# Stupendous Stupidity in Science Fiction (open spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 27, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932 "2009-08-27T17:57:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/21 "2009-08-27T22:52:37Z")
The Emperer always liked weapons of terror, so big tanks that shoot down on you would be included. Of course, the Empire’s using stuff that can be beaten by Teddy bears with sticks, but you know… ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/22 "2009-08-27T22:55:49Z")
Hey! The teddy bears didn’t just have sticks. They had rocks too. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/23 "2009-08-27T23:02:09Z")
Not to mention logs, ropes, trees, and a far better understanding of the terrain. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/24 "2009-08-27T23:15:45Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > …but if you’ll permit me to fanwank an answer, I think the shield they had was more like an umbrella; it prevented direct orbital bombardment, but dropships could drop off ground forces at the edge of the shield so they could walk under it. That, or it’s still a dome, but it’s a “the slow blade penetrates the shield” situation… That would fit with the Gungan (sp?) shield in Ep I, and also with the droid army shield in Clone Wars (don’t blame me – it’s my 7 year old’s movie), where Obi Wan, Anakin and whatsherface get inside the impenetrable (but moving) shield by the simple tactic of standing still and letting it wash over them. Short version – high energy weapons (and possibly fast moving objects) can’t get through, slow ones can… which of course still means the Empire’s best recourse to the Hoth rebels is to drop a nuke on a parachute. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2009, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/25 "2009-08-27T23:17:48Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > I don’t agree to that. I agree they had to take out the generators, yeah. Why they sent in ATAT’s eludes me (sounds like defense contract obligations to me). > > But they did, so why didn’t the speeders just mess up the ground in front of them such that the snow walkers can’t walk over it? The first AT in ATAT is ALL TERRAIN. How badly would you have to mess up the ground before it stopped being terrain?😛 ---
**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:** [August 27, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/26 "2009-08-27T23:29:20Z")
The Walkers never bothered me; they are actually the kind of stupidity I’d expect from a tyrannical Empire. If the Emperor or some Moff decides he likes the idea and orders them made, who’s going to tell them it’s a bad idea? I recall that the same sort of thing happened in WWII; Hitler and Mussolini and lesser fascists making what should have been engineering decisions according to politics or personal preferences. For stupidity in sci-fi, one that really got under my skin was the ST:TNG two parter _Descent_ where Picard ordered almost the whole crew down to the unknown planet to search. And naturally got them all captured. That was a winceworthy moment. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/27 "2009-08-28T00:38:31Z")
I hate to detract from a Star Wars geekfight, but I need to mention a science-fiction stupidity that I recall from another series. In the original V, the aliens land, announce they are from Sirius, and put on sunglasses against the brightness of our sun. Hello? Sirius? About 40 times brighter than our sun? The aliens are LYING about their system of origin and NOBODY called them on that! (My fiance at the time did not understand why this upset me. Not that she didn’t understand why I was upset at a TV show, but that she could not understand that Sirius is a real star, and people really, really know how bright it is. Needless to say, the marriage did not occur.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/28 "2009-08-28T00:41:19Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > In a solar system, the big problem is keeping things cool, because solar radiation will heat them up much faster than they can dissipate it. Apollo rotated to alternately expose the capsule to radiation from the sun and in turn radiate the heat off into space. Besides, gawddammit, Kahn said, “It is very cold in space.” Don’t piss him off. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/29 "2009-08-28T00:56:31Z")
BattleStar Galactica (70’s): That anyone ever took two looks at Baltar and thought “This man looks trustworthy enough for us to let him broker a Peace Treaty with the Cylon Empire!”😃 Transformers 2: The Army guys reverting from fighting the Decepticons with 40mm grenade launchers (which were middlingly effective) in the first movie to trying to take them down with 5.56 NATO and .30 cal minigun fire (which was about as effective as you’d expect it to be against a 40 foot tall robot that transforms into something like a tank). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/30 "2009-08-28T00:58:59Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > In the original V, the aliens land, announce they are from Sirius, and put on sunglasses against the brightness of our sun. Hello? Sirius? About 40 times brighter than our sun? Would the amount of light at the surface depend upon distance from the star and the composition of the atmosphere? Sounds like a job for Poul Anderson. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/31 "2009-08-28T00:59:36Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > The X-wings that are meant to work in deep space? Where the temperature of an object can drop to 3 degrees Kelvin? If the carbon dioxide in the Hoth atmosphere hasn’t frozen out, then a spaceship should work fine. > > I think it’s more likely that X-wings, for all that they have wings, aren’t meant as atmospheric fighters. They may be able to make a pass or 2, but the kind of maneuverability the snowspeeders had was beyond them. It’s the Speeders that they are having trouble adapting to cold (and why Han had to take the Taun Taun out to look for Luke). The speeders aren’t SNOWspeeders out of the box. They are regular atmospheric vehicles that can be adapted to different weather conditions. Apparently they were able to fix the problem by the next day because a speeder find Han and Luke. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/32 "2009-08-28T01:26:24Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > It’s the Speeders that they are having trouble adapting to cold (and why Han had to take the Taun Taun out to look for Luke). The speeders aren’t SNOWspeeders out of the box. They are regular atmospheric vehicles that can be adapted to different weather conditions. Apparently they were able to fix the problem by the next day because a speeder find Han and Luke. Turns out all they had to do was paint the buggers white. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/33 "2009-08-28T01:46:46Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Cold vacuum is one thing. Cold air is another. This is Star Wars. Where explosions in space make _sounds_. Star Wars space _is_ cold air, not cold vacuum. Obviously. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/34 "2009-08-28T02:08:52Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > This is Star Wars. Where explosions in space make _sounds_. > > Star Wars space _is_ cold air, not cold vacuum. Obviously. 😃 And spacecraft maneuver with control surfaces in space. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sundrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@Sundrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sundrop)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/35 "2009-08-28T02:11:00Z")
The Star Trek series with the Quantum Leap guy. There was an early episode where the crew of the Enterprise decides to study a large comet or asteroid. Two of them fall in a fairly deep pit when ice cracks under their feet. One guy managed to break his ankle in the fall. And they were worried they’d die because the forty or fifty foot pit wall was sheer and smooth and they were trapped. I wanted to throw something at the television. Putting aside the idea that in microgravity one could break a leg in such a fall. I’ll grant that it is possible, if contrived. Even assuming that, they were in microgravity, both were physically fit humans. The guy with healthy legs could have slung the other guy over his shoulder and jumped out rather easily. I never watched another episode after that. ---
**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:** [August 28, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/36 "2009-08-28T02:18:30Z")
Every space science fiction movie or TV series that ignores the existence of nuclear weapons (which is why I adored the remake Battlestar Galactica). 99% of SF space battles are depicted as using the same tactics as the Pacific Theater of World War Two. FWIW, I gather that Hoth at night was really, really, REALLY cold. As in “that’s not dew, that’s liquid nitrogen” cold. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/37 "2009-08-28T02:22:38Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > And spacecraft maneuver with control surfaces in space. :rolleyes: They need them for avoiding the giant-space-worms that live in asteroids where there’s nothing for them to eat. (also, you can tell that there’s _breathable_ air in Star Wars space, because said space worms have an internal atmosphere, despite their mouth being wide open.) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/38 "2009-08-28T02:34:42Z")
> [@Sundrop](#): > > There was an early episode where the crew of the Enterprise decides to study a large comet or asteroid. It was a comet, and the physics did pretty well suck. It got better, too late. I always thought Sam Beckett leapt into Captain Archer, and didn’t quite know what to do. 🙂 Of course, there is momentum which is dependent upon mass; there was danger of Gemini astronauts attempting to free a shroud on an Agena docking target. If the stuck shroud had fired off while they were trying to remove it, an accelerating several hundred slug mass would have injured them. The attempt was abandoned. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/39 "2009-08-28T02:37:33Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > They need them for avoiding the giant-space-worms that live in asteroids where there’s nothing for them to eat. > > (also, you can tell that there’s _breathable_ air in Star Wars space, because said space worms have an internal atmosphere, despite their mouth being wide open.) What can I say? The reason I’m not married to the young lady at the time is my jumping up and down and screaming about Star Wars in the theater. I was taking physics courses at the time. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932/40 "2009-08-28T02:43:35Z")
Hey, physics is boring. Lucas understands that, and fills his movie with stuff that is counter-physics, but entertaining. Oh dear lord, I just defended George Lucas. :eek: Bourbon. Where is the bourbon? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupendous-stupidity-in-science-fiction-open-spoilers/507932.md?page=3)