I’ve never, ever heard anyone use either of the first two “definitions.” I read a stupid amount of SF and reviews of SF. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve just heard some people using a term incorrectly, which doesn’t constitute an alternate definition.
It’s a pretty standard response from when people are trying to disguise their hatred for any hint of progressive politics. They won’t say, “I don’t like this show because they have a black lesbian.” They’ll try to dismiss it as fake sci-fi by responding with, “I only like hard sci-fi.”
I’ve never, ever heard anyone use either of the first two “definitions.” I read a stupid amount of SF and reviews of SF. I’m going to go out on a limb and say you’ve just heard some people using a term incorrectly, which doesn’t constitute an alternate definition.
It’s a pretty standard response from when people are trying to disguise their hatred for any hint of progressive politics. They won’t say, “I don’t like this show because they have a black lesbian.” They’ll try to dismiss it as fake sci-fi by responding with, “I only like hard sci-fi.”
Ironically, a lot of hard SF is pretty progressive.