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Thought of a good 2x2, first one in a while Ordinary vs extraordinary world Ordinary vs extraordinary people OW+OP=literary fiction OW+EP=superhero fiction EW+OP=science fiction EW+EP=fantasy I really only like sf
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Hypothesis: a society where the professional class does not see a future for itself cannot produce interesting new science fiction. Only fantasy and political fiction pretending to be SF. (Superhero fiction is not science fiction)
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This evening’s shitposting theme... witchcraft, magick, prayers vs spells etc... Here’s a unifying diagnostic question: do you have a preference for science fiction over fantasy, and if so why do you think that is given the null hypothesis that both are equally escapist?
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Asimov is interesting here, his heroes were Competent Everyman types, but often turned into legends in later in-universe history. Elijah Bailey is a regular grunt but a thousand years later a planet is named after him.
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Even Hari Seldon is somewhat ordinary when alive and is really nudged into greatness by Daneel, who is not great either… just extremely long-lived.
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This is a bit of a false note in the tv show. Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardin are portrayed as special in their own time, as opposed to mythologized later. Inserts an awkward fantasy note in the story. This is also why Dune is pure fantasy, despite scifi trappings.
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I was going to snarky-point this out about the TV show but you're there already. It looked like they might make it heroic, but the latest episode started to point at the wider arc. Powers (psychohistory, mind stuff) are happening to people rather than are harnessed by them.
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