I've read through this rather carefully and still find myself not having really gotten the point being made.

Is it that you feel sci-fi is somehow unique thus unusually broadening in these literary regards? if so, I submit most story telling relies on us vs. them as the basis of conflict; black hats vs. white hats and cowboys vs sheep-farmers or Indians dominate the Western genre, war-stories obviously, class in Wodehouse, sci-fi is hardly unique let alone ground-breaking in this regard.

Or is it the Pygmalion theme of birth vs environment or, as you put it, "nature vs. nurture"? Again, hardly unique but instead puts sci-fi squarely in the middle of the road with the rest of the genres. Indeed, I'd only give Shaw's Pygmalion theme the dignity of being but a subset of us vs. them.

So you see I'm struggling with ferreting out the point of the post.

A little help for someone who apparently hasn't read enough sci-fi, please?

GRIN!