I've got to totally disagree with the premise that "The best science fiction is all about what-if". It's my understanding and experience that "the best" (of course, "the best" is always somewhat subjective) science fiction examines real-world situations in another context removed from the emotion of that situation. Indeed, looking at this page we find that many of the most renowned science fiction writers reference some sort of real-world context in their definitions of science fiction.
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I've got to totally disagree with the premise that "The best science fiction is all about what-if". It's my understanding and experience that "the best" (of course, "the best" is always somewhat subjective) science fiction examines real-world situations in another context removed from the emotion of that situation. Indeed, looking at this page we find that many of the most renowned science fiction writers reference some sort of real-world context in their definitions of science fiction.