Artificial Gravity: Can it be done right?

[JohnB]

Gentlemen, there seems to be a difference of opinion here as what is actually "believable". (short discourse in "Fiction Writing 101" to follow)

 

To be believable an idea mustn't contravene the readers preconcieved ideas. In the case of the average reader for this type of novel their beliefs can be summed up quite easily;

 

1. Governments have secret labs and organizations.

2. Governments will not release everything they know.

3. The results of some research will be deliberately hidden.

4. Secret departments don't always tell the government what is going on.

5. In the world of physics, particles act very strangely.

6. If they have heard of them at all, they know gravitons are connected to gravity. They don't know how or why, they just are.

 

We combine the above with the phenomenon known as "The willing suspension of disbelief" and the whole thing works in favour of the writer. If we look at the poll here we see the two tops shows were Stargate and the X Files.

 

This doesn't mean that people believe either of them, it does mean however that for 1 hour each week people were willing to not disbelieve them. Facts get in the way. Anyone sitting down to watch Stargate and then commenting on the fact that "Wormholes" have yet to be proven would find himself showered in popcorn. The same is true for a novel or short story.

 

Mooey, if a person is sitting down to read to read your story he is willing to believe whatever you say, so long as it doesn't contravene his beliefs. As we saw from the 6 points above, so long as you watch your footing, this isn't too hard. It doesn't matter if a physicist doesn't believe it as they are a very narrow market. (sorry ) It only matters that Joe Blogs is willing to believe it for an hour or two as he reads the story.

 

You don't need to go into the details of the physics involved, it detracts from the story. It suffices to say "We discovered that clockwise spinning gravitons cause an attractive force which we call gravity and anti clockwise ones a repulsive force, anti gravity if you will. By focusing a beam of anti clockwise ones down from the ship, we get enough force to lift off and drive the ship. A smaller, tight beamed version powers the anti meteor shield." That's all the reader needs to know.

 

You can't limit yourself to what is proven. If any of the tech that you will need for the story was proven, then we would have artificial gravity and a decent space drive rather than bloody great firecrackers. Your tech doesn't need to be proven or even probable, it just needs to be possible. (For an hour or two.)

 

Good luck with the story.

[mooeypoo]

Of course, of course I don't have to have everything fit science completely, and I know that it is enough that I 'put out hints" but since I don't know which way to show the government (which is indeed one of the ideas I will use) developed a method for gravity (and indeed some other stuff they're not sharing..) i asked for BASICS i can use.

 

I didnt expect a proven way to use artificial gravity

 

Thanks and when I have the story ready, i'll give it here, or at laest some of it

 

thanks!

 

~moo