[littlePen]

Seriously?

[JulietOreira]

They just have them reproduce anyway. Isn't Spock half human and half Vulcan?

[obegeLype]

In the absence of having two species that are able to produce offspring together, they typically use costumes and makeup to mimic the effect of members of two different species mating

Now that we got the dumb answers out of the way . . . .


What creative reasoning or thinking do they use, that allows readers/watchers to suspend their disbelief?

[kabelshik]

The key is to ratchet up the "fiction" while letting the "science" part slide.
This is particularly true in visual media.

[IssuessBratte]

whether it's in novels, television series, or movies, some characters are shown to be half human and half some species of a type of alien humanoid.

But since different species cannot breed together to produce offspring, how do writers and producers work around that?

I get it, Star Trek is stupid.

[Luisabens]

Amen to that, Albi. Stargate SG1 is great IMO - Atlantis, not as great, but good.

[Atmotteenrift]

Now that we got the dumb answers out of the way . . . .

Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. "How do science fiction writers deal with the fact that they're writing about fictional science?" We're talking about a genre that incorporates faster than light travel, time travel, zombies, god-like entities (e.g. the Eschaton), etc.

[11Woxsepmoomo]

[textarchive]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cha...xt_Generation)

I've never seen this episode before. Thanks for the link.

[gariharrr]

When I've read about the craft of writing science fiction that authors provided, they explain the amount of research they've done, then they used their imagination and creativity to come up with plausible explanations that could explain to readers enough things such as half human half humanoid alien so that readers can suspend their disbelief.

I'm surprised you're not familiar with this method of fictional writing.

[TZtrDuso]

I'm sure he is. His point, IIUC, is that it's silly to be unable to suspend disbelief for something like this, but not for the other, sometimes far more egregious violations of science and common sense which proliferate throughout the genre.

XPost

[tobia]

I thought the whole idea of suspension of disbelief was that there is no need for an explanation...

[DenisLevvin]

I thought the whole idea of suspension of disbelief was that there is no need for an explanation...

So why do science fiction writers do research for their novels?

[hexniks]

So why do science fiction writers do research for their novels?

Possibly to come up with new ideas, although I guess they might enjoy trying to come up with a plausible explanation for something that seems ridiculous.

[Knongargoapex]

Do remind me, what are the Goa'uld again? Intelligent parasitic alien fish things wrapped around the brain of a human (or other compatible creature). If that's not hybrid, I don't know what is!

That's not a hybrid. A hybrid is like a mule. Having a tape-worm does not make you a hybrid.

[KitRittyTug]

Worth a try...

[pirinosa]

But anyway, what happens if two human hosts reproduce huh? What do you call that?

Harsesis

[iiilizium]

Actually, the Harsesis has the 'genetic memory' of the goa'uld so I guess there is some DNA being shared. It is still made clear that the offspring is still biologically a human. I don't know.

[topcasinobonua]

Oh you lie. I bet you wore the uniform to school But this is a rather theoretical argument don't you think? Although Greeks do look like the offspring of a normal human and a wookie...

[unioneserry]

Chromosomal hacking.

SP