At this level, the focus is less on simple gadgets and more on profound changes to humanity or the universe.
: The story is built around a single, massive question that alters one major element of humanity, with the rest of the world developing logically from that change. A 10-Point Guide for Navigating the Genre
Understanding the allows readers and writers to categorize stories based on their distance from our current reality. A Level 7 story often represents a significant shift into advanced speculative territory, where the world is governed by complex scientific ideas that may even start to resemble fantasy due to their vast distance from the present day. Core Concepts of "Level 7" Sci-Fi
10 Rules for Science Fiction World Building - Shawn C. Butler
: High-quality sci-fi at this depth often contains complex political, ideological, or thematic dimensions.