Sci-fi

For those of you with whom I share my musings, you are well aware of my tendency to lean more toward fantasy than sci-fi in my writing. The reason is quite simple. I am not a scientist, in fact science is my worst subject. Sci-fi requires me to explain things that I do not understand, and I am constantly concerned that it will sound utterly ridiculous. At one end, I can use soft science explanations that are vague enough to seem plausible, or I could do a ludicrous amount of research and hope to God that I get it right.

Fantasy on the other hand is very clean cut. Why can the mage explode that mountain with a wave of his hand? Plasma generated particle beams? Nuclear fission? Missiles using some sort of made up element that doesn't really exist? No, it's MAGIC! So much straightforward. Magic doesn't pretend to follow science, doesn't need to explain itself. While soft science is trying to explain its way past the doorman, MAGIC walks in with a wave of his hand and a tip of his pointy hat. Everyone knows magic, knows better than to ask questions of it.

To be frank, most Sci-fi settings seem to replace run of the mill magic with science that does the same thing, but comes from a machine. Mages use shielding spells to protect themselves. Spaceships use mystical devices called forcefields which are never explained and highly improbable to protect themselves. To be honest, it just seems that Fantasy can be more straight forward about the fact that it won't be explaining everything. You don't need to know how, or why, or from where, it's just magic. Sci-fi tries to convince you that what it tells you could happen.

That being said, I am playing around with the idea of a Sci-fi setting. The above is the main struggle I am facing in getting it off of the ground. I find myself wondering why I am wasting any time justifying the workings of machines that are so advanced that they are pretty much magic to us. And the answer is because I think that is what audiences want from sci-fi. Without these justifications, all of the weapons and tech just become magical. The real question is whether or not I can write and enjoy it.

Do you guys think that science fiction requires explanation? Would technology that goes entirely unexplained be something acceptable that adds to a setting? Or is technology without scientific justification just magic being dressed up?