My opinion on categorization constantly flip-flops. One day I abhor the practice of placing arbitrary labels on things that may not necessary fit into said label for the sole purpose of convenience. Take the tomato debate for example. There is no fine line between "fruit" and "vegetable" in nature, it's a human construct used to easily parse edible plants into groups. The same goes for sci-fi, as there is a constant fight over what sub-genres and sub-sub-genres fit within the realm of "sci-fi". Steampunk is a genre that has been the focus of that debate, in particular. After all, it happens (almost always) in the past, oftentimes with less progressed technologies. On my contrarian days, I say "Who gives a shit?". Steampunk is steampunk. Everyone versed in fiction knows, by and large, what that entails. Why are umbrella genres and categories necessary for everything?
However, on days I'm feeling a bit more agreeable, I see the benefits of categories and the expansive, flawed, wonderful, and apocryphal genre that is Science Fiction, and it is within those benefits that I discover what defines the genre for me.
Science fiction is a study of what could be, could've been, and couldn't ever be. It's fantastical, which is why many fit it under the even broader spectrum of fantasy, but it is still largely rooted in reality. In sci-fi, ghosts are aliens trapped in gaseous phase, pyromancy is evolved through symbiotic evolution with heat producing bacteria, and alternate earths are visited by wormoles. That is what unites it as a genre and makes it meaningful. Science Fiction is a gathering of dreamers who don't need unexplainable phenomena to make their visions come to life. All that is needed is knowledge of what is known and curiosity about what is not.
Overall I think what you are trying to say in this post is that labeling things can be wrong. I agree with this fact also, putting a label on something can limit authors and readers on what science fiction really can be. I think defining the term can also be good. It can show readers certain things to look for when considering a piece of literature. This can lead to greater understanding of what the author is trying to convey to their audience.
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