XPost: rec.arts.sf.written, rec.arts.sf.science
From: seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com
On 1/25/14 8:40 PM, William December Starr wrote:
> In article ,
> "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" said:
>
>> On 1/24/14 5:39 PM, Greg Goss wrote:
>
> [ re Star Trek B, episode one ]
>
>>> The complete incomprehension of interstellar distances bugged me.
>>
>> Given that the original Trek, and its follow-ons, had no clear
>> comprehension of interstellar, or even interplanetary, distances,
>> I didn't have any expectations that they'd do it in this one.
>
> I'd've expected them to recognize that their audience is likely to
> be more widely knowledgeable about such things these days, and
> adjust their aim accordingly.
You have different expectations than I do. And strangely high faith in
the advancing education of the audience. I certainly wouldn't expect the
average person to be any more gut-level knowledgeable about such things
than they were in 1967. We already know what those distances were and
how long it took light to cross them in 1967, and had known for decades
or centuries depending on exactly where you mark that knowledge. If a
science fiction fan in 1967 wasn't going to notice (or wasn't going to
care) that it takes you minutes to cross ten thousand kilometers going
at "warp 5" as two ships are closing for combat, while "warp 5" later on
takes you between solar systems, I see no reason that they'd do so in
2009. If you're not talking about SF fans specifically, I'd have even
less expectations. The scale of space is so huge that even people
writing in the field often have a hard time conveying it.
--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com Blog:
http://seawasp.livejournal.com
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
