r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Alextral • 2d ago

I really hate this

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Fantasy and science fiction being cramped in the same section, which is already so small :(

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u/Potential_Amount_267 2d ago

fantasy is what can't happen (magic, violating laws of physics, etc)

science fiction is what could happen (future tech)

source: worked in a library.

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u/ButterscotchLow7330 2d ago

Cool, so star wars is "Could happen" Lightsabers and droids, and "Can't happen" with the force and the magicy stuff. Cool.

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u/Potential_Amount_267 2d ago

one bit of impossibility makes it fantasy. is the force magic? Kinda seems like it.

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u/Lithl 2d ago

So every single story with FTL travel or FTL communication is fantasy?

Because both of those are impossible. FTL, even via something like hyperspace or wormholes, inherently violates causality. If you can get from point A to point B in less time than it takes for a photon to travel that distance through normal space, you're doing something impossible.