Discussion
if the point of sci-fi is to confront the observer with the scientifically mysterious and the loss of control this implies, then learning the lore of the story is an attempt to regain this control, which ultimately renders the effects of the story inert, thus requiring a new story.
fantasy will have none of that shit. true to its spirit, the mysterious will not fully reveal itself, and so the way to regain control here is to turn it into a points game, enforcing learnable consistency.
@lritter idk. hard scifi has its place. you can be rigorous or loose with this stuff in either genre, and make it work. i do think the temptation to overly catalogue lore (or for authors to overdo exposition) is not good, but i think that's separate from this.
@xvln interesting. how would you define hard sci fi?
@lritter tough question. i'm not sure i have a good answer. off the cuff, i'd say it has to be a world in which the scientific method works (i suppose this is more the distinction between sci-fi and fantasy for me, although that can be partially vibes too), and hard scifi tends to be focused on demonstrating a concept/technology/etc and showing you the consequences of it. this isn't a rigorous definition at all though. i wish i had a better answer.
Install bonfire.cafe
Get the full app experience
