From: al@calsci (Al Petterson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Subject: Re: Psionics
Date: 26 Jul 92 20:28:33 GMT
Reply-To: calsci!al@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com (Al Petterson)
Followup-To: rec.games.frp.advocacy
Organization: California Scientific Software
News-Software: FSUUCP 1.1 Release 5

In article <13710@mindlink.bc.ca> Nick_Janow@mindlink.bc.ca (Nick Janow) writes:

>Is psionics part of the SF genre, or is it mistakenly considered SF rather
>than fantasy by people who have little or no science knowledge?

If you think you can roll that past Niven, Brin, and Asimov, go right ahead
and try.

>As well, psionics are included in many SF stories, but the psionics isn't what
>makes the story SF.

Romance is included in many SF stories but it isn't what makes the story SF.
Character development is included in many SF stories but it isn't what makes
the story SF.  What's your point?  For that matter, I disagree with you on
psi, see below.

>Psionics is an element used in SF and fantasy books (and probably horror
>and many other genres), but is not really a part of those genres.  Most SF
>stories with psionics that I can think of would still be SF stories if the
>psionics were removed and several of those stories would be improved thereby).

Claiming psi is not part of the genre simply because SF stories with psi
would still be SF if it were omitted is ridiculous.  Most good SF stories
have a *number* of plot elements that make the story SF and removing any one
of them would lessen the story, but still keep it in genre.  Can you name a
story in which FTL appears and where if you removed FTL *only* the story
wouldn't be SF?

Psi is central to all of the following SF stories, among others: Brin's
_Uplift_, Niven's _Known_Space_, Asimov's _Foundation_, Clarke's
_Childhood's_End_, Bradley's _Darkover_, McCaffey's _Pern_, Foster's
_Humanx_, Lucas's _Star_Wars_, and Roddenberry's _Star_Trek_.  Do you claim
all these stories violate genre by including psi?

Go ahead.  Claim Asimov, Niven, and Brin violated the SF genre with their
most famous SF stories.  Asimov, along with Clarke and Heinlein, *defined*
the genre in the '40s and '50s.  Niven was *the* foremost hard SF author of
the '60s-'70s.  And Brin is emerging as one of the foremost of the '80s and
'90s.  Psi figures prominently in the most famous works of all three.

You didn't use the term "violate genre", I did;  but as I read it your
objection is clearly that psi doesn't belong in in the SF genre.  Therefore
an SF story that includes psi is violating genre according to the views you
have expressed.

Look.  Psi violates current scientific theory pretty radically.  So does the
concept of FTL without chucking causality and introducing time travel.  Big
deal.  They're both common elements of both hard and soft SF.  If you don't
want psi in your campaign, disallow it.  Same for FTL, time travel, aliens,
genetic engineering, AI, nanotech, cyberpunk, et al.  But claiming it's not
part of the genre is plain wrong.

In a given *specific* SF world, psi may or may not have a part.  But any SF
roleplaying system which purports to be "general" rather than tied to a
specific vision of the future should include psi, or much of SF cannot be
modeled using that system.

Al Petterson (al%calsci@gvgpsa.gvg.tek.com)
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