But this is exactly contrary to my point, a science fiction author isn’t qualified or motivated to give a realistic “understanding” of the Torment Nexus. His skillset is focused on writing stories and the stories he writes need to contain danger and conflict, so he’s not necessarily going to interpret the idea of the Torment Nexus in a realistic way.
Literally anyone with intelligence and empathy is capable of giving a good understanding of the Torment Nexus
Don’t make one
So Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein aren’t qualified to give understandings of the technologies they wrote about?
Nope. Isaac Asimov was a biochemist, why would he be particularly qualified to determine whether robots are safe? Arthur C. Clarke had a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics, which technology was he an expert in? Heinlein got a bachelor of arts in engineering equivalent degree from the US Naval Academy, that’s the closest yet to having an “understanding of technology.” Which ones did he write about?
Which sort of author is the one who came up with the Torment Nexus?
Even the ones that are dedicated to realism still fundamentally need to sell stories. They’re not writing textbooks.
