Editing Sturgeon's law (section)

== Development ==

Sturgeon deemed Sturgeon's law to mean "nothing is always absolutely so".<ref name="venture195707">{{Cite magazine |title=ON HAND: A Book|date=July 1957 |magazine=[[Venture Science Fiction]] |last=Sturgeon |first=Theodore |page=78 |publisher=Fantasy House, Inc. |issue=4 |editor-last=Mills |editor-first=Robert P. |volume=1 |author-link=Theodore Sturgeon |editor-link=Robert P. Mills}}</ref> By this, he meant his observation (building on "Sturgeon's Revelation" that the majority of everything is of low quality) that the existence of a majority of low-quality content in every genre disproves the idea that any single genre is inherently low-quality. This adage previously appeared in his story "The Claustrophile" in a 1956 issue of ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction|Galaxy]]''.<ref>"The Claustrophile", ''[[Galaxy Science Fiction|Galaxy]]'' August 1956</ref>

The second adage, variously rendered as "ninety percent of everything is crud" or "ninety percent of everything is crap", was published as "Sturgeon's Revelation" in his book review column for ''[[Venture Science Fiction Magazine|Venture]]''<ref name="venture">{{Cite magazine |last=Sturgeon |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Sturgeon |date=September 1957 |editor-last=Mills |editor-first=Robert P. |editor-link=Robert P. Mills |title=ON HAND . . . Offhand: Books |url=https://archive.org/details/Venture_v01n05_1957-09_Gorgon776/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |magazine=[[Venture Science Fiction]] |publisher=Fantasy House, Inc. |page=49 |volume=1 |issue=5}}</ref> in 1957. However, almost all modern uses of the term Sturgeon's law refer to the second,{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} including the definition listed in the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Sturgeon's Law |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |url=http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/246938 |access-date=6 January 2019}}</ref>

According to science fiction author [[William Tenn]], Sturgeon first expressed his law circa 1951, at a talk at [[New York University]] attended by Tenn.<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction: Sturgeon's Law |url=https://sfdictionary.com/view/328/sturgeons-law |access-date=2022-11-15}}</ref> The statement was subsequently included in a talk Sturgeon gave at a 1953 [[Labor Day]] weekend session of the [[World Science Fiction Convention]] in [[Philadelphia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sturgeon's Law |url=https://christopher-mckitterick.com/Sturgeon-Campbell/Sturgeons-Law.htm |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=christopher-mckitterick.com}}</ref>

The first written reference to the adage is in the September 1957 issue of [[Venture Science Fiction Magazine|''Venture'']]:

{{quote|And on that hangs Sturgeon’s revelation. It came to him that [science fiction] is indeed ninety-percent crud, but that also – Eureka! – ''ninety-percent of '''everything''' is crud''. All things{{snd}} cars, books, cheeses, hairstyles, people, and pins are, to the expert and discerning eye, crud, except for the acceptable tithe which we each happen to like.<ref name="venture"/>}}

The adage appears again in the March&nbsp;1958 issue of [[Venture Science Fiction Magazine|''Venture'']], where Sturgeon wrote:

{{quote|It is in this vein that I repeat Sturgeon's Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the worst examples of the field for ammunition, and whose conclusion was that ninety percent of S.F. is crud.
;''The Revelation'':
:Ninety percent of ''everything'' is crud.
;''Corollary 1'':
: The existence of immense quantities of trash in science fiction is admitted and it is regrettable; but it is no more unnatural than the existence of trash anywhere.
;''Corollary 2'':
: The best science fiction is as good as the best fiction in any field.<ref name="venture58">{{cite magazine |last=Sturgeon |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Sturgeon |date=1958 |title=Books: On Hand |magazine=Venture Science Fiction |volume=2 |issue=2 |page=66}}</ref>}}