What's the difference between Sci Fi and Fantasy?

What's the difference between Sci Fi and Fantasy?

people who read fantasy are twice as insufferable

Sci Fi is usually set in a futuristic setting so it employs technology .

Fantasy is usually set in a historical setting so it employs magic.

Pic related.

Traditionally sci-fi was about exploring how technology could affect the world. Now "sci-fi" means futuristic fantasy.

If I had to give a short hand:

Sci Fi follows as many laws of physics as the writer cares/knows about.

Fantasy is like "Laws of physics? What are those?" and then ascends to its floating lava castle.

Sci Fi is Fantasy with the pretext of being possible, often relying on the reader's own ignorance of physics to make things that arent actually possible seem like they could be.

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A sufficiently advanced AI could come up with solutions to problems humans couldn't otherwise naturally. Not magic but it would seem rather out of the blue. If you could stretch it there's some truth to it.

First, the label 'sci fi' has strong pejorative connotations that prejudice the discussion. 'Science fiction' is more neutral. I'm going to use 'SF' for short, by which I mean the latter.

The basic purpose of SF is to ask the question 'What if?' and explore possible answers;
the basic purpose of Fantasy is escape, into magic and the impossible.

SF tends to be set in the future, Fantasy in the past.

SF tends to be set in a plausible version of this world, Fantasy in a made-up world or impossible version of this one.

SF settings tend to focus on developments/transformations in this world,
Fantasy settings on worldbuilding of realms from folklore or other non-real world places.

SF centers around potential developments in various fields/sciences, traditionally science and technology but also including social sciences and branching into ethics and so on;
Fantasy centers around systems of magic that are not bound by real-world limitations.

SF looks toward where things are headed, Fantasy toward where things have been.

SF is often populated with scientists, explorers, and aliens, Fantasy with wizards, royalty, and animal-like non-human creatures.

>Now "sci-fi" means futuristic fantasy

SF has bifurcated into 'hard SF' and 'soft SF'; what you label 'futuristic fantasy' would line up with the latter.
I think this divergence has happened because of the maturing of physics and other scientific disciplines. In the past there was an overall tendency to follow what seemed possible from a scientific standpoint, which was more wide open when less was known or solidified into theorem. The maturing of science places a much greater restraint on this speculation, along with a higher barrier to entry in terms of simply being well educated on current knowledge.
Some writers gravitate more toward working within current scientific knowledge as a system in which to base their work. Others can maybe be said to have a greater interest in telling a story than in adhering to scientific accuracy. There is a similarity with Fantasy in this way (namely not fitting the story into the realm of the plausible), but I think there are still differences that don't allow the two to be equated.

sci fi explores the effects a different world has on an individual

fantasy pretends that world is perfectly natural