does being a scientist affect your ability to enjoy Sci-Fi

[slimjim]

my father is a police detective and as such it's often difficult to watch detective or cop shows in our house because he gets annoyed if things are unrealistic, I've heard similar complaints from the families of doctors with regards to watching programs like House or ER
you would think the same would hold true for scientists and Sci-Fi..... yet...... the stereotype perpetuated by shows like the big bang theory and my own experiences of the intelligence & areas of expertise of people on forums like this say almost the complete opposite.... why is this?

[Ukko]

Most scientists, i assume, are smart enough to realise Sci Fi stands for Science Fiction, not fact. Science fact to them would simply be a day at work.

The thing with your dad may be because cop/detective shows and doctors with mediacal shows (the more serious ones anyway) are meant to be factual and realistic depictions of those jobs (with added drama and such).

[AlexanderD]

I would say that science fiction has instead served as the incubator of many scientific advancements. Someone comes up with an idea, and then you can sit down and make the science behind said idea come to life.

[Flyboy]

Most scientists, i assume, are smart enough to realise Sci Fi stands for Science Fiction, not fact. Science fact to them would simply be a day at work.

The thing with your dad may be because cop/detective shows and doctors with mediacal shows (the more serious ones anyway) are meant to be factual and realistic depictions of those jobs (with added drama and such).

Same with the forces.

I get really irked about military inaccuracies!

[jelgate]

For the most part no but thier are times when people butcher medicine or biology that I get annoyed

[slimjim]

For the most part no but thier are times when people butcher medicine or biology that I get annoyed

you a doctor?

[jelgate]

No but my uni major is in the medicine field

[Snowman37]

Most scientists, i assume, are smart enough to realise Sci Fi stands for Science Fiction, not fact.

This doesn't help when real-world science is completely botched, because the writers are too lazy to do their homework.

I love science-fiction, but I also recognize that a TV episode gets filmed in one week and has at most two weeks of preparation. I dismiss scientific inaccuracies as either creative license for TV pacing or simply a goof due to the writers not having enough time to research everything.

One thing that makes me crazy... Stargate: Atlantis "Hot Zone." There is a nanite virus killing people, so Sheppard detonates a nuke above the city to hit it with enough EM radiation to kill the nanite virus. They turned everything off except for the radios. Why are the radios still working? Shouldn't all of the electronic equipment brought from Earth have been destroyed due to the close proximity of the EMP? Being on or off would have made no difference.

Usually, the Stargate writers pay close attention to scientific accuracy, but this one sure got by them. That, or they hoped we wouldn't know enough about EMP's to pick up on this.

[Morbo]

No. Maybe i'll give them a sideways smirk and say - oh yeah? are you sure?
But that's all.

television is about suspension of disbelief.

your dad needs to relax.

[Snowman37]

People can suspend disbelief, but it's hard when the show is poorly written and horribly inaccurate.

[AlexanderD]

Equipment can be shielded from the effects of EMP. Hardening electronics has been done for decades. You're also assuming that the weapon generated EMP above a certain threshold sufficient to destroy or disable electronics even if temporarily. That is not always the case, and many factors contribute to that.

[Rawtheran]

Well I once had a teacher who absolutely loved science had a PHD in the field, and everything. He said that he doesn't liuke science fiction what so ever since it isn't really real science.

[Rosehawk]

my father is a police detective and as such it's often difficult to watch detective or cop shows in our house because he gets annoyed if things are unrealistic, I've heard similar complaints from the families of doctors with regards to watching programs like House or ER
you would think the same would hold true for scientists and Sci-Fi..... yet...... the stereotype perpetuated by shows like the big bang theory and my own experiences of the intelligence & areas of expertise of people on forums like this say almost the complete opposite.... why is this?

It really depends on the person. I have a friend who is a physics teacher and when she watches ANY show, not just sci-fi, it bugs her to see bad physics on TV. She says her brain keeps telling her that it won't work that way. She totally gets the creative license that writers, directors, actors, etc use to bring the science as an art to the screen but there is this other part of her brain that just wants them to get it right!

We went and saw all three of the Lord of the Rings movies together...after the first movie came out; the bridge scene irked her so much that she kept talking out loud in the theater - she loved watching it but kept saying the physics wouldn't have work that way when the part of the bridge that Froto was on collapses into the part of the bridge in front of it, - she had to promise that she would save all her critiques for after the movie was over so as to let me enjoy watching the movies in the theater!

[WingedPegasus]

Not unless the writers are making huge, stupid mistakes. I'm just fine with stretching the boundaries of science...it's just when they smash them to little bits; then I can get annoyed.

[boo1234]

I"m a planetary geologist and am not bothered by scifi in the least!