It occurs 45 minutes into the Long Now mp3 of the event “The Singularity: Your Future as a Black Hole;” it makes me laugh.

Why would Science Fiction stoop to this? Why are they deploying this grand mathematical notion as like, a source of “plot coupons”

Well I’ll explain this to you, and if you learn nothing else about science fiction you need to know this. This is the classic Peter Nicholls definition of science fiction from 1976. It’s very difficult to define science fiction. Many people have tried. Okay…

“Sci-fi can be succinctly defined (I’m quoting him) can be succinctly defined as speculation, whether based on established scientific facts, or, on logical pseudofacts, consistent with the framework of the fiction in question, involving smelly, green, pimply aliens furiously raping or eating or both beautiful naked bare-breasted chicks, covering them in slime! red oozing living slime! dribbling from every horrific orifice, squeezing out between bulbous pulpy lips onto the sensuous velvety skin of the writhing sweating slave girls their bodies cut and bruised by knotted whips brandished by giant blonde and vast bicepped androids; and written in the gothic mode.”

That just rocks so hard.