More Studies in Science Fiction – Semester 2 – 2008
Personal definitions of Science Fiction
Science Fiction has no boundaries. Within its realm the impossible becomes probable. The passenger is asked to suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. It cannot be contained in a box, because the boxdoes not exist.
Corinna Ingham
Science fiction is the exploration of different theories that may one day become true.
Will Davis
When a sentient being asks the “What if…” question and follows it through to the desired extent, science fiction is created.
Sydney Nordhagen
Science Fiction: A genre of writing in which scientific knowledge and advanced technology are a major part of the plot. Usually takes place in a futuristic society or setting. Can include aliens, changes in life on earth, and even space travel.
Shawn Thennis
Science fiction is the imagination’s perspective on the future of science. Imagination and fiction usually go together in sci fi for a “what if” kind of thinking. “What if Earth did blow up” or “What if an alien race was discovered?” It could also be viewed differently, not set in the future. It could be present tense, but with a different past, an “it’s always been this way” scope on life. It is the ability of the author to introduce elements that transcend and extend conventional insight.
Seth Peterson
Science Fiction – Fiction-based science of current science, future science, or technology – has not been proven accurate, but also has not been proven wrong.
Jaime Larson
Science Fiction is the most commonly misunderstood genre of literature. It is commonly associated with laser guns and scantily clad princesses and characterized by simply incorporating scientific themes. This is not the true definition of Science Fiction, however. Science Fiction is not about simply entertaining the audience; it is about enlightening them. It does so most commonly by providing a fictional extrapolation of the human race into the future. Usually, these extrapolations are bleak and cynical, which leads most people to view them as purposefully despondent. They are not, though; they are simply realistic.
David Hill
Science fiction is literature concerning conceivable scientific occurrences, their influences on society, and the changes and adaptations that humans undergo in order to survive. Science fiction describes possible ways that science and new technologies could alter daily life.
Carly Culver
Science fiction is a lens that can examine the future and the past without the filter of impossibility. The world of Sci Fi is not confined by what we know but by what we can imagine. Sci Fi plays out our greatest dreams and nightmares so that we can share them with others.
Kate Dramstad
My vague definition of what science fiction is that it’s sort of like fantasy. It is otherworldly and more phantasmagorical than real life. But unlike fantasy, science fiction is much more unpredictable. It is more of a “what if” kind of genre. “What if computers dominated the world?” “What if horses reigned supreme?” Science fiction is what would more possibly be the future of the unknown past of the world. It seems, sometimes, that it is an experiment to try and define what the world was or could be, and how well such a place would be able to exist.
Sam Powell
Science fiction tells tales of the imagination. No actual science is actually needed; one can just make crap up. Science can be wrong, for once. This is why science fiction is so powerful. It can even kill a jaguar. Theend.
The Mark of Foxes
Science fiction is an idea or story containing extrapolations of possible technology or explorations of science in some fictional world. Reasons for creating of science fiction is to tackle political and social issues, warning or messages of the future, or just for amusement. Its factuality is limited only by the reader’s imagination. Thus, actual science is not need for those who are willing, at least for a short moment, to accept other sciences.
another, earlier, perhaps less jaded version of Mark Fox
Science fiction is fiction that involves science and ideas about the future, artificial intelligence, time travel, and space.
Ryanne Younkin
Science fiction is the theoretical study of science and culture through literature and other forms of media.
Christopher West
Science fiction is different. It connects to science, space, and the supernatural. It can take place in alternate realities, space, and the future.
Liz Reiman
Science Fiction - Fiction that takes a less conventional approach to reality.
Jackson Wiese
Science Fiction is man's imaginative "escape", a way of creating his/her own world or series of events. It gives us a look at what we could be capable of creating and becoming if we are not careful, even showing us the extent of our imagination through metaphors. Metaphors give us the contrast with even some irrelevant things, as well as very relevant. They show that there is more to "plain and simple|", and that some things can be more significant then we let them seems. Then again, so does Sci Fi. It allows us to use our imagination to create whatever we want….
Shady Noctia
Science fiction is fiction about real science, whether it be something that already exists or some new technology yet to be invented.
Jace Mosher
Science Fiction, in my mind, is a creative and imaginative media using plausible science to create a fictional idea.
Nico Newman
In my opinion, science fiction is bending reality in a scientific point of view. I think that there are many ways to take science fiction. It's a literary genre in which fantasy, typically based on speculative scientific discoveries or developments, environmental changes, space travel, or life on other planets, forms part of the plot or background.
Sean Wines