Looking at sci-fi through the ages, you can see that these stories aren’t about technology or science. Science fiction is a mirror held up to humanity. Asimov’s robot stories show us human weakness and triumph as glimpsed through a machine. Philip K. Dick steeped his work in the sociological and the political. Bradbury took on some of our darkest human traits, and Butler tackled a wealth of issues including race, class, gender, and sexuality. In this sense, the science of science fiction doesn’t really matter; it’s a tool through which to draw out various human themes. Whether you’re using lasers or robots or space travel, sci-fi is about people, and that’s the only equation that needs to work for the story to come alive.