Memeish: Lets talk about bad Fantasy or Sci Fi ideas

[roseembolism]

This discussion is about the conflict between logic and rationality.  It's about the situation where the writer or artist comes up with something really cute, and suddenly the logical part of one's brain says "Hey, wait a minute: did you really think this through?" Let's talk about those lovely ideas where the creator obviously didn't think about the consequences.

Here's my favorite example of "Did not think things through": Winged Cats:



Thank you M. Pena.

Aww, what could be cuter and more fantastical than putting wings on your favorite fuzzface! Wouldn't it wonderful to see them flying around!

But wait a minute, says the left side of my brain: even leaving aside bone and muscular issues, consider what giving wings to a cat would really mean. Cat's are voracious and very effective predators; consider what it would mean for the ecology if all of a sudden birds and other animals couldn't hide their young from cats. That's right- the extinction of most birds and other tree dwelling creatures! Ecological catastrophe!

So, good idea in concept, really bad idea in implementation. Now, what ideas have you stumbled across where the creator didn't consider the consequences? Anybody?

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

My favorite is prosaic: long hair. This shouldn't be rocket science, as long hair actually EXISTS, in this universe, in today's world. But the people who write it have obviously never had it. (Ditto for female attributes, depending on size of same and laziness of author.)

Also, yeah, I do roll my eyes at four-legged creatures who also have wings. I've studied evolutionary biology, yo. And mammalian and avian anatomy. Tell me how these things all go together and I'll suspend my disbelief; otherwise, I'll perceive the writer as lazy and my eyes will start with the rolling.