Someone once told me that early electronic music was good, because it was composed by non-electronic composers searching for a way to extend the art. Science f

Someone once told me that early electronic music was good, because it was composed by non-electronic composers searching for a way to extend the art. Science fiction feels very similar. If you read the earliest stuff (including subgenres like cyberpunk), you get authors who were looking to go beyond. Later, you get a mix of them and trend writers. To me the thing that he does well is break down where understanding comes from: (1) pre-context, (2) "literary naturalism" (great phrase!), (3) context, & (4) post-context. Sometimes, it's not critical that a reader understands 100% of a concept exactly where it's introduced, and by establishing less than that, tension can be created. I guess it's treating your reader as another character in your writing, and understanding that just as your in-fiction characters have different levels of understanding at various times in the plot, so can your reader. Personally, it feels very satisfying when a piece of understanding clicks into place later, and I hit 100% on (insert new concept here).