Are there truly any unique science fiction ideas left?

[You_Will_Fail]

While thinking up ideas for potential trek episodes - something I like to do while going through the second season of Stargate, its much better with another distraction, the difficulty of finding truly unique ideas and the ease with which I was able to guess the outcome or basic plot of any Stargate episode within the first 5 minutes made me question whether there were truly any unique sci-fi ideas for trek left.
There are over 700 episodes, if we get a new Trek series, is it inevitable that it will recover mostly old ground concepts wise? Will new trek have to rely more on characters and plot threads rather than new and interesting concepts like Trek that came before- particularly TNG and VOY.

(If you want to check out my story ideas, please please visit the thread in the fan fiction forum and critique!!! http://www.trekbbs.com/showthread.php?t=127977 )

 

[Myasishchev]

Yes, but they're all mine.

 

[Nerd unRage]

Hard to say. People who are super-creative and very good at thinking outside the box (or is it bun?) could easily come up with something different. Personally, I like things more character driven and seeing the evolution of a character.

 

[Bill Morris]

There are lots. One little thing, not necessarily related to Trek, is about getting around the time lag of radio signals when operating a device on another celestial body by remote control. The Mars rovers actually steer themselves, using on-board sensors and microcomputers, to avoid obstacles and only need instructions regarding the general course. But suppose you wanted to do that or a task like picking up a rock, rotating it by hand while looking at it, and perhaps drilling a hole and vacuuming out the dust for analysis, placing it in a bag, etc. by remote control from a human operator back on Earth? Getting around the time lag and making it like real-time activity to the human operator, even though the robot is light-minutes away on a moon of Jupiter, would require a computer program that simulates the whole scenario by extrapolating from images already received, creating detailed moving images of what is expected to happen minutes in the future in response to movements made by an operator wearing a control suit, all of which can be reviewed after it actually happens (from video sent back by the robot).

You perhaps only get a sci-fi plot out of that when something goes wrong or when humans become too dependent on such a system, try to use it to drill holes in an oncoming killer asteroid in order to plant some nukes, aliens show up, people simply misuse that technology or confuse it with actual time travel--whatever.

Or, how about an alternate universe where everything is the same but, with quantum entanglement, everything that happens there happens a known number of hours later in our universe, and Section 31 has observers monitoring events there are and reporting to operatives here, who try to prevent certain events but end up . . .

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

No.

 

[number6]

In the end the best sci-fi stories are focused on basic concepts: Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself.

Just about everything else is pure self gratification on an intellectual level.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

the ease with which I was able to guess the outcome or basic plot of any Stargate episode within the first 5 minutes made me question whether there were truly any unique sci-fi ideas for trek left.

You're talking about two different things.

Basic sci fi concept, such as time travel or parallel universe - they've probably all been thunk of, unless you insist on getting really specific about it. There might be some new variety of time travel nobody's thought of yet, for example. But so what, it's still time travel. Nibbling around the edges of a concept doesn't change the concept, and there's nothing wrong with garden variety time travel anyway.

But the reason you can tell the outcome of a Stargate episode is because they are poorly written and derivative. There's no reason that a time travel or parallel universe or any other kind of episode has to follow some kind of dreary old template. The time travel or parallel universe is just a setting that restricts the range of possibilities to some extent, but throw a group of well-crafted character types into any premise, add some imagination, and anything is possible.

There are still a universe worth of great sci fi stories to be told. You just won't find them on Stargate.

 

[number6]

What the hell is Stargate?

 

[RegFan]

All stories are built on tropes. The tropes in themselves are rarely new, but they just have to be combined in new and interesting ways.

 

[Kelthaz]

the difficulty of finding truly unique ideas and the ease with which I was able to guess the outcome or basic plot of any Stargate episode within the first 5 minutes made me question whether there were truly any unique sci-fi ideas for trek left.

The concept is less important than the execution.

 

[stj]

Saying there are no unique science fiction ideas left in one sense is like saying there are no unique science ideas left, an idea requiring astonishing ignorance. Saying there are no unique basic plots or stories left is more defensible. But it ignores things like setting and character and style, which is smugly philistine. The implication that creativity is de novo, doesn't use what came before is absurd.

That said, I don't believe the claim that every episode of Stargate can be predicted within five minutes is true. TV shows generally won't do certain things because they are offensive to conventional attitudes and there are certain things they won't do because they are continuing series.

The really peculiar thing is the original post doesn't seem to notice that most plots should actually logically follow from the premises of the story. The genuinely logical twist ending is rare enough, but a twist ending that isn't just a gimmick is even rarer. The easiest way to make something unpredictable is to make it senseless. The trouble is that makes for ignorant horseshit like BattleStar Galactica.

 

[iguana_tonante]

In the end the best sci-fi stories are focused on basic concepts: Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself.

What about Man vs. Machine-Nature-Man?

 

[Cepstrum]

Saying there are no unique science fiction ideas left in one sense is like saying there are no unique science ideas left, an idea requiring astonishing ignorance. Saying there are no unique basic plots or stories left is more defensible. But it ignores things like setting and character and style, which is smugly philistine. The implication that creativity is de novo, doesn't use what came before is absurd.

That said, I don't believe the claim that every episode of Stargate can be predicted within five minutes is true. TV shows generally won't do certain things because they are offensive to conventional attitudes and there are certain things they won't do because they are continuing series.

The really peculiar thing is the original post doesn't seem to notice that most plots should actually logically follow from the premises of the story. The genuinely logical twist ending is rare enough, but a twist ending that isn't just a gimmick is even rarer. The easiest way to make something unpredictable is to make it senseless. The trouble is that makes for ignorant horseshit like BattleStar Galactica.

I agree. There are technically an infinite number of possible stories; hence an unlimited number of "unique" ones.

Actually getting writers to tap unique *and* compelling ones instead of clichéd stories is another matter.


Edit: I've not seen BSG, so I can't comment on it. I do like what I've seen of Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis, though. I believe humans, in general, have a tendency to like predictable, "comfortable" stories.

A good analogy is in music. People usually prefer to hear songs they already know. It requires a particularly good new song to "grab" the masses' attention.

 

[barnaclelapse]

I don't think there's any truly original ideas, no, but I do think it's possible to get something original and unique out of an established idea. I wouldn't say we've completely run out of those just yet.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

In the end the best sci-fi stories are focused on basic concepts: Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself.

What about Man vs. Machine-Nature-Man?

Sounds like Predator....

 

[sbk1234]

Yes, there are. I just can't think of any.

 

[Shatnertage]

If I could think of them, I'd probably be a sci fi writer. I'm sure someone's capable of thinking up something that will surprise readers/viewers.

How about Man vs. Nature vs. Nurture?

It could be a survival in the wilderness meets developmental psychology story.

I have no idea how well it would play out, but already I think that sounded way funnier in my head than it looks on screen.

 

[Destructor]

Science-fiction often spins off of perceptions of contemporary reality, and since that is always changing and enhancing, new ideas are always being generated.

 

[22 Stars]

WE also have to remember, that concepts that may currently be falling into the 'fantasy' genre could slip into the sci-fi realm and then reality pretty fast. A decent example would be moving images on paper, made popular in Harry Potter. We are told this is fantasy and magic in HP, but we are now at a point where we can produce a product very close to that.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In the end the best sci-fi stories are focused on basic concepts: Man vs. Machine, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself.

What about Man vs. Machine-Nature-Man?

Sounds like Predator....

Or a new movie on SyFy.