History Main / SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale

For example, consider that a lightyear is on the order of 10 ''quadrillion'' metres or nearly ''six trillion'' miles. Let's assume your family car uses about 2 and a half gallons (11.37 litres) of fuel per 100km - about 25 mpg - and a gallon (2.55 litres) costs about $4 USD (i.e. 1.6 USD/1 Euro per litre) to traverse it. This means that one lightyear is roughly where you'd end up if you spent the entire national debt of the US on petroleum fuel.[[note]]At 60 miles per hour, it would take 11 million years to drive there.[[/note]] At the opposite end, an atomic nucleus is on the order of a ''quadrillionth'' of a meter. That's ten-to-the-power-of-negative-fifteen of a meter, or a femtometer. Such outrageous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix SI prefixes]] rarely appear in fiction, and that's before we get anywhere near the scales of galaxies and subatomic particles. [[WritersCannotDoMath This is because most writers aren't that good at or are too lazy to implement mathematics]]. If it sounds like [[EleventyZillion a number made up by a child]] ([[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Attention all yoctograms!]], septillion seconds), the writer might have actually taken it seriously.

This is chiefly true of creators of TV, film, and video game SF. Creators of ''written'' science fiction can be positively obsessive about accuracy.[[note]]On the other hand, sometimes they're not.[[/note]] If your qualitative yardstick is based around an author's ability to describe distances, this may be a useful way to distinguish good print science fiction from bad print science fiction.

A way of explaining the scale of the universe is to use [[http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_estimation fermi style estimation]] to the nearest powers of ten. The solar system is about a million times the width of the Earth while the Milky Way galaxy is 100 million times the width of the solar system, and the observable universe is a million times the width of the Milky Way. The size of the universe beyond that is speculation, though the observable universe may be but a speck in the larger universe, assuming it's not infinite.

Another example that often comes up is the idea of beings coming to our galaxy from another galaxy. While there's no reason why a writer ''can't'' introduce beings from the nearest galaxy intent on contacting/conquering the Milky Way, there would have to be a ''pretty dang good reason'' to travel the incredibly vast distances separating galaxies -- distances which make traveling between stars seem like a little hop.

This is chiefly true of creators of TV, film, and video game SF. Creators of ''written'' science fiction can be positively obsessive about accuracy.[[note]]On the other hand, [[SturgeonsLaw sometimes they're not.]][[/note]] If your qualitative yardstick is based around an author's ability to describe distances, this may be a useful way to distinguish good print science fiction from bad print science fiction.

-->-- '''Reported opening lines of the eponymous ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'''''

Two related tropes are MedievalStasis and ModernStasis, where society stays the same for thousands of years. It is a subtrope of ArtisticLicenseSpace, which features a list of tropes that try to treat space in a way that it wouldn't realistically work. See also: MST3KMantra, BellisariosMaxim, WatsonianVersusDoylist.

* SciFiWritersHave/NoSenseOfUnits

Two related tropes are MedievalStasis and ModernStasis, where society stays the same for thousands of years. It is a subtrope of SpaceDoesNotWorkThatWay, which features a list of tropes that try to treat space in a way that it wouldn't realistically work. See also: MST3KMantra, BellisariosMaxim, WatsonianVersusDoylist.

Most people can't get their minds around just how big the universe is. So it should come as little surprise that most SpeculativeFiction writers can't either.

->''"Space is ''big''. '''''Really''''' big. You just won't ''believe'' how vastly, mind-bogglingly ''huge'' it is. I mean, you might think it's a long way down to the road to the chemist, but that's ''peanuts'' to space."''

->''"Space is ''big''. '''''Really''''' big. I mean, you might think it's a long way down to the road to the chemist, but that's ''peanuts'' to space."''

->''"Space is ''big''. '''''Really''''' big. I mean, you might think it's a long way down to the road to the chemist, but that's ''peanuts'' to space. ''Listen''..."''

This is chiefly true of creators of TV, film, and video game SF. Creators of ''written'' science fiction can be positively obsessive about accuracy[[note]] but on the other hand, [[SturgeonsLaw sometimes they're not]][[/note]]. If your qualitative yardstick is based around an author's ability to describe distances, this may be a useful way to distinguish good print science fiction from bad print science fiction. And it's why a lot of science fiction fans don't like the movie and TV adaptations of their favorite books and stories. The usual blend of AdaptationDecay and bad research is a surefire way to leave the adaptation with no sense of ''scale''.

For example, consider that a light year is on the order of 10 ''quadrillion'' metres or nearly ''six trillion'' miles. Let's assume your family car uses about 2 and a half gallons (11.37 litres) of fuel per 100km - about 25 mpg - and a gallon (2.55 litres) costs about $4 USD (i.e. 1.6 USD/1 Euro per litre) to traverse it. This means that one light year is roughly where you'd end up if you spent the entire national debt of the US on petroleum fuel [[note]]and at 60 miles per hour, it would take 11 million years to drive there[[/note]]. At the opposite end, an atomic nucleus is on the order of a ''quadrillionth'' of a meter. That's ten-to-the-power-of-negative-fifteen of a meter, or a femtometer. Such outrageous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix SI prefixes]] rarely appear in fiction, and that's before we get anywhere near the scales of galaxies and subatomic particles. [[WritersCannotDoMath This is because most writers aren't that good at or are too lazy to implement mathematics]]. If it sounds like [[EleventyZillion a number made up by a child]] ([[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Attention all yoctograms!]], septillion seconds), the writer might have actually taken it seriously.

For example, consider that a light year is on the order of 10 ''quadrillion'' metres or nearly ''six trillion'' miles. Let's assume your family car uses about 2 and a half gallons (11.37 litres) of fuel per 100km - about 25 mpg - and a gallon (2.55 litres) costs about $4 USD (i.e. 1.6 USD/1 Euro per litre) to traverse it. This means that one light year is roughly where you'd end up if you spent the entire national debt of the US on petroleum fuel [[note]]and at 60 miles per hour, it would take 11 million years to drive there[[/note]]. At the opposite end, an atomic nucleus is on the order of a ''quadrillionth'' of a meter. That's ten-to-the-power-of-negative-fifteen of a meter, or a femtometer. Such outrageous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix SI prefixes]] rarely appear in fiction, and that's before we get anywhere near the scales of galaxies and subatomic particles. [[WritersCannotDoMath This is because most writers aren't that good at or are too lazy to implement mathematics, let alone the branch of calculus]]. If it sounds like [[EleventyZillion a number made up by a child]] ([[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Attention all yoctograms!]], septillion seconds), the writer might have actually taken it seriously.

-->-- '''Reported opening lines of the eponymous ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''.'''

When adding examples, it may be wise to consider the capabilities of the faction in question. What is "unrealistic" for a low-tech harder-SF group may not be so for a [[JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit high-Kardashev]] HigherTechSpecies; after all, what we can do now would be outlandish to our medieval ancestors, so who's to say a society centuries if not millennia more advanced than us can't invent a "unrealistically" light yet superstrong material? On the other hand, some things are ''laws of physics'', not limits of technology, and the difference is an important one (any ship that expels an exhaust to propel itself, for example, functions by the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, which is basically a special case of the Second Law of Motion—regardless of what the exhaust is or how it imparts the energy to expel it.

When adding examples, it may be wise to consider the capabilities of the faction in question. What is "unrealistic" for a low-tech harder-SF group may not be so for a [[JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit high-Kardashev]] HigherTechSpecies; after all, what we can do now would be outlandish to our medieval ancestors, so who's to say a society centuries if not millennia more advanced than us can't invent a "unrealistically" light yet superstrong material? On the other hand, some things are ''laws of physics'', not limits of technology, and the difference is an important one (any ship that expels an exhaust to propel itself, for example, functions by the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation, which is basically a special case of the Second Law of Motion—regardless of what the exhaust is or how it imparts the energy to expel it [[note]]Except for {{Solar Sail}}s, which use light pressure to accelerate.[[/note]]).

This is chiefly true of creators of TV, film, and video game SF. Creators of ''written'' science fiction can be positively obsessive about accuracy [[note]] but on the other hand, [[SturgeonsLaw sometimes they're not]]. [[/note]] If your qualitative yardstick is based around an author's ability to describe distances, this may be a useful way to distinguish good print science fiction from bad print science fiction. And it's why a lot of science fiction fans don't like the movie and TV adaptations of their favorite books and stories. The usual blend of AdaptationDecay and bad research is a surefire way to leave the adaptation with no sense of ''scale''.

->''"Space is ''big''. '''''Really''''' big. I mean, you might think it's a long way down to the street to the chemist, but that's ''peanuts'' compared to space, ''listen!''..."''

Most people (if not, in fact, ''everyone'') can't get their minds around just how big the universe is. So it should come as little surprise that most SpeculativeFiction writers can't either.

This is chiefly true of creators of TV, film, and video game SF. Creators of ''written'' science fiction can be positively obsessive about accuracy (but on the other hand, [[SturgeonsLaw sometimes they're not]]). If your qualitative yardstick is based around an author's ability to describe distances, this may be a useful way to distinguish good print science fiction from bad print science fiction. And it's why a lot of science fiction fans don't like the movie and TV adaptations of their favorite books and stories. The usual blend of AdaptationDecay and bad research is a surefire way to leave the adaptation with no sense of ''scale''.

For example, consider that a light year is on the order of 10 ''quadrillion'' metres (10 petametres) or nearly ''six trillion'' miles. Let's assume your family car uses about 2 and a half gallons (11.37 litres) of fuel per 100km - about 25 mpg - and a gallon (2.55 litres) costs about $4 USD (i.e. 1.6 USD/1 Euro per litre) to traverse it. This means that one light year is roughly where you'd end up if you spent the entire national debt of the US on petroleum fuel [[note]]and at 60 miles per hour, it would take 11 million years to drive there[[/note]]. At the opposite end, an atomic nucleus is on the order of a ''quadrillionth'' of a meter. That's ten-to-the-power-of-negative-fifteen of a meter, or a femtometer. Such outrageous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix SI prefixes]] rarely appear in fiction, and that's before we get anywhere near the scales of galaxies and subatomic particles. [[WritersCannotDoMath This is because most writers aren't that good at or are too lazy to implement mathematics, let alone the branch of calculus]]. If it sounds like [[EleventyZillion a number made up by a child]] ([[VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou Attention all yoctograms!]], septillion seconds), the writer might have actually taken it seriously.