Fictional technology is proposed or described in many different contexts for many different reasons: * Exploratory engineering seeks to identify if a prospective technology can be designed in detail, and simulated, even if it cannot be built yet - this is often a prerequisite to venture capital funding, or investigation in weapons research. * Propaganda often emphasizes a speculative potential of a specific technology in order to stimulate investment in it, or a counter-technology. This is a common motivation in any society dominated by a military-industrial complex. See also militarism, technological escalation, arms race. * Advertising which emphasizes some amazing potential of some technology that is "under development" (usually without any specific timelines) by a company tha