Technobabble: Difference between revisions

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Authors and others who wish to convey a feeling of technical sophistication may write or talk in technobabble. They may use jargon without considering what it actually means to give an impression that they know things that their readers or listeners do not. However, if the jargon is decoded, it becomes apparent that the originator does not really understand what has been said or is deliberately being unclear. When used in this way, technobabble is considered pretentious and often unacceptable. If done carelessly, even novice listeners can often detect subtle signs of dishonesty and insincerity.

Technobabble's principalprinciple use in most science fiction, in particular more [[hard science fiction]], is to conceal the true (impossible) nature of materials, technologies, or devices mentioned in the story, frequently because of a violation regarding the current understanding of the laws of [[physics]]. As reality and somewhat serious projections about the future are important in hard sci-fi, technobabble can give the impression of new discoveries rendering our current understanding of how the universe works "wrong". For example, despite the implications of the [[Special Theory of Relativity]] on [[faster than light]] travel, it ''can'' be done via [[wormhole]]s—technobabble provides an "enabling device" to provide the impression that this current understanding was "limited" or "flawed" without actually having to explain how or why.

Technobabble also occurs in [[soft science fiction]], although here it is frequently just a throw-away part of the world and not dwelt on. Soft sci-fi generally prefers [[unobtainium]] or [[handwavium]] to technobabble, as it is less taxing on the reader and fits with the setting of telling a story in a sci-fi setting as opposed to telling a story about partially fictional science.