Niven’s laws were named after science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author Larry Niven

Larry Niven

Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...

, who has periodically published them as "how the Universe works" as far as he can tell. These were most recently rewritten on January 29, 2002 (and published in Analog Magazine in the November 2002 issue). Among the rules are:

• Never fire a laser
  Directed-energy weapon
  A directed-energy weapon emits energy in an aimed direction without the means of a projectile. It transfers energy to a target for a desired effect. Intended effects may be non-lethal or lethal...
  
   at a mirror.
• Giving up freedom for security is beginning to look naïve.
• It is easier to destroy than to create.
• Ethics
  Ethics
  Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
  
   change with technology
  Technology
  Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
  
  .
• The only universal message in science fiction
  Science fiction
  Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
  
  : There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.

Niven's Law (re Clarke's Third Law)

Niven's Law is also a term given to the converse of Clarke's third law

Clarke's three laws

Clarke's Three Laws are three "laws" of prediction formulated by the British writer and scientist Arthur C. Clarke. They are:# When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right...

, so Niven's Law reads: "Any sufficiently rigorously defined magic is indistinguishable from technology."

Niven's Law (re Time travel)

A different law is given this name in Niven's essay "The Theory and Practice of Time Travel":
Niven's Law: If the universe of discourse permits the possibility of time travel

Time travel

Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

 and of changing the past, then no time machine will be invented in that universe.

Hans Moravec

Hans Moravec

Hans Moravec is an adjunct faculty member at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is known for his work on robotics, artificial intelligence, and writings on the impact of technology. Moravec also is a futurist with many of his publications and predictions focusing on...

 glosses this version of Niven's Law as follows:
Ryan North

Ryan North

Ryan M. North is a Canadian writer, computer programmer, and occasional songwriter who is the creator and author of Dinosaur Comics, and co-creator of Whispered Apologies and Happy Dog the Happy Dog....

 examines this law in Dinosaur Comics

Dinosaur Comics

Dinosaur Comics is a constrained webcomic by Canadian writer Ryan North. It is also known as "Qwantz", after the site's domain name, "qwantz.com". The first comic was posted on 1 February 2003, though there were earlier prototypes. Dinosaur Comics has also been printed in two collections and in a...

 #1818.

Niven's Laws (stories)

Niven's Laws is also the title of a 1984 collection of Niven's short stories.

Included in the 1989 collection N-Space

N-Space (short story collection)

N-Space is a collection of short stories by American science fiction author Larry Niven released in 1990. Some of the stories are set in Niven's Known Space universe. Also included are various essays, articles and anecdotes by Niven and others, excerpts from some of his novels, and an introduction...

 are six laws titled Niven's Laws for Writers. They are:

1. Writers who write for other writers should write letters.
2. Never be embarrassed or ashamed about anything you choose to write. (Think of this before you send it to a market.)
3. Stories to end all stories on a given topic, don't.
4. It is a sin to waste the reader's time.
5. If you've nothing to say, say it any way you like. Stylistic innovations, contorted story lines or none, exotic or genderless pronouns, internal inconsistencies, the recipe for preparing your lover as a cannibal banquet: feel free. If what you have to say is important and/or difficult to follow, use the simplest language possible. If the reader doesn't get it then, let it not be your fault.
6. Everybody talks first draft.

In the acknowledgments of his 2003 novel Conquistador

Conquistador (book)

Conquistador is a 2003 alternate history novel by S. M. Stirling. Its point of divergence occurs when Pochahantas and John Rolfe have more children, creating a line of Rolfes who are related to all of the major families of Virginia...

, S.M. Stirling wrote:

And a special acknowledgment to the author of Niven's Law: "There is a technical, literary term for those who mistake the opinions and beliefs of characters in a novel for those of the author. The term is 'idiot.'"

Niven's Laws (from Known Space)

Drawn from Known Space: The Future Worlds of Larry Niven

1. 1. Never throw shit at an armed man.
   2. Never stand next to someone who is throwing shit at an armed man.
2. Never fire a laser at a mirror.
3. Mother Nature doesn't care if you're having fun.
4. F × S = k. The product of Freedom and Security is a constant. To gain more freedom of thought and/or action, you must give up some security, and vice versa
5. Psi
   Psionics
   Psionics refers to the practice, study, or psychic ability of using the mind to induce paranormal phenomena. Examples of this include telepathy, telekinesis, and other workings of the outside world through the psyche.-History and terminology:...
   
   and/or magical powers, if real, are nearly useless.
6. It is easier to destroy than create.
7. Any damn fool can predict the past.
8. History never repeats itself.
9. Ethics change with technology.
10. Anarchy is the least stable of social structures. It falls apart at a touch.
11. There is a time and place for tact. And there are times when tact is entirely misplaced.
12. The ways of being human are bounded but infinite.
13. The world's dullest subjects, in order:
    1. Somebody else's diet.
    2. How to make money for a worthy cause.
    3. Special Interest Liberation.
14. The only universal message in science fiction: There exist minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
    Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them.
15. Fuzzy Pink Niven's Law: Never waste calories.
16. There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
    in variant form in Fallen Angels as "Niven's Law: No cause is so noble that it won't attract fuggheads."
17. No technique works if it isn't used.
18. Not responsible for advice not taken.
19. Old age is not for sissies.

External links

• Niven's Laws 2002, with author's commentary, on the Way Back Machine website