correct.

I think personally it all depends on what the writer's intentions are.

If they want wish fullfillment then they can and should do cursory statements about fictional technology, which is appropriate since delving into technobabble based on total wish fullfillment that falls apart under scientific scrutiny is a complete waste of time.

Who cares? It's a wish fulfilled, follow the plot.

Or my personal favorite, cursory questions that answer the how's and why's with more questions, leading the reader to wonder what it would take to do what they read about or if it was possible at all IRL.

 

For example:

"How come your rocket nozzle looks like a flashlight? Why does it blow like a rocket? Why does it not have a glass cover?"

"It's a Q-rocket  it expels quotons, which are what you get when you accelerate photons beyond lightspeed, convert them into metal mass, and then use the metal as a light emitter.... that happens to also have enough momentum to propel whatever we want, so long we scale up fo it). As for the glass cover, I think you know what would happen... same thing if we capped  a rocket nozzle with it and blasted it."

 

 

Edited April 4, 2020 by Spacescifi