Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffR
Scientific wonders are only wonders for a short time, then they become commonplace and SF is needed to speculate about the next wonder. I don't think new discoveries reduce the amount that is still to be discovered, instead they help us see how much more still lies undiscovered, allowing more speculation and providing more fuel for SF.
Edit: Also, SF is not limited by new scientific discoveries. If science says the Moon is not made from green cheese, that doesn't stop SF speculating about what would happen if it was. In fact discoveries of limits actually increases the scope for speculation. Knowing that ordinary matter can't be acelerated beyond the speed of light allows SF to speculate both on the consequences of that limit, and on what it would be like if that limit didn't exist.
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Agreed on both counts.
SF has never been just about the trappings and themes (rockets, aliens, whatever) it is about using fiction to explore ideas and concepts using a rationalist outlook. Alternate history is as much SF as Space Opera, social analysis is as valid a topic as tech speculation. All that matters is the writing and the ideas.
Not that there is much chance that tech or hard science will outstrip the best writers. The more we learn about how the world works, the broader the vistas before us. Its a lot like climbing a mountain: the higher you go, the better the view of past, present, and future.