What comes to your mind when it comes to sci-fi... all of my friends that sci-fi means space. -___- idiots. What comes to mind for me would probably be super powers... space is one of the last things...
Space does come to mind because I love Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. Other things that pop up are aliens, androids, cyborgs, robots, mutants, science experiments, time machines, futuristic weapons, etc.
Imaginary (but non-supernatural) with a scientific (or fringe or pseudo-scientific) basis. Wow that's clunky. But it's what comes to mind.
Any fiction that comes across as surreal but can be backed logically by scientific theory, usually I think of huge technological advances from engineering and robotics to the medical field. And also... space. Science fiction often allows for the exploration of the final frontier; there's no harm in recognizing the entertainment value in creating brand new planets, species, and cultures.
Nanomachines, genetic engineering/eugenics, biological weapons, artificial intelligence, theoretical physics, space colonization/terraforming, etc. Things like that, but I tend to be more into hard or semi-realistic sci-fi.
Sci-fi is a ridiculously broad genre. If I had to boil it down, though, I'd say it comes down to a central premise of "What if?".
Isn't that any story? I tend to think that SF revolves around some as-yet-unrealized technology, or some as-yet-unrealized use for technology. Of course, I'm a Ray Bradbury fan, so...
Yes, that is an element, but it doesn't have to be technology. Hell, it doesn't even have to involve technology (I'm thinking post-apocalyptic scenarios). I think it more centres around the as-yet-unrealised aspect. Granted, all fiction involves a "what if" concept to a certain degree, but SF is pretty much predicated on it.
space alone does not come to my mind, because i was reading sci-fi such as jules verne's marvelously prophetic works that included 'twenty thousand leagues under the sea' and 'journey to the center of the earth' and their ilk decades before sputnik... nor do superpowers alone spring to mind, since when i was a kid, 'superman' and 'superwoman' and 'the shadow' et al. were not really considered science fiction... just nifty comic books and radio shows that featured oddly 'gifted' heros and heroines... so, when i see or hear the shortened version, 'sci-fi,' it just makes me think of any kind of story that blends the scientific known with the mind-expanding imagined...
A lot of Sci-Fi, as mammamaia says, is extrapolated from current scientific advances. Laser weapons are basically more advanced guns, for example. Certainly it would've taken a big leap of imagination back when they were first envisaged but it was still based in fact. Modern post-apocalyptic scenarios, although often sans-technology, are usually caused by the usage of current technology (Biological warfare, nuclear bombs etc.)
When I think sci-fi, I mostly think of advanced technology. After that, space, because it's what I grew up with - I read a ton of sci-fi as a kid and most of it was about exploring space. I'm still a huge space nerd. I don't know why anyone would think superheroes when they think sci-fi. To me, superheroes belong in the realm of fantasy. It's a rare superhero whose powers are technology-based (Iron Man comes to mind, though).
Not any type at all? I dislike most types of sci-fi but I adore stories about biohackers and bioterrorism.
By definition SF is Fiction that would be possible with futuristic Science, therefore it's focus is not super powers and supernatural beings. Those are more in the fantasy realm.
Well,everything ive seen see far looks cheap and i don't like the tought of it though i like Star Wars but theres so much crap out there! Not my type of genre, it's all so awkward. Regards,
SF is such a broad genre that you can't define the exact parameters of the field. Banzai's right in that it's possibly easiest to ask 'what if?' in relation to some aspect of the world or the technology or socio-political and go from there. Though it's probably easier to define what isn't SF than what is - even if you applied the 'what if?' test a lot of works would fall outside the ambit of the field. A Game of Thrones, for instance, falls squarely within the parameters of the test but most definitely isn't SF. It's fantasy. If I thought of one thing, it'd be this: vision.
Sci-fi for me is anything to do with the future, technology or weird happenings. Most people usually define sci-fi with space because of Star Wars and Star Trek, which are pretty much cult sci-fi. Nowdays when thinking of sci-fi I usually think of the supernatural, the apocalypse or dystopian stories.
Hi, To me science fiction is all in the title. It's fiction, any sort of story, say detective as in Caves of Steel, aliens as in Alien, robots as in I Robot, mutantancy as in Gattaca, or space as in the Skylark series, that develops it's plot based on some sort of scientific understanding or speculation. It's really a very broad category. Cheers, Greg.
