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Originally Posted by bill_mchale
Actually, I would say The Demolished Man is considerably more scientific. Yes, it posits the existence of Telepaths which is at best on the very edge of things that could be considered scientific. But what it does from there is that it rigorously examines the implications of a world with Telepaths, particularly with respect to how it might change law enforcement (and how society might try to protect personal privacy in such a world).Bill
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Key word: rigorously.
Good SF needs discipline in following through on the implications of the core assumptions.
Bester's DEMOLISHED MAN is an excellent example. I favor THE STARS MY DESTINATION even more, although for the same reasons. Once Bester postulated a native human talent for teleportation he was unrelenting in following through on the implications for society when everybody--good or evil, smart or stupid, rich or poor--could teleport enormous distances, even past locked doors or sealed walls. And he identified both problems and solutions. Not easy to do. One reason while really good SF is relatively rare.
Bad SF is all over and one of the most common causes of it is not following through on an established premise--either through oversight or because it conflicted with a pre-planned plot element. That's when you get handwaving or gobbledygook. (It's hard to do good Science Fiction if you do bad *science*, Mr Lucas.
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Another good example of followthrough is Bujold. She really nailed it with the replicators in her Vorkosigan stories and her recent focus on Cryogenics in CRYOBURN looks to be just the beginning of her analysis of the impact of life extension technologies. I'm really looking forward to seeing where she takes it.