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I love how everything in Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is very feasible, including this. So much Sci-Fi is just magic. I recently read the Dune book and was d

I love how everything in Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir is very feasible, including this. So much Sci-Fi is just magic. I recently read the Dune book and was disappointed at how much of the "science" was just "because magic!"

passwordoops 3y ago
Dune is "science fiction" insofar as it takes place on a desert planet with space worms and space travel is a thing. In reality it's a deep critique on the foundation and evolution of religion not to mention the nature of familial relationships. Given the heady topics, and deeply layered study into human nature, I personally forgive the "because magic"
- dylan604 3y ago
  a lot of non-religious people have to forgive "because magic" in religion too when reading the text at hand.
causality0 3y ago
To be fair, the whole lightspeed microbes thing is just magic, as is the magically fast language acquisition. I love the novel but I haven't spoken to a single linguist who liked it.
- pipo234 3y ago
  As a linguist, I liked the novel but I totally agree the "first contact" aspect is pretty shoddy. The microbes magic is like a necessary evil to explain why we suddenly can (and must) go interstellar. The story also includes some "unaddressed magic", like how come Rocky find Grace "at" (orbiting) Tau Ceti? Like we would instantly detect an alien space ship entering "our solar system" because "we're there too".
  - metanonsense 3y ago
    Wasn't that explained with that "we have this huge infrared exhaust" thing?
    - pipo234 3y ago
      Ah yes! You're right! I completely forgot about the deceleration exhaust.
  - maxcan 3y ago
    Completely agree. The Expanse novels & series and Hail Mary have ruined me for fantasy-science-fiction. I love the idea of having one big conceit and then building a universe that is as consistent as possible with everything from known physics to known sociology and psychology given that conceit. For the expanse it was fusion drives and the protomolecule. For Hail Mary it was astrophage. Just like the magical linguistic tools of Hail Mary, the Expanse broke this a bit too with things like spinning up the asteroids without ripping them apart. But, these are still two of the best hard science fiction out there. Sorry Cixin, Remembrance of Earth's Past was fantastic but it quickly devolved into fantasy. One note, I always thought the spinning up asteroids part of The Expanse was particularly unfortunate because the plot would have worked just as well with giant spinning stations on the asteroid surfaces to let the belters live in limited gravity.
- BryanLegend 3y ago
  The language acquisition was explained in part by the alien having a photographic memory. I thought the perfect energy absorption trait of the microbes was well thought out. Honestly something I could see being invented someday.

passwordoops 3y ago

Dune is "science fiction" insofar as it takes place on a desert planet with space worms and space travel is a thing. In reality it's a deep critique on the foundation and evolution of religion not to mention the nature of familial relationships. Given the heady topics, and deeply layered study into human nature, I personally forgive the "because magic"

dylan604 3y ago
a lot of non-religious people have to forgive "because magic" in religion too when reading the text at hand.

causality0 3y ago

To be fair, the whole lightspeed microbes thing is just magic, as is the magically fast language acquisition. I love the novel but I haven't spoken to a single linguist who liked it.

pipo234 3y ago
As a linguist, I liked the novel but I totally agree the "first contact" aspect is pretty shoddy. The microbes magic is like a necessary evil to explain why we suddenly can (and must) go interstellar. The story also includes some "unaddressed magic", like how come Rocky find Grace "at" (orbiting) Tau Ceti? Like we would instantly detect an alien space ship entering "our solar system" because "we're there too".
- metanonsense 3y ago
  Wasn't that explained with that "we have this huge infrared exhaust" thing?
  - pipo234 3y ago
    Ah yes! You're right! I completely forgot about the deceleration exhaust.
- maxcan 3y ago
  Completely agree. The Expanse novels & series and Hail Mary have ruined me for fantasy-science-fiction. I love the idea of having one big conceit and then building a universe that is as consistent as possible with everything from known physics to known sociology and psychology given that conceit. For the expanse it was fusion drives and the protomolecule. For Hail Mary it was astrophage. Just like the magical linguistic tools of Hail Mary, the Expanse broke this a bit too with things like spinning up the asteroids without ripping them apart. But, these are still two of the best hard science fiction out there. Sorry Cixin, Remembrance of Earth's Past was fantastic but it quickly devolved into fantasy. One note, I always thought the spinning up asteroids part of The Expanse was particularly unfortunate because the plot would have worked just as well with giant spinning stations on the asteroid surfaces to let the belters live in limited gravity.
BryanLegend 3y ago
The language acquisition was explained in part by the alien having a photographic memory. I thought the perfect energy absorption trait of the microbes was well thought out. Honestly something I could see being invented someday.