News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on "Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified before it can walk". Parent comment

Re:"Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified b... by pfdietz on Monday February 03, 2025 @12:07PM (#42920370)
Sure, that's a state that will persist until it doesn't.

One common barrier to suspension of disbelief is the Fermi Problem. A great deal of space opera just ignores it, but once you take the argument seriously it ruins much of the world building.

If I want to ignore rationality of the world design and just read human achievement porn I'll head over to r/HFY.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:"Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified b... by philipkglass on Monday February 03, 2025 @12:35PM (#42920669)
I thought that you were going to condemn the genre's ubiquitous faster-than-light communications/travel. I approach space opera as a specialized variant of high fantasy, where the usual tropes are as genre-acceptable as wizards and ghosts.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:"Anything threatening to be a subculture is commodified b... by pfdietz on Monday February 03, 2025 @03:50PM (#42922909)
That's an external inconsistency, but SF is typically allowed one such assumption.

Ignoring the Fermi Argument is an internal inconsistency. The world just doesn't work on its own terms.

[ Parent | on HN ]