Quote from: willpaxAs a final irony, I often find that cyberpunk stories are often more fully grounded in scientific possibility than either hard or soft science fiction, but many traditionalists can't stand cyberpunk anyway.

Well, when I found out that cyberpunk was created by a Luddite (William Gibson) and actually read his books, that reduced my interest in the genre quite a bit.  Not to mention when the Japanese economy tanked and a huge pillar of the genre become just plain silly.

Granted, there's plenty of good cyberpunk -- and the self-same Gibson did help create steampunk, with "The Difference Engine", which is quite a bit less silly than his cyberpunk -- but there's even more cyberpunk that is just flat silly.

I think that even if hard scifi contains a lot of handwaving, it's a lot of well-researched and thought-out handwaving.

Quote from: ColonelHardissonI think that even if hard scifi contains a lot of handwaving, it's a lot of well-researched and thought-out handwaving.

I think intent matters.  No one is perfect and no one can research everything.  If someone is honestly shooting for hard sci-fi and has done their research, that counts for a lot.  

One of my saddest moments, though, was when an up-until-then hard sci-fi writer, James Hogan, wrote this crappy book based on Velikovski's drivel.    I am just glad I didn't pay full price for that piece of shit.

Quote from: VarajStar Wars makes no attempt at science, it is a fantasy game in a future setting.

And yet you still here nerds getting in a huff because those DAMN BUZZ DROIDS JUST SLID OFF OF ANAKIN'S JEDI STARFIGHTER!!!!

Quote from: King_StannisAnd yet you still here nerds getting in a huff because those DAMN BUZZ DROIDS JUST SLID OFF OF ANAKIN'S JEDI STARFIGHTER!!!!

And the stupid thind is...

If his spaceship was accelerating (and there's reason to believe it wasn't), then they would just slide off.

Quote from: King_StannisAnd yet you still here nerds getting in a huff because those DAMN BUZZ DROIDS JUST SLID OFF OF ANAKIN'S JEDI STARFIGHTER!!!!

They're as bad as the Trekies who put down Star Wars for being fantasy but who think that Trek is hard SF.  Trek, the show where the writers find buzzwords in Wired and Discover and then have characters vary the frequency of it to solve a problem.

Quote from: CyberzombieI think intent matters.  No one is perfect and no one can research everything.  If someone is honestly shooting for hard sci-fi and has done their research, that counts for a lot.  

One of my saddest moments, though, was when an up-until-then hard sci-fi writer, James Hogan, wrote this crappy book based on Velikovski's drivel.    I am just glad I didn't pay full price for that piece of shit.

I love Hogan's "Giants" novels. Well, at least the first three - Inherit The Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, and Giants' Star. I haven't read the one he wrote much later. The books are slow-moving, and I could figure out what was going on long before the characters, but they were fascinating, overall. The whole concept of lifeforms that evolved to avoid conflict is really interesting.

It's kinda like Larry Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers, except the basic reason why they evolved that way is completely different. Puppeteers evolved from herd animals and go to great lengths to eliminate potential predators. The life on the Giants' planet evolved to have a separate waste elimination system that made them poisonous to potential predators, and even made getting bruised potentially deadly.

The computers that were actual characters - one was named ZORAC, is that right? - presaged a few things, I think, things that seem to be on course for the actual future.

Quote from: NicephorusThey're as bad as the Trekies who put down Star Wars for being fantasy but who think that Trek is hard SF.  Trek, the show where the writers find buzzwords in Wired and Discover and then have characters vary the frequency of it to solve a problem.

Especially when everyone knows reversing the polarity of the neutron flow works a lot better than varying the frequency of a buzzword. :rolleyes:

Quote from: cranberryEspecially when everyone knows reversing the polarity of the neutron flow works a lot better than varying the frequency of a buzzword. :rolleyes:

I always figured that "reverse the polarity" was just ship slang for "whack it on the side."

Quote from: ElidiaI always figured that "reverse the polarity" was just ship slang for "whack it on the side."

I always imagined it just meant to flip the "on" switch.

I was just amazed at how many things *had* polarity for them to reverse...

Heck, I think Counselor Troi reversed the polarity of Riker's johnson at one point!

Quote from: BillyBeanbagHeck, I think Counselor Troi reversed the polarity of Riker's johnson at one point!

Now *that* would have been an interesting episode.  And it would have gotten her out of those stupid outfits.  Not a bad looking woman; she was just put in costumes that made her *look* horrible...

Quote from: CyberzombieNow *that* would have been an interesting episode.  And it would have gotten her out of those stupid outfits.  Not a bad looking woman; she was just put in costumes that made her *look* horrible...

The Next Gen uniforms were all horrible, even Troi's "civvies." Actually, I take that back. For a certain period of time the uniforms for Next Gen looked cool. It was the stiff-collared look that seemed to appear after the parallel universe episode where the Federation was about to fall to the Klingons. Those uniforms looked cool. Then they started using what looked like sweaters, based (I guess) on the original show's pilot episode uniforms, and it made them all look, I dunno, less professional.

As I got done typing the above, I suddenly realized how stupid I was for EVEN NOTICING SUCH SHIT.

Quote from: ColonelHardissonAs I got done typing the above, I suddenly realized how stupid I was for EVEN NOTICING SUCH SHIT.

 Don't you just hate it when you realize you're totally geeking out in public?  Fortunately, in this particular forum, you're safe and even almost on topic.