Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Jordan
Well, to me, "if the scientific basis for something is so thin as to be beyond plausible" is the exact definition of time travel stories. Quantum mechanics and general relativity allow for the translation of some individual particles in time, but that's a long way from intact objects. Same goes for FTL travel.
Anyway, that's just my opinion on those particular vehicles, and when it comes to "plausibility," there's a lot of subjectivity involved (or we wouldn't be debating these things at all).
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There is a lot of subjectivity, but your specific definition of Hard Science Fiction would kick out some of the best stories in the Hard Science Fiction canon. Gregory Benford's Timescape is one example.
Further, FTL is not just fringe science these days; modern cosmology believes that most of the Universe is expanding away from us faster than the speed of light .
Steve, I think the difference between your point of view and mine is that you seem to want experimentally verified results, where I am willing to allow non-mainstream solutions to mainstream theories as a basis for an SF story. While it is true that most of these solutions will never work, we can't be sure which will and which won't; Einstein didn't think much of Georges LeMaitre's work indicating that the Universe must be either expanding or contracting. So I think it would be unfair for us to rule out certain solutions to the theories just because they don't seem plausible to us.
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Bill