[dylan604]

>It requires two assumptions:

You're kidding right? It's all SciFi. In case you're confused, the Fi is short for Fiction. Stuff that's not real. So of course we're making assumptions on the entire thing. Including The Book as the greatest selling book of fiction of all time.

You're also now assuming that we Earthlings are the original source. Some scifi tropes state we're more Martian fleeing their dying planet or with things like panspermia. I like the SciFi where everyone is searching for the nearly mythical planet that turns out to be Earth. Ice Pirates is a goofy one.

[throwanem]

You may labor under a misapprehension here; if I met Yahweh on the road, I would do my level best to kill it. But I was raised with that book, and still remember enough to play with the toys in it when I want to; if we're talking 1950s sf twists like "the aliens were fellow children of God all along!" then those are the toys with which we're playing.

That aside, of course we're making assumptions. But if we don't choose to either be bound by the assumptions we've already made or re-evaluate them, then we're playing with dolls rather than worldbuilding. Your pastimes are of course your own business, but it's been a long time indeed since I graduated from the former to the latter.

(Not that I mind space opera, when it focuses on the character-driven stories it's best suited to tell - trying to figure out how a TARDIS works misses the point entirely, while "The Doctor's Wife" is beautiful. But you mentioned science fiction, and my current standard there is set by Children of Time and Blindsight.)

[mietek]

Thanks for the recommendation of Children of Time. A few others from me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39322944