# Ask the guy who is pretty good at SF Story Identification **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [September 7, 2008, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417 "2008-09-07T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 98
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1941 "2026-01-14T14:55:25Z")
Well it’s not my query, but JAQ suggested the following: > [@What science fiction story is this?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-story-is-this/1026682/3): > > I remember something like that. Maybe by Cyril Kornbluth or RA Lafferty or Clifford Simak, one of the humorous golden age authors. Kid could make thing disappear. I remember one part where he offered to make a store owner’s paunch go away, but he declined, as he’s bleed to death. > > Wonder if that’s the same one. Damned if I can remember the title! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1942 "2026-01-14T15:09:21Z")
It was just whatever was in his imagination; for example, when a scientist comes to examine him and is introduced as such, he is transformed into a “mad scientist” because that is what the kid pictured when he thought about scientists. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1943 "2026-01-14T15:32:03Z")
A vaguely similar plot can be found in the episode of _The Twilight Zone_ (and in the story by Jerome Bixby that inspired it) called “It’s a Good Life”, which is about a boy that can make things disappear. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1944 "2026-01-14T20:10:36Z")
Can i ask a question about a Star trek Episode? They are in the holodeck, pretending to be on an old age of sail ship, in the appropriate uniforms (mostly), they then toss someone over the side, explaining to Data “its funny” so then Data does it, and they tell him, “That was a funny once thing”? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1945 "2026-01-14T20:28:53Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Can i ask a question about a Star trek Episode? Of course you can. Are you asking which episode that happened? Because you don’t actually say what the question is. It was the movie _Star Trek: Generations_. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/srO9D8B6dH4/hqdefault.jpg "Lieutenant Worf Promotion To Lieutenant Commander Worf") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srO9D8B6dH4) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1946 "2026-01-14T20:33:33Z")
nvm, ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1947 "2026-01-14T22:29:58Z")
Geordi was wrong. That was, in fact, funny. Includling the kidneys. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1948 "2026-01-14T23:09:47Z")
It was meta-funny in that Data, genuinely innocent of the _faux pas_ he was committing, turned Crusher’s joke back on her. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2026, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1949 "2026-01-14T23:46:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > It was the movie _Star Trek: Generations_. Thank you, no wonder i couldnt find it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1950 "2026-01-15T00:01:47Z")
Hm. So not the one I was thinking of at all. This TVtrope link might prompt some memories [https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EnfantTerrible/Literature](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/EnfantTerrible/Literature) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1951 "2026-01-15T00:02:27Z")
Oh, and the “that was only funny once” is from a completely different explanation of humor to an AI character. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1952 "2026-01-15T00:02:55Z")
Mike! (also known as Michelle) ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1953 "2026-01-15T00:57:02Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > It was meta-funny in that Data, genuinely innocent of the _faux pas_ he was committing, turned Crusher’s joke back on her. Another thing I was thinking is about how shit like that is always funny and “live in the moment” when it’s happening to someone else. She only liked spontaneity when it wasn’t messing _her_ up. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1954 "2026-01-15T02:38:24Z")
The thing that always got me about the scene is that Crusher and Worf are swimming in the sea well below deck level. But then Picard opens the holodeck door, which is at deck level. That means Crusher and Worf are under the floor. How does that work? Maybe the floor isn’t actually solid, it’s just a holodeck projection that is consistently on when no program is running. Only thing I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1955 "2026-01-15T03:13:15Z")
An optical illusion, probably. They only _look_ like they are below deck level. The same way people in the holodeck can appear to be standing farther apart than the walls of the holodeck extend. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1956 "2026-01-15T03:29:09Z")
Yeah, basically imagine that everyone inside the holodeck is standing in a 1x1x2 meter box, but camouflaged from one another and each box has its own environment via applied forcefields. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1957 "2026-01-15T03:33:03Z")
My disbelief doesn’t suspend that far. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1958 "2026-01-15T09:44:18Z")
A wizard did it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1959 "2026-01-15T10:03:09Z")
“We finally managed to break open the back wall of the holodeck in that Federation ship we salvaged, and found a _really_ angry old guy all wired up like he was some Borg in there.” ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2026, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417/1960 "2026-01-15T17:24:12Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > A wizard did it. If there’s any technology so far advanced so as to be indistinguishable from magic it would have to be the holodeck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=97) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-guy-who-is-pretty-good-at-sf-story-identification/462417.md?page=99)