http://www.syfyportal.com/article.php?id=2040
Nowadays “believability” has become the mantra for producers of science-fiction shows and films. Viewers have to believe that a particular alien creature could exist, or that a certain piece of futuristic technology could do what it’s doing.
To create that believability, writers include characters with scientific credentials and make them say things that make reference to real scientific findings. But given that this is “science fiction,” how real does the science have to be to make genre films and television shows believable?
Ask a dozen scientists what science is and you may get a dozen different answers. I will settle for saying that modern science is any method of inquiry that relies on the so-called “scientific method.” The scientific method is a putatively objective series of inductive steps that starts with an observation and proceeds through studies to test explanations (hypotheses) for that observation.
Science fiction typically has at its core ideas or theories arrived at using the scientific method. We don’t generally include stories about political or social issues under the heading of “science fiction” unless they include speculative ideas about subject areas that we more commonly associate with this approach (such as biology, physics, chemistry and anthropology). Technology, of course, is also strongly associated with science fiction and tends to cross the boundaries of the aforementioned subjects.
To create that believability, writers include characters with scientific credentials and make them say things that make reference to real scientific findings. But given that this is “science fiction,” how real does the science have to be to make genre films and television shows believable?
Ask a dozen scientists what science is and you may get a dozen different answers. I will settle for saying that modern science is any method of inquiry that relies on the so-called “scientific method.” The scientific method is a putatively objective series of inductive steps that starts with an observation and proceeds through studies to test explanations (hypotheses) for that observation.
Science fiction typically has at its core ideas or theories arrived at using the scientific method. We don’t generally include stories about political or social issues under the heading of “science fiction” unless they include speculative ideas about subject areas that we more commonly associate with this approach (such as biology, physics, chemistry and anthropology). Technology, of course, is also strongly associated with science fiction and tends to cross the boundaries of the aforementioned subjects.
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