No. In short: The absence of a science based tag is a reality check question.
Since apparently I was the one who wrote the first reality-check wiki, my point of view might be worth something considering that the beginning and the most important part is still the same I wrote in 2014. The initial wording might not have been great and contained many typos (thank for fixing them).
I did not follow all the discussions going on with the tag nor how the tag evolved overtime. Back then, the hard science tag did not exist, we just used the science based tag instead and it was enough. Now that we have this 'New' tag, reality check seems less useful. My view on the tag might be really outdated.
Basically, the distinction was that science based required a more scientific approach using mathematical models, equations and citing scientific works. Reality check does not require it explicitly but adding sources is always better. It's mostly about the kind of answers the askers wants.
While a have a good education, I do not consider myself a scientist. I'm certain that I'm not the only one in that situation. If I ask a question, It is possible that I don't want to have complex equations to a simple problem. Some might find it fun to answer a simple problem with mathematics it is useless to me if I can't understand it.
Yeah, maybe it's still not clear. I'm going to give an example to explain what I mean.
I have a book written by Joseph E. Stiglitz, an economics and winner of a Nobel prize. He talks about various economic topics and uses formulas and graphics to complement the text. To me, that is science based because if you can't understand algebra (of one of several things), you can't understand even when reading the text. Take away the equations and graphics using only words to describe what supply and demand is and it becomes reality check.
Reality check does not exclude science but it is not mandatory. It is more meant as a discussion. Well, not really. The actual word I have in mind is dissertation. The French meaning of the word, not the English one. This is not a university research of several hundred pages. It's what we learn in High School. It's an analysis based on argumentation supported by logic and sources when it's possible.
It also does not exclude magic. I've read some of the other answers and some people agree that science is not always opposed to magic. I agree with that. One use of the reality check is that it imply that magic is possible. On the contrary, if I use the science base, I don't want an answer with magic unless I specify it. But most answer involving magic in a reality check question might be considered handwaving as magic can be used as an easy solution to circumnavigate a problem. That answer could get deleted and is rarely useful. So, much like science based, a question with the reality check tag should be used with the magic tag when the asker is interested in having magic as part of the answer.
In conclusion, that was a summary of what reality check meant for me when I created the wiki. The meaning of the tag today might have changed. However, I did not create it and I have to say that it might not be very useful to the site. In the absence of a science based tag, we can assume that the question has the reality check tag by default. Also, it does not replace the magic tag, they need to be used separately. It serves no purpose.
Still, I'm wondering on the effects it will have to get rid of the tag. Askers and new users in particular are not always aware (or they might not agree) of the the definition of a specific tag. The use of meta tags, especially science based, will probably increase as people need to figure out how to fill that void under their question that Stack Exchange require them to fill.
select id as [Post Link], body from posts where tags = '<reality-check>'
) Regardless of if we decide to burn it or not, these questions should not have it as their only tag. $\endgroup$ – Laurel Aug 23 '17 at 17:21