[SEQ RERUN] Science as Attire

post by MinibearRex · 2011-07-31T05:57:50.238Z · LW · GW · Legacy · 3 comments

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Title: [SEQ RERUN] Science as Attire Tags: sequence_reruns Today's post, Science as Attire was originally published on 23 August 2007. A summary:

Science is about detailed models of the world. However, many people view science as a set of technical-sounding terms, or a certain type of beliefs that are professed by the group called "scientists". For instance, the X-Men series is perceived as being in the literary genre of science (fiction), instead of fantasy, because the superpowers are "explained" by the word "mutation".


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This post is part of the Rerunning the Sequences series, where we'll be going through Eliezer Yudkowsky's old posts in order so that people who are interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was Guessing the Teacher's Password, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.

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comment by Prismattic · 2011-08-02T02:00:50.351Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

This orthogonal to the point of the sequence, but the plausiblity of the "science" is not why X-Men is considered science fiction rather than fantasy. (I realize that the linked essay had not been written when this sequence was originally composed; I think that Brin is offering an unusually concise and eloquent explanation of a difference that was already understood.)

Replies from: Desrtopa
↑ comment by Desrtopa · 2011-08-02T02:33:52.638Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

I don't think the distinction is nearly so clear as Brin makes it out to be. By his definition, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality would fall under sci fi rather than fantasy, but if you stocked it at a library that separated the two, this would probably confuse more people rather than less.

Science fiction and fantasy are just clusters of frequently associated tropes in the space of speculative fiction. I don't see why we should expect there to be a clear separation between them.

comment by minderbinder · 2011-07-31T21:55:10.097Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Oh, i'm immediately reminded of the horrific scientific explanation in the movie 2012 that was something like, "The neutrinos are turning on us." Whatever that means.

I think people also invoke science in debates without the accompanying critical thinking skills that are supposed to go along with science, as if it's just a weapon and the more scientific "facts" you know, the better chance you'll have in winning the argument.

"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way." --Bertrand Russell