I don't think Destiny is a fun universe (Destiny)

by Kermit , Raleigh, NC, Wednesday, December 03, 2014, 15:43 (3440 days ago) @ Cody Miller

How stuff works is exactly not the point with Mythic Sci-Fi.

Have you ever enjoyed ancient mythological stories, or rich fantasy epics like Tolkien's, or even the classic Star Wars? The thing in common between them is the crafting of stories with epic overarching themes, emotions and metaphors about the struggles of humanity through the ages.

And to me that is less interesting than the struggles that humanity has yet to face. Fantasy is backward thinking, reveling in and codifying ignorance, whereas Sci-Fi is forward thinking and progressive. It's why fantasy rarely if ever tackles complex philosophical issues, whereas Sci-Fi is full of such things.

I feel like I've read this somewhere before... Oh yeah! I had no clue what you meant back and still don't now. A story doesn't forfeit addressing complex issues just because the primary mode of travel is a horse instead of a starship.

Right. Cody's thesis presupposes that the humans in spaceships are fundamentally different beings than the humans on horseback.

It does not.

I think it does, otherwise you wouldn't assume that our "old" challenges are substantially different from our "new" challenges. Your language gives you away. Your perspective of history colors your perception of a genre of fiction. A fan of literary fiction could be just as dismissive of your preferred genre, and say it only pretends to be more realistic. A poet might say that the most devout practitioners of your favored genre lack a capacity for metaphor, or they unfairly discount the treasures that can be gleaned when the human imagination is unbound from the constraints of scientific "objectivity." You privilege one mode of knowing, and assume it has no limitations of its own. We probably can't have a full-throated discussion about this without getting into philosophical differences that would take us places we can't really go on this forum. Perhaps it's best just to say that I think understand your perspective, and I have a different one.

P.S. you can do Sci-Fi without spaceships.

Sure.