History Main / MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness

->''"Imagine a World where Machines can transmit information across long distances. Where carriages are pulled not by horses, but by engines relying on combustion. Imagine a World where electrically powered ships can sail below the surface of the Sea and heavier-than-air vessels sail the skies. Creator/JulesVerne imagined ALL these things.”''
-->-- '''Webvideo/ExtraCredits'''

->''"Imagine a World where Machines can transmit information across long distances. Where carriages are pulled not by horses, but by engines relying on combustion. Imagine a World where electrically powered ships can sail below the surface of the Sea and heavier-than-air vessels sail the skies. Creator\\JulesVerne imagined ALL these things.”''

# '''Mohs/OneBigLie:''' Authors of works in this class invent one (or, at most, a very few) counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles. James Blish's ''CitiesInFlight'' stories fall squarely into this category, courtesy of the "Dirac Equations" leading to the "spindizzy motor" and instantaneous communication. Most works in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series, the Ad Astra board games and Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/FarnhamsFreehold'' fall in this category, as do many of Creator/VernorVinge's books.\\

# '''Mohs/OneBigLie:''' Authors of works in this class invent one (or, at most, a very few) counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles. Most works in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series, the Ad Astra board games and Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/FarnhamsFreehold'' fall in this category, as do many of Creator/VernorVinge's books.\\

# '''Mohs/ScienceInGenreOnly:''' The work is unambiguously set in the ''literary genre'' of ScienceFiction, but ''scientific'' it is not. AppliedPhlebotinum is the rule of the day, often of the [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum Nonsensoleum]] kind, GreenRocks gain NewPowersAsThePlotDemands, and both BellisariosMaxim and the MST3KMantra apply. Works like ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', The Creator/{{DC|Comics}} and Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} universes,[[note]]although the individual comics of some heroes might fit elsewhere occasionally[[/note]] and ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' fall in this class.

Example: a character is shown a machine for traveling into the past and asks, "How does it work?"

* '''In medium SF:''' "You sit in this seat, set the date you want, and [[Film/BackToTheFuture drive to 88 mph]]."

* '''In really hard SF:''' "It doesn't. Time travel to the past is impossible." [[note]]General Relativity allows for solutions for Kerr black holes where closed timelike curves, and therefore time travel, are possible. It is expected that a proper theory of Quantum Gravity will remove this possibility.[[/note]]

# '''Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum:''' The universe is full of AppliedPhlebotinum with more to be found behind every star, but the Phlebotinum is dealt with in a [[MagicAIsMagicA fairly consistent fashion despite its lack of correspondence with reality]] and, in-world, is considered to lie within the realm of scientific inquiry. Works like Creator/EEDocSmith's ''Literature/{{Lensman}}'' series, ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', and ''Franchise/StarCraft'' fall in this category.\\

''Note 7:'' When adding this trope to a work page, [[Administrivia/TypeLabelsAreNotExamples don't simply put down the number and leave it at that]]. This would require a troper to visit this page to learn more about it. That's fine if the troper is interested, but if they are already working down the work's page (and only at the M's), they probably don't want to wander off on a WikiWalk. You can say the number, but please go on a bit explaining what the number is. For instance:

''Note 7:'' When adding this trope to a work page, [[Administrivia/TypeLabelsAreNotExamples don't simply put down the number and leave it at that]]. This would require a troper to visit this page to learn more about it. That's fine if the troper is interested, but if who is already working down the work's page (and only at the M's) who probably doesn't want to wander off on a WikiWalk. You can say the number, but please go on a bit explaining what the number is. For instance:

''Note:'' The works mentioned below are sheerly for illustrative purposes -- please add new examples to the subpages.

# '''Mohs/SpeculativeScience:''' Stories in which there is no "big lie" -- the science of the tale is (or [[ScienceMarchesOn was]]) genuine speculative science or engineering, and the goal of the author to make as few errors with respect to known fact as possible. The first two books in Robert L. Forward's ''Rocheworld'' series and Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'' fall in this class.\\

* '''In hard SF:''' "A good question with an interesting answer. [[{{Infodump}} Please have a seat while I bring you up to speed]] on the latest ideas in quantum theory, after which I will spend a chapter detailing an elaborate, yet plausible-sounding connection between quantum states, the unified field theory, and the means by which the brain stores memory, all tied into theories from both UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein [[SmallReferencePools and]] StephenHawking."

# '''Mohs/OneBigLie:''' Authors of works in this class invent one (or, at most, a very few) counterfactual physical laws and writes a story that explores the implications of these principles. Most works in Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' series, the Ad Astra board games and Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/FarnhamsFreehold'' fall in this category, as do many of {{Vernor Vinge}}'s books.\\