Subject:
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Re: IRON MECHA Results!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.geek
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Date:
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Thu, 9 Feb 2006 18:50:39 GMT
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Viewed:
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4196 times
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In lugnet.build.mecha, Dave Schuler wrote:
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Philip K Dick, among countless others, has also addressed this. His
distinction between sci-fi and fantasy was similar but more fundamental: if
an element of the story is considered impossible, then it’s fantasy. Not
“improbable” or “currently unavailable,” but impossible. He asserts that
no hard, fixed distinction between the two is possible, because our notions
of the “impossible” tend to fluctuate.
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The extreme definition: Science fiction is an extrapolation, linear perhaps.
Fantasy is a random point, connected to nothing.
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The self-consistency aspect is less of a distinction, since a good story in
either genre must entail sufficient self-consistency to maintain a
comprehensible plot, IMO.
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Self-consistency of pseudo science is a drag on the plot. It spoils the fun in
Fantasy realms. :-)
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I’m not a physics guy, so forgive me this question: we’re talking about the
“net” center of thrust being directly behind the center of mass, right? As
opposed to an engine placed exactly there?
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Yes you can certainly have motors on pylons hanging way out, but if you add up
the 3D thrust vectors you’ll want them to not make your ship spin around like a
pinwheel (over taxing your attitude control thrusters to compensate for the
misaligned main thrust). People have a more instinctive feel for what sort of
things can walk without keeling over than what can fly well in space.
K
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Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: IRON MECHA Results!
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| (...) Philip K Dick, among countless others, has also addressed this. His distinction between sci-fi and fantasy was similar but more fundamental: if an element of the story is considered impossible, then it's fantasy. Not "improbable" or "currently (...) (18 years ago, 9-Feb-06, to lugnet.build.mecha, FTX)
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