Pulp sci fi is *supposed* to be trashy

Another common trope I’ve seen in comments:

I bet they’re all trash dime novels.

I think maybe most of these commenters don’t actually understand what pulp sci fi really is? Yeah, some of it is/was good, but a lot of it was rapidly produced, high volume content that was meant to titillate and be consumed.

“Trashy” to me is actually one of the positive attributes of pulp sci fi, not a negative. As PKD, symbols of the divine first appear in the trash stratum; playing in the gutter gives you plenty of leeway to experiment, and even to – gasp! – fail in the eyes of others.

And all those tests, all those wins & losses add up. They are a net good. Let the complainers complain. Let people judge without checking, just like they do everywhere else. What I know to be true, what I’ve won, can’t be stripped away by any of that.