Am I the only one that is seeing this as a joke referencing Stalactites and Stalagmites? Like I also think that it fits as a good thought experiment, but is the joke so obvious that no one is stating it? Or is am I just reading something into it that’s not there?
I’ve only read your comment so far, but I thought it was obvious enough to be surprised your comment was in top
You seem to be one of the few commenting so far.
I used to get them confused until a visit to Luray Cavern. The tour guide explained that one “held ‘tite’ to the ceiling while the other just ‘mite’ reach it.”
It’s easier than that: c for ceiling, g for ground.
I just remember it intuitively based on vibes. Stalagmites sound bulky and lumpy, and stalactites sound sharp and light.
Tights come down.
The joke is so obvious there’s no need to comment on it so others, including myself, are using this as an opportunity to post our opinions on the difference between sci-fi and fantasy.
Stalactites hold tightly to the ceiling.
And stalagmites grow up from the ground.
Yeah not obvious to me at all. I came to the comments to get enlightened because I did not get the joke.
I honestly thought “that can’t possibly be the joke, right?” because it seems pretty nonsequitur.
I always liked the distinction (I forget who originated it) that science fiction is a story set in a world where the rules are defined by physics and fantasy is a story set in a world where the rules are defined by the author.
Star Wars is fucked…
Oh, it’s fantasy
science fiction is in space and fantasy has castles.
I will take no further questions.
Counter point Star Wars. Magic powers, magic swords, rescuing princesses, chosen one prophesies.
Star Wars is 100% a Space Fantasy. A boy goes on an adventure accompanied by a wizard to save a princess and become a knight.
as the other commenter said, there’s very little science fiction in star wars. It’s more fantastical creatures and magic and shit. it’s actually fantasy. Star trek however, that’s scify
Why does this analogy make sense to me for some reason?
Because in the classical Jungian style of analysis, imagery of the basement of a childhood home was a revisiting of the past.
Likewise “up from the floor” indicates ancients coming up from caves, ancient monsters to be slain, underground dungeons. The primitive unchained and revisited.
…and using Freud’s principle of the inversion; down from the ceiling is indicative of from the future.
Prometheanism, featuring stories of Science only taking us so far before we fall from the ceiling, or rather it chaotically falls on us.
The idea that a return to primative barbarism and violence can also come from above, from technology, from the future unknown, from advanced beings, complex plans, or outter space.
So whether it’s up from the floor (ancient past) or down from the ceiling (unknown future) - it’s coming for us, with risks and dangers we’re not ready for…
…or so the stories go.
I would argue that science fiction and fantasy are the same thing and the only difference is the explanation for how all the cool stuff works.
Functionally, there’s no real difference between a portal that takes the characters to another world using a wormhole and one that does it through through magic. Just like how there’s no difference between Vulcans/Klingons/Wookies and Elves/Dwarves/Beastmen. Both are intelligent non-humans.
Enders Game instilled the importance of adjusting your frame of reference. What was up can become down.
So it’s science fiction but when you consider a collaborative global human response to existential danger it’s fantasy.
But the Shadow series shows how quickly we go back to weaponizing and using gifted war trained children as tools of conquest… so realism/horror?
Orson Scott Card actually weighed in on a simple way to determine if something is fantasy or sci-fi since he writes both:
The difference between science fiction and fantasy…is simply this, science fiction has rivets, fantasy has trees.
I’ve been reading stories from the Hatsune Miku rhythm game app, that almost straddles the line between urban fantasy and unexplained sci-fi. The premise is that instances of the vocaloids live in personalized virtual worlds for different (small) groups of humans. The humans can teleport to these worlds by playing a special song on their phone, or the vocaloids can project themselves as holograms from the humans’ phones. It’s almost sci-fi because it mostly works within constraints of technology. For example, you get booted out of the virtual world if your phone runs out of battery, and if your phone gets shorted out, it can prevent the vocaloids from projecting themselves until the phone is repaired (though if the phone still works otherwise, they can voice chat.) Also the special song can be transferred to different machines and still works. But then what makes it more fantasy is that the song and worlds are created from the humans’ feelings (and if they lose the song, a new copy will appear for them,) and it works without internet connection (if one member of a group is stranded and another isn’t, they could have a vocaloid relay a message.) And then just recently I read a chapter where some characters were able to access their virtual world through their dreams, without needing the song file in the first place. For me, that’s what completely tipped the scale into urban fantasy.
Wow. Thank you for typing that up! What an amazing mind the author has to come up with something so uniquely different, at least that I’ve read or heard of.
I don’t know who writes it, and I wouldn’t exactly call it a masterpiece (though to be fair, I am reading translations,) but it is a fun premise. I started reading it because it’s one of the few sources of official Hatsune Miku lore (though ultimately everything is canon,) but the stories focus more on the human characters, with the vocaloids mostly just being there to support. Still, the stories can be compelling.
At this point, half the reason I’m still reading is for the human characters, and the other half is to find details on the premise, such as how it works with thermodynamics, whether the cafe world has an economy, how biological the vocaloids are (do they need to eat?), and how long it’s going to be before anyone finds out that their bestie/sibling/trainer/etc has their own virtual world too (they don’t do a great job of keeping it secret, but they also don’t do a great job of investigating.)
Fantasy is right-leaning while SF is left-leaning. Easy peasy.
Fantasy is when there’s magic, sci-fi is when the magic has specific terminology.
Star Trek says, “Eat me and my 58 years of series and films— Ad astra per aspera!”
Lmao
What was it again in science fiction, hard and soft? Whereas hard is more realistic and soft has more fantasy.
But what if there’s bats? Bats typically aren’t on the floor!
Bats on the floor are obviously Rats, because the bottom of the B is obscured by the puddle they’re standing on.
Bats are just rats with wings
If it’s on the ceiling, it’s a Bat-Cite and if it’s on the floor, it’s a Bat-Mite.
spoiler
Pictured: Bat-Mite
Science fiction is used to look down upon society and is often pessimistic. Fantasy look ls up at what could be and is generally optimistic.
