tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3069166591647020232024-03-13T22:42:46.282-07:00Fantastic SpeculationsAn examination of speculative fiction through a lens of verisimilitude.Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-73277197842232500482015-03-14T01:04:00.000-07:002015-04-26T23:49:37.711-07:00Magic as Tech, and the Time-Tech Conundrum in Fantasy Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4GAb4ikNoOVIu87BSaEGwCPLw09HHCmZrMBOGHXMXSP-4dKD8RTNnV1Y_pVVCfI1B-nIkseotV-mYbEG5HzSkv-mMgeK0MW_h3In2_n0guizLOBet-gYDJk2Gi5gZZxNGLYiYr4lsCM/s1600/pic+for+time+tech+post.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF4GAb4ikNoOVIu87BSaEGwCPLw09HHCmZrMBOGHXMXSP-4dKD8RTNnV1Y_pVVCfI1B-nIkseotV-mYbEG5HzSkv-mMgeK0MW_h3In2_n0guizLOBet-gYDJk2Gi5gZZxNGLYiYr4lsCM/s1600/pic+for+time+tech+post.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>A thousand years ago, the greatest wizard of all time, Evil Fred, was cast away into another dimension, but now he is about to return and threatens to conquer the world!</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Sound
familiar? It is the basis of a zillion fantasy stories including <i>The Lord of the Rings</i>. But I have an
issue with this plot. If Evil Fred was alive during the technological
equivalent of medieval Europe, what would the world look like upon his return? If
the fantasy world in question progressed as our real world did, wouldn’t his
deadly fireballs seem a bit dated when he showed up to rule the 21<sup>st</sup>
century? At best, he could get a job at a Renaissance Fair. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
heart of the issue is that most of us (directly influenced by Tolkien?) want
our fantasy worlds to be forever set in a medieval world, albeit one with
‘magic’. This obviously begs a few difficult questions. Unless the world was
created in an iron age, the technology must have developed from earlier techs,
so did it stop developing or are we just witnessing a certain a point in the
world’s history? If this is the case, what is the time-span of the fabula,
including the history that is necessary to make it function (e.g. is there a
relic that was created 1000 years earlier and, if so, was the knowledge and
craft available)? If a culture was able to make a really cool sword 1000 years
previously, why are they still only making swords (not nukes) and why is that
old sword still important? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Before
exploring possible answers, you may need to consider what constitutes ‘magic’
in your world. I will address this question more deeply in a separate blog post,
but what’s important here is the methodology of the magic. If the power can or
must be learned and it relies on a set of rules, then there is probably a <i>science</i> to it. I would suggest that the
typical fantasy wizard casts ‘magic’ that operates in this fashion. Again,
using <i>The Lord of the Rings </i>as an
example, when the elves are asked about their ‘magic’, they seem confused
because, to them, it is simply science<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558233"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Hen04 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[1]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> (thus demonstrating
Clarke’s “law” that any technology advanced enough will indistinguishable from magic
to the uneducated<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558234"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Art62 \l 1033<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[2]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). Why does this matter? Because, if
magic is the science of the day, then it should advance along with the
technology (in fact, it probably drives it forward). In my early example, Evil
Fred’s fireballs are outdated not because he returned to a world that had nukes
simply growing on trees, but because those nukes are the direct intellectual
descendants of Fred’s fireball spell. For this reason, you really can’t
separate technology from ‘magic’, and both should become more sophisticated
through time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">So,
if this presents a problem for your plot, how do you fix the time-tech
conundrum? Well, to be honest, you probably don’t need to. I think most fantasy
readers will give you a pass on this. Still, addressing the topic would make
your world more interesting. Here are a few ideas that I have toyed with. None
of them are perfect, but they may be good starting points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Science
and industry, at a high level, may require the support of a centralized
government. If this collapses, a golden era may go with it. Baghdad, a city not
currently known for its scientific prowess, was one of the brightest
intellectual lights in the western world from the 9-12<sup>th</sup> centuries<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558235"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Jim11 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. Historians are not
really sure why it all fell apart (though it is easy to blame theocratic
repression, this can’t be the sole issue because the city was a religious centre
during its apex as well<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558237"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Jim11 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> – certainly the
Mongol invasions didn’t help<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558236"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION alH14 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[4]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). The important thing
about a golden scholarly age such as Baghdad’s, however, is that information
was diligently recorded and travels to and from the city was extensive enough
that much of the knowledge was translated into other languages and locations
before the collapse. Even if Baghdad had burned to the ground, the knowledge
would not have perished from the earth (this is partially true for the material
at the library at Alexandria as well, though the destruction of the library
occurred approximately 1000 years earlier and it is not known how much unique material
was lost<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558274"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Mel13 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[5]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). If you are going
to propose that a large amount of advanced technologies were lost, you may want
to consider how those technologies advanced so far in secret and died with
their generations of creators. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">You
could rationalize your world’s scientific stasis by limiting its population. The
industrial revolution required much more than just knowledge; it required large
cities and a society with loads of specialization in its population<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558271"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Jar98 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[6]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. If a world (such as
Middle-Earth) has only a few million people<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558272"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Lob87 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[7]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, then it probably
would not undergo such a shift. Why the population of this world has not
increased <i>due to</i> technological
advances (in agriculture, for example), as it did in real world history<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558273"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Jar98 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[6]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, is a more subtle
problem that you may want to consider. Furthermore, if your magic is a science,
you might still be stuck explaining how research could have progressed far
enough to create powerful spells, yet other technologies have lagged behind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">One
possible answer to the time-tech conundrum may be to set a tech ceiling. Production
of ‘magic’ or a certain technology (if you can even separate those two
concepts) could lead to a specific type of global catastrophic event (with more
powerful magical spells fuelling the problem proportionally). This would knock
everything back until the cycle started again. If the set-backs were global in
scale, affecting all aspects of society, then it would also help to address the
idea that scientific discoveries can’t be stopped from happening once the societal
and technical pieces are in place to drive them (for example, even if Darwin
had never existed, we know that the mechanisms of evolution would have been
established, as Alfred Russell Wallace independently found them shortly after
Darwin did -- but would it have been so if all of the world’s intellectual progress
had been set back?). Of course, some of the earlier knowledge (pre-collapse) would
persist, so the cycle would be shorter each time, but only a certain level of
industry could be reached. This answer (my favourite one) is obviously
influenced by real world concepts of global warming and the threats of global thermonuclear
war, each of which may set limits on our real-world global prosperity, so it might
sound too modern for your setting, but it might also lend the explanation
credibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
And so, as Evil Fred is led away in energy-binds, he can overhear the elvish children’s schoolyard banter through the chain-link fence:<br />
<br />
<i> “A fireball?! Did that old dude really just cast a fireball?”<br />“Yeah, totally lame, right?”<br />“We did that in class, but we didn’t bother with the fire; we just started with atomics.”<br />“Really!? I can’t wait til I’m in 6th grade; our teacher still has us doing plasma-based stuff.”<br />“Aww, man, don’t wait til 6th grade, just look it up on Magipedia; it’s all there...”</i><br />
<br />
<h1>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></h1>
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<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>BIBLIOGRAPHY <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[1] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">H. Gee, The Science of
Middle-Earth: Explaining the Science Behind the Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever
Told!, Cold Spring Press, 2004. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[2] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">A. C. Clarke, "Hazards
of prophecy: the failure of imagination," in <i>Profiles of the Future</i>,
London, Gollancz, 1962. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[3] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">J. Al-Khalili, The House of
Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the
Renaissance, New York: Penguin Press, 2011. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[4] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">A. Y. al-Hassan,
"Factors Behind the Decline of Islamic Science," [Online].
Available: http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%208.htm.
[Accessed 23 March 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[5] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">M. Bragg, Composer, <i>In
Our Time: The Library of Alexandria. </i>[Sound Recording]. BBC UK radio
program. 2013.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[6] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">J. Diamond, Guns, Germs and
Steel: a short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years, London:
Vintage Books, 1998. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">[7] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">T. Loback, "The
Kindreds, Houses and Population of the Elves During the First Age," <i>Mythlore,
</i>vol. 14, no. 51, 1987. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-71350424345157968292015-03-14T00:52:00.000-07:002015-05-12T22:32:40.153-07:00A Place for Realism in Fantasy?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v4yiGP_ZtOqwiOhvd35nsKPyEDH5hq7qOd2SZyY36mmVRy9Wi5WjOmEzZpLmLtL9l2ZTiTM5WQT3fMIe9AXlnwrdtFg-FlewMexAlYaHcEEKe5ooocxK22TNyJs13ouYg4JmvunP7NQ/s1600/pic+for+reality+in+fantasy+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_v4yiGP_ZtOqwiOhvd35nsKPyEDH5hq7qOd2SZyY36mmVRy9Wi5WjOmEzZpLmLtL9l2ZTiTM5WQT3fMIe9AXlnwrdtFg-FlewMexAlYaHcEEKe5ooocxK22TNyJs13ouYg4JmvunP7NQ/s1600/pic+for+reality+in+fantasy+blog.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I recently took advantage of some
free time to rework my fantasy setting so that nearly every aspect is
explainable through interlocking natural (in my world) laws. Should I have
bothered? Should you bother? Not if you don’t care, and most people don’t. I
contend, however, that you will design a far more interesting world if you give
some thought to the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of various fantasy aspects of your
fiction. In doing so, you may find that you sidestep common clichés not because
you are obviously trying to avoid them, but because those tropes are
satisfyingly replaced by the logic of your setting.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A very simple example of this
includes fallout from questioning why, for example, your wizard character
doesn't wear armour. If it is simply because this runs contrary to the trope,
you might consider breaking from convention, but it would seem forced (and
leave the reader feeling irked) to dress a mage in plate mail simply to defy
the standard. If however, your reader learns that large amounts of
nearby magnetic metals interfere with spell casting, then you can dress your
wizard in armour made from dragon scales. Now you have a character that is not
so typical, and your reader will not feel like they are reading a post-modern
commentary on the genre. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps the more important
outcome of this kind of logic exercise is that it gives you a launching point
to create unique and flavourful story points. Carrying the previous example
further: if magnetic metals interfere with spell casting, then couldn't a
wizard be deemed powerless in a room that was lined with loadstone? Maybe all
magical devices would be useless? And, perhaps there is a downside to wearing
dragon scales. Do they hold a power of their own? Do they act as a beacon in
the spirit realm, drawing ghosts, demons, or other dragons? You get the idea. Following
the logical extensions of your unique rules opens the way to ideas that will
make your story, likewise, unique. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If logical extensions are done
well, the reader will appreciate being shown something new. Maybe I am
misidentifying the emotion, but it is certainly one of the reasons that I am
impressed by serious Sci-fi. Presenting a ‘what if?’ question followed by an
answer that is more clever than anything that I could have derived on my own
makes me not only admire the author, but allows me to feel safe in the
investment that I am making in the story, knowing that I am not going to be let
down by some ridiculous, ill-thought plot point that causes me to lose respect
for the author and the story. The most egregious example of this kind of
betrayal was the script of the TV series, <i>Lost</i>.
The story started with a brilliant premise followed by increasingly fantastic
subplots that hooked a lot of people. Even many die-hard fans, however, were
feeling betrayed by the end when they realised that “lost” simply described the
writing team. And midi-chlorians to explain The Force? Even <i>Time</i> magazine openly shat on that one<w:sdt citation="t" id="438558232"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Nar10 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[1]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. </div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In the Sci-fi genre, stories that
pay close attention to the ramifications of new technologies are placed in the
sub-genre, “Hard Sci-fi”. I would like to see more well-done examples of magical
systems within “Hard Fantasy” (by which I am referring to the treatment of
magic as an interlocking natural science, not to a George Martinesque style of
grittiness and adult theme), but they are rare enough that I am having trouble.
Brandon Sanderson presents some excellent insights to this topic in his article,
<a href="http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/">Sanderson’s First
Law</a> <a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/a%20place%20for%20realism%20in%20fantasy/A%20Place%20for%20Realism%20in%20Fantasy%20October%209.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>,
and I am guessing<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/a%20place%20for%20realism%20in%20fantasy/A%20Place%20for%20Realism%20in%20Fantasy%20October%209.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
that his magical systems are among the most coherent. There are several other authors
who show concern for hard fantasy, but even one of the best, R. Scott Bakker,
would have trouble explaining the full physics behind his magical systems
(though the use of different mathematics as an analogy is a good start). Jane
Lindskold blogs about the importance of magical systems<w:sdt citation="t" id="258839528"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Jan09 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[2]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, though I have not read enough of her
material to know how well it plays out.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The reason for this scarcity is
not due to a lack of good writers. Instead, I suppose that it is for the same
reason that nobody (to my knowledge) has done a full wiring diagram of the
Death Star. Nobody really cares <i>that </i>much.
Fantasy, as the genre name implies, is about losing oneself in an <i>unreal</i> world. Sanderson offers keen
insight on this.<w:sdt citation="t" id="814202042"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Bra07 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> While he is an
advocate of “hard magic” in which the reader understands the rules of the magic
system, he acknowledges that “soft magic” is satisfying when the reader and
protagonist(s) are meant to see magic as an outside force of wonder and not as
an integral part of the plot (as far as the protagonist can affect the plot). But
I still hold my position (and Sanderson’s): if more writers took a “hard” look
at their fantasy, the entire genre could become much richer. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h1>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: large;">Works Cited</span></span><span style="color: windowtext; font-size: 11.0pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>BIBLIOGRAPHY <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[1] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">E. Narcisse, "20,000 Per Cell: Why Midi-Chlorians
Suck," 10 August 2010. [Online]. Available:
http://techland.time.com/2010/08/10/20000-per-cell-why-midi-chlorians-suck/.
[Accessed 21 March 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[2] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">J. Lindskold, "TOR.COM Science fiction. Fantasy. The
universe.," Tor.com, 06 January 2009. [Online]. Available:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2008/10/systemunmagical#more. [Accessed 1 June
2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[3] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">B. Sanderson, "Brandon Sanderson," 20 February
2007. [Online]. Available:
http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/. [Accessed 13 October
2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<w:sdt docparttype="Bibliographies" docpartunique="t" id="597594810" sdtdocpart="t">
</w:sdt>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/a%20place%20for%20realism%20in%20fantasy/A%20Place%20for%20Realism%20in%20Fantasy%20October%209.docx#_ednref1">[i]</a> “Sanderson’s First Law of Magics: An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic.” [3] <br />
<br />
<div>
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/a%20place%20for%20realism%20in%20fantasy/A%20Place%20for%20Realism%20in%20Fantasy%20October%209.docx#_ednref2">[ii]</a> I am embarrassed to say that I have not yet read any, but I hope to do so soon (and delete this endnote).</div>
Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-29103318518640445922015-03-13T14:45:00.001-07:002017-02-11T02:00:01.088-08:00What is Magic?<div style="text-align: justify;">
“The supernatural can be very annoying until one finds the key that transforms it into science," he observed mildly... "Come on, Ox, let's go out and get killed.” Master Li Kao [1]</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8t2R_z-EZ30AXp7IuRtXAuIiFYay7BDGgfQ_kU5hRS0qwCpPqsxtoyntt1ox_4Mn513Ml6vwdWXCWrBaPEDIJJx4IujHwOLWddwO1RA5D1JDFEhizOYZ2b55BmEy1aB_arSf-JfTZCkI/s1600/what+is+magic+pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8t2R_z-EZ30AXp7IuRtXAuIiFYay7BDGgfQ_kU5hRS0qwCpPqsxtoyntt1ox_4Mn513Ml6vwdWXCWrBaPEDIJJx4IujHwOLWddwO1RA5D1JDFEhizOYZ2b55BmEy1aB_arSf-JfTZCkI/s1600/what+is+magic+pic.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Nearly everybody believes in magic at some level; be it through
prayer, destiny, superstitions, or lucky charms. But these things cannot exist
without a support network of ideas that are even harder to accept. If you
believe in magical concepts, or if you are writing a story that includes
them, this post may be of interest to you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We
all have a sense of what makes something seem magical, but the term is rarely
formalized. Most scholarly articles</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn1" name="_ednref1" style="font-size: 12pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
focus on the traditional uses of “magic” ritual or “magical” thinking. Wikipedia
describes many of the major genres of “magic”, but I have not found a good
source that seeks to categorize magic by its </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">mechanisms (</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">i.e. the way it ‘works’)</span><a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn2" name="_ednref2" style="font-size: 12pt;" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><sup style="font-size: 12pt;">,<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a></sup><span style="font-size: 12pt;">.
This is probably because magic in the real world is, after all, a cultural
phenomenon, not a scientific one (i.e. it </span>doesn't<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> work). In fantasy settings,
however, magic is assumed to actually function. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In a previous post I suggest that an author can make a more rich and satisfying world by
understanding their magic more fully. Here I attempt to formalize magic by its mechanisms
and I posit a few assertions about the requirements for certain magical
concepts, if they were to work together in a ‘realistic’ sense. If you have
bought into the notion that systematizing the magic in your world is
worthwhile, or if you simply want to explore magical thinking, then read on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">can something be “supernatural”?</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The
foundational thing to establish (sooner or later) is the nature of your
universe. “Magic” is a difficult term because it implies an appeal to, or
control of, the supernatural. But what does “supernatural” mean? How can
anything actually be beyond the laws of Nature? If the “magic” in your world is
repeatable and manageable (not just a random series of burps in the laws of the
Universe) then it must have its own rules and, therefore, be a part of Nature. To
the lay-person, these rules might be so unintuitive that they <i>seem</i> to violate Nature’s laws, but this
won’t be true for those who can actually manipulate these mysterious forces.<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn4" name="_ednref4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> This
is even true if the magic is based on an appeal for intervention from the
spirit world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Most
fantasy settings are based on traditional </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_dualism#Substance_dualism"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">substance dualism</span></a><a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn5" name="_ednref5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">, being built of material and spiritual energies. Dualism
may be intuitive to us because virtually every society is steeped in it (even
if we don’t all believe in gods or ghosts, we all know what they are). In the
real world the material world is the dominion of science texts, but the
‘spiritual’ side of the coin is not well-defined. Instead, unmeasurable claims
are commonly thrown together into a ‘spirituality’ junk drawer wherein karma
sits next to numerology and past-life regression (all of which are entangled by
a misrepresentation of quantum mechanics). You may find it helpful to sort this
mess by establishing the rules by which your ‘spiritual’ world works (yes, I am
suggesting that you create a ‘science’ for your metaphysics)<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. If
you follow this through, you will run into the inevitable conundrum that, if
the spiritual world can be harnessed or manifested in the material world, then
it is no longer strictly “spiritual” and your fantasy world is no longer
dualist (this is often known as the ‘interaction problem’<w:sdt citation="t" id="276635154"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Sub12 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[2]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="276635155"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Joh11 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). That’s ok; you are
probably trying to create a world in which the powers of gods, spirits, etc.
are unequivocal, so you actually <i>want</i>
all types of energy to be transferrable (therefore conflatable?). Just learn
the physics of each realm (if you can call them separate) and figure out how
they intersect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Ways in which magical concepts might
function:</span></u></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A consideration
of the ‘physics’ of your world is important because the magical genres commonly
categorised by their tropes can now be considered in light of the ways in which
they function. Here are a few considerations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">conjuration (creating energies and
material)</span></b></h3>
“Who are you who can summon fire without flint or tinder?” Arthur, King of the Britons [4]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Where
does the energy come from to create a fireball or a new object? If we accept
that energy is never created or destroyed, but only changes form and locality,
then one possibility is that it is drawn from the surrounding environment (and
passes through the spell caster?). Your readers might get a kick out of
learning that, after Evil Fred casts a fireball, the surrounding terrain has
been chilled to freezing because its heat energy was drained and channelled
through Fred’s body (and what happens if Fred gets it wrong half-way through
the procedure?). Another idea is to have energies exchanged between planes of
existence and/or other dimensions. You may then want to consider if those
dimensions have a parallel set of physics and if the energy is comparable. If
it is simply a negative or alternate version of the spall caster’s world, then
explanations can be made simpler. And, of course, if E=mc<sup>2</sup> in your
world, then even the tiniest material spell component might yield a massive
bang.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This
category might also include any situation in which the user taps into a
nebulous source of energy (e.g. the Force, chi, mana) and becomes a conduit. If
the energy is ‘spiritual’, then it might overlap with prayer and ritual. The
source of energy could also be fully contained within the user, and only needs
to be released (in this case, does its expenditure leave the user exhausted,
and is it the same type of energy that keeps a non-spell caster moving,
thinking, and feeling?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">prayer (and wishes)</span></b></h3>
“Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge!” Conan [5]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">If
the practitioner is trying to garner favour with (and favours from) the spirit
world, then it is a simple appeal for help. Why the target chooses to help only
some of the people some of the time is not clear. Keep in mind, however, that
there are </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer#Theurgy_and_Western_esotericism"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">other forms of prayer</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> that are not based on appeal, but are more
contemplative<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn7" name="_ednref7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.
In these, the practitioners may try to harness spiritual power by focusing on
an internal or external spiritual source (which overlaps with conjuration), or
simply try to garner a feeling of peace by placing themselves in the presence
(metaphorical or not) of their spiritual target (e.g. their god). In simpler
terms: it may be meditation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">incantation (magic words)</span></b></h3>
“Hocus-cadabra! Abraca-pocus!” Bugs Bunny [6]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
it is the long-recognized power of speech (and music) or the more modern idea
that objects have resonant frequencies, but the idea that words and sounds have
clout is prevalent in religion and magical folklore. If used well, therefore,
incantations will feel natural to your reader. But how might these sounds <i>work</i>? Do certain sounds call spirits,
who assist. Maybe the frequencies resonate with objects, gateways to other
planes (John Harten does a nice job with this concept in </span><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-John-Harten-ebook/dp/B00RPPHHXG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1429366495&sr=1-1&keywords=island+john+harten">Island</a></span></i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">), or with the spiritual elements (e.g. chakras) of
their target(s). The only idea that falls terribly flat, in my opinion, is the
use of actual words. For example, in the Harry Potter series, faux Latin is
used to cast spells. Why does the universe ‘speak’ faux Latin? Do the materials
that comprise a pair of glasses really respond to the words “oculus reparo” by <i>figuring out</i> how they might best restore
their function?<w:sdt citation="t" id="276635160"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION JKR00 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[7]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> And why can one
person say these words effectively, but not another, even though they all have
different accents? To keep my brain from bleeding, please don’t do this in your
fiction. <i>Please</i>.<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn8" name="_ednref8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">divination (reading the future,
premonitions, prophecies, and the concept of fate) </span></b></h3>
“That I have missed the mark, henceforth declare<br />
I have no wit nor skill in prophecy.” Teiresias [8]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">This
one is difficult because it is tied with concepts of free will and the arrow of
time. If the future, in general, is already determined (implied by the idea
that it can be accurately predicted), then your characters are just acting out
scenes in a movie that has already been written. Therefore, they have no free
will or responsibility. In any case, actually learning about a person’s future
is tricky. How does that happen? In the scenario where everything has already
occurred and the characters are simply moving along a timeline, unable to see
the already-written future, then the predicting device or some intelligent being
must be able to leap forward in time to see the future or it must be able to
calculate, with ridiculous accuracy, the likely outcome of all interacting
events that will affect the person in question until the moment of interest (in
the way that a computer could predict all of the final resting locations of
billiard balls if it knew of the force and angle of the break along with the
properties of the table, balls, and atmosphere).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">A
more subtle approach to premonitions is that the future has not yet been determined,
but strong forces (e.g. gods) have vested interests in certain aspects of the
future. Perhaps these force interfere just enough to cause the hero to
unwittingly kill his own father, but this is not an assurance – it will only
work to the extent that the gods can affect such matters. In such a scenario, there
can still be an undetermined future, but a “premonition” is simply a god making
clear its intentions to guide things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">luck (lucky charms and curses) </span></b></h3>
“In my experience, there’s no such thing as luck.” Ben Kenobi [9]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">If
luck is a randomly achieved outcome that benefits the recipient then, for
something like a ‘good luck charm’ to work, the item must be (or be able to
call upon) a sentient power that not only understands the difference between
good and bad outcomes, but knows how to (and be able to) alter the world such
that good outcomes (or bad in the case of curses) are more likely. How might
this happen? If we use an example wherein a heroine is caught by a tree branch
as she falls over a cliff, perhaps the power (the charm itself?) is very clever
and can surmise the outcome of certain actions better than the heroine can. Upon
doing so, the power influences the hero or the situation such that the hero is
more likely to fall only at the spot where the tree branch is growing. Or,
instead of influencing the situation, the sentient power searches through a
huge range of parallel or potential worlds and ‘chooses’ one that is in league
with the will of the hero (akin to a macro-scale version of a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_interpretation"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Copenhagen interpretation</span></a><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> of reality). Combinations of these ideas also might
work well. In any case, the question of why the sentient power decides to keep
its influence so secret and subtle is another issue worth considering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">material spell components (stuff that is
required to make the spell work)</span></b></h3>
“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,<br />
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog” 2nd Witch [10]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">To
a modern mind, the use of salts, metals, or certain animal parts may just
provide the components for chemical reactions, which makes such ‘magic’ no more
mystical than baking. Because this will probably be the mindset of your readers
(I am assuming them to have a somewhat modern mind and, at least, a high-school
exposure to chemistry), you may want to craft the chemistry of your world to
stay a step ahead of your audience, even if you don’t explicitly explain it to
them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Interestingly,
the ‘chemistry’ view of spell components is not typical though history. More
often, items were supposed to work via principles of sympathy (correspondence
and contagion)<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn9" name="_ednref9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
wherein they were somehow linked with the desired effect or target (e.g. a comb
that belongs to a person might lend power to spells that target them, or a broach
shaped like a lion might make a warrior stronger).<w:sdt citation="t" id="420420262"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Sir96 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[11]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> As with so many other magical concepts,
it seems that there must often be a ‘spiritual’ connection for the link to make
any sense. How is the formerly mentioned comb connected to the soul of its
owner? Does it have a memory or is there some direct link through a spirit
plane? Something like the broach being shaped like a lion is much harder to
explain. It implies that strength comes from shapes (yet this doesn’t work with
all shapes?) or that there is an intelligent observing power that has decided
to reward its wearer for some reason, which takes us straight to rituals... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">rituals (and rites)</span></b></h3>
“Then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less.” Cleric (with Brother Maynard) [4]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I
will consider a ritual to be multiple factors acting in concert and/or in
sequence that invoke a ‘spiritual’ realm. This often differs from prayer in
that prayer is open ended (e.g. “please let me score the winning touchdown”)
whereas ritual seems to fulfil a contract, as if it were an equation (e.g. if I
stab an albino cow using an obsidian knife during a full moon, then my crops <i>will</i> grow better)<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn10" name="_ednref10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[x]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. Especially
as items are used in rituals, you might want to consider why that particular
item is more effective than any other. It might be as simple as a judgemental
spirit world that respects the use of certain resources. Perhaps a deity is impressed
by the use a real obsidian knife and a real albino cow, as opposed to cheap
knock-offs?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">There
is always the possibility that a ‘ritual’ does not call on any ‘spiritual’
forces at all, but is just</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> a very complicated manipulation of forces in the
material world. This <i>could </i>constitute
a ‘spell’ such as a conjuration. Alternatively, it may not be ‘magical’ at all
but, to the uninitiated, it may <i>seem </i>like
‘magic’ (and may be <i>assumed</i> to have a
spiritual appeal)<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn11" name="_ednref11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[xi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>. One
of the most fascinating real-world examples of this is the </span><a href="http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Cargo_cult"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">cargo cults</span></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> of Melanesia<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_edn12" name="_ednref12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">[xii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>.</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">magical items (powerful swords, etc.)</span></b></h3>
“With my spear and magic HELMET!” Elmer Fudd [12]</div>
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">These
are the bread and butter of the fantasy genre, and putting them all into one
sub-heading covers a lot of ground. If we begin by considering the function of
the item, then we can decide if it is simply a superior form of technology. Some
items may adhere to the ‘natural’ chemical properties of the world (there’s
that problem with dualism again), like a ‘magic’ sword that is really just made
of an unknown alloy that resists being dulled, or releases energy when it is
bent or bruised. Other items may be constructed in such a way that they act as
conduits or antennae for exterior sources of energy. In any case, a deeper
explanation may include several of the previously discussed sub-headings, and
the details would need to be handled on a case-by-case basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">in conclusion</span></b></h4>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">There
are other genres of magic that could be addressed here, but you get the idea: however
you include magic in your writing, ask yourself where the power comes from,
whether or not it is in endless supply, how that power achieves the function
being asked of it, and why the steps that harness or release that power make
sense. If you can answer all of these questions, you will find your fantasy
milieu to be much richer for it and your readers will take notice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
<!--[if !supportEndnotes]--><br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[i]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> There
are serious professionals who spend their careers studying magical thinking
throughout the world – be aware that I am not one of them. I only want to look
at the topic from, apparently, a new angle (though this angle is not new with
regard to the categorization of prayer). If you are creating a reasonably
detailed magical system for your story, I recommend that you read other sources
after finishing this blog post. </div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[ii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> I<span lang="EN-US">n the 1970’s, Gary Gygax
subcategorized spells via simplistic ‘schools’: Divination, Conjuration,
Abjuration, etc. Though these were not explained in the original AD&D
system<w:sdt citation="t" id="420420221"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> CITATION Gar78 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> [13]<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="420420222"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
CITATION Gar781 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> [14]<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, subsequent versions
expanded on them in some detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[iii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Even <i>The Golden Bough</i> <w:sdt citation="t" id="420420223"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION Sir96 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><span lang="EN-US">[11]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, one of the most
seminal and encyclopaedic works on magic, neglects this topic (though I have to
admit that I have only read the summarized version, not the full eleven-volume
set). <span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[iv]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span lang="EN-US">Brandon Sanderson has some </span><a href="http://brandonsanderson.com/sandersons-first-law/"><span lang="EN-US">good advice</span></a> <span lang="EN-US">regarding when to explain the rules of your magic
system and when to keep your protagonists (and your readers) in the dark so as
not to lose a sense of mystical mystery.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[v]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> It
is hard to imagine other possibilities, though some might suggest that
information itself (and/or emergent complexity) is a third possible form of
‘energy’. Many of these ideas are poorly reasoned, such as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Point">Omega Point</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specified_complexity">Specified Complexity</a>
argument for Intelligent Design but, perhaps, well-recognized concepts such as consciousness
could be backed into this corner if they are not already attributed to a the
‘spiritual’ concept of a soul).<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn6">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[vi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
In my own fantasy setting, I started with the standard Theory of Cosmic
Inflation and simply posited four spiritual forces that formed alongside (and
entangled with) four physical ones, giving rise to a spiritual chemistry. This
allowed for the naturalistic formation of gods in a manner parallel to the
coalescence of material into stars. All other spiritual concepts then fall out
by analogy with the physics and chemistry of the real world (I assume that no
real-world ancient religions used this idea because they preceded our current
scientific understanding of creation, which was highly influential on my
thinking, and that no new religions (such as the ironically-named Scientology)
use the idea because people who seek logical explanations for the world do not
turn to them, so these religions have no need to be logic-based).<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn7">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[vii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span lang="EN-US">Unlike other genres of magic,
Wikipedia actually does organize this category based on its supposed
mechanisms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn8">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref8" name="_edn8" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[viii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> However, I have to admit that the idea that words
literally have power (in a universal physics sense, not even with regard to
changing peoples’ attitudes) permeates our culture deeply. It may not be
scientifically sensible, but it resonates with virtually all of us. As an
interesting exercise on this point, ask yourself and/or the most rational
people you know to write out this sentence ten times on a piece of paper: “I
wish for [fill in name of loved one(s) here] to die in a tragic card accident”.
Very few people are willing to do it and even if they do, few feel comfortable
doing so.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="edn9">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref9" name="_edn9" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[ix]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
To describe the mechanisms for such linkages as “principles”, however, is
extremely generous, as there really are no sensible or consistent rules.<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn10">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref10" name="_edn10" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[x]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> As
I state in my first endnote, I am no expert on this, so you may want to search
further to find a better definition.<span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn11">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref11" name="_edn11" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[xi]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span lang="EN-US">Another example of the Clarke
Principal that sufficiently advanced technology will seem like magic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn12">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/szulgitgk/Desktop/blogs/fantastic%20speculations/what%20is%20magic/What%20is%20Magic%20Oct%205%202014.docx#_ednref12" name="_edn12" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif;">[xii]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span lang="EN-US">During World War II, the Allies
built airfields on some islands that had technologically primitive societies.
When these groups subsequently saw valuable cargo being delivered literally “out
of the blue”, they assumed that the items arrived as a result of the military
drills (rituals) that the allied troops performed on a regular basis. Long
after the allies departed, groups of islanders attempted to summon cargo
deliveries by imitating the allied troops’ behaviour, dress, and equipment, including
the setting of an appropriate summoning site by building </span><a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?site=&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1366&bih=667&q=cargo+cult&oq=cargo+cult&gs_l=img.3..0l10.2113.3780.0.4067.10.9.0.1.1.0.99.544.9.9.0....0...1ac.1.54.img..0.10.548.p54hgWh29PY#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=iabeO30pI70ICM%253A%3B40rtwXc5"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #17365d; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-themecolor: text2; mso-themeshade: 191;">facsimiles</span></a><span lang="EN-US"> of planes and radios out of plant materials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Works Cited</span></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:12.0pt;
mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
BIBLIOGRAPHY<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>\l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span></span></b><![endif]--><span style="font-size: 11.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[1] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">B. Hughart, Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China
That Never Was, St. Martin's Press, 1984. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr xmlns="">
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[2] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">"Substance Dualism [part 1]," Qualia Soup, 7
October 2012. [Online]. Available:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RS4PW35-Y00. [Accessed 29 June 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr xmlns="">
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">[3] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
<span lang="EN-US">J. Danaher, "Substance Dualism (part 4): The Problem
of Interaction," Philosophical Disquisitions, 2 June 2011. [Online].
Available:
http://philosophicaldisquisitions.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/substance-dualism-part-four-problem-of.html.
[Accessed 29 June 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">T. J. Terry Gilliam, Director, <i>Monty Python and the Holy
Grail. </i>[Film]. UK: Monty Python, 1975. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">J. Milius, Director, <i>Conan the Barbarian. </i>[Film].
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<span lang="EN-US">C. J. a. M. Noble, Director, <i>Transylvania 6-5000. </i>[Film].
USA: Warner Brothers, 1963. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">J. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, UK:
Bloomsbury, 2000. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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c. 429 BC. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">G. Lucas, Director, <i>Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope). </i>[Film].
USA: Lucasfilm, 1977. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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1623. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">S. J. G. F. (. b. R. Temple), The Illustrated Golden Bough,
London: Labyrinth Printing, 1996. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">C. Jones, Director, <i>What's Opera Doc?. </i>[Film]. USA:
Warner Bros., 1957. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">G. Gygax, Players Handbook, Lake Geneva: TSR Games, 1978. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">G. Gygax, Dungeon Masters Guide, Lake Geneva: TSR Games,
1978. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Random House Inc., "Dictionary.com,
"ritual"," [Online]. Available:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ritual. [Accessed 5 October 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-55758587328750754192015-03-13T14:05:00.000-07:002015-04-26T23:49:59.409-07:00<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Post-Apocalypse Issues: Part II –
Specific Issues for Specific Scenarios:</span></b></h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglr6n87BqMum70pCD8rQiDxz_kOaQHFtXLT0r-IJ6x5ho9chN62gA-8Lz3AnH_8chksbby2UlK0AtMoxp6cRrxxDwdT0EABXIcsc2GoSr9W5aPdcmDo7peTBbtB4WJaKmPlO9LHbvLBw8/s1600/apocalypse+2+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglr6n87BqMum70pCD8rQiDxz_kOaQHFtXLT0r-IJ6x5ho9chN62gA-8Lz3AnH_8chksbby2UlK0AtMoxp6cRrxxDwdT0EABXIcsc2GoSr9W5aPdcmDo7peTBbtB4WJaKmPlO9LHbvLBw8/s1600/apocalypse+2+image.jpg" /></a></div>
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This post follows from an earlier
one in which I discuss general issues of resource scarcity and the lack of
danger from decomposing bodies (unless, of course, they are zombies...). Here,
I focus on issues specific to common apocalypse scenarios.<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><u>pandemic</u></b></h3>
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As mentioned in the <i>general issues</i> post (i.e. Part I),
bodies would cease to be contagious pretty quickly. Authors have a lot of room
here, however, to make interesting scenarios in which diseases caused by
retroviruses (for example), remain undetectable in a living host for long
periods of time. This sets up dramatic possibilities with regard to survivors
being xenophobic. In addition to supplying a canvas for conflict, it shatters
the idea that large groups would form to reorganize society. If you want
dwindling resources, city-states, and tribal conflict, this seems like a good
way to go in a pandemic scenario.</div>
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<b><u>zombie apocalypse</u></b></h3>
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What Anne Rice did for vampires, Max
Brooks did for zombies (in my mind, he modernized the genre). If you are
writing a zombie story and you have not yet read <i>The Zombie Survival Guide </i>or <i>World
War Z</i>, you are shooting yourself in the foot. While Brooks’ zombies violate
all biological and thermodynamic principles, even I (who gets hung up on such
things) was able to put those matters aside to enjoy the extent of his
thinking. Really – go and get these books (the movie doesn’t do them justice,
though I have been told that <i>The Walking
Dead</i> television series does bring Brooks’ contribution to the screen).</div>
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<b><u>nuclear holocaust</u></b></h3>
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Wm.
Robert Johnston, a researcher in space-physics, wrote a well-considered seminar
piece in which he detailed the likely effects of a fictional nuclear holocaust
in 1988. While the conclusions are surprising to me, they confirm what the
majority of experts claim: that much (perhaps half) of the world’s population
would survive<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747261"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Joh03 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[1]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. I recommend the
report for its straight-forward usefulness. Another good, albeit earlier, paper
is “The global health effects of nuclear war” by physicist Brian Martin<w:sdt citation="t" id="1399008378"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Bri821 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[2]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Johnston estimates 45 million US
survivors (around 16%, or 1 in 6), so there will be plenty of people to build
up local governments that can oversee production and distribution of resources
and labor. An interesting consideration is that, even though the nuclear
destruction will be targeted at a limited number of countries, it is likely
that several smaller conflicts will erupt as the world’s power balance is
reassessed. </div>
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Cities, of course, will be the
primary target of most attacks. Therefore, most of the amenities of
infrastructure (industry, bureaucracy, communication, etc.) will be gone,
making this scenario very different from the <i>pandemic </i>apocalypse. Yet, scavenging in areas outside of the
epicentres will still provide a largess food that will keep people alive until
they can reorganize (packaged or tinned foods will be safe so long as the
radioactive dust has not mixed into the contents). </div>
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The ramifications of a nuclear
holocaust are vast and complicated. I recommend that writers hoping to do justice
to their speculative world draw on multiple sources before considering the
scale at which they want their fabula to take place. The scale will determine
what details need to be considered and which can be glossed over with
hand-wavey vagaries.</div>
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<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>alien invasion</u></b></h3>
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If you are looking for realism,
this one is most certainly a punt. If a race of creatures has the ability to
cross the galaxy, then there is no good reason for them to dominate Earth. We
have virtually nothing here that is not available elsewhere, especially water
(in his book, <i>The Eerie Silence <w:sdt citation="t" id="140697443"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION Pau10 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-style: normal; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-no-proof: yes;">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt></i>, Paul Davies
does such a good job tackling the search for alien intelligence that I
abandoned my plans to write such a book after reading his). Furthermore, a race
that has the technology for interstellar travel could probably make anything
that it needs from scratch, would likely find human slave-labor to be more
trouble than it’s worth and, because it did not co-evolve with us, would
probably not find us to be suitable hosts for their young or for hybridization.
</div>
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The invasion could be a less-insidious
wave of spores spreading out through the galaxy to colonize new planets, but
that has a few evolutionary issues. The first is that the critters would have needed
to evolve on a planet whose conditions selected for (<i>i.e.</i> rewarded) those variants that were somehow cast out into
space. Perhaps they evolved on an asteroid, but complex beings are complex <i>because</i> they evolve in multi-faceted
relationships with their ecology (<i>i.e.</i>
other critters that evolved next to them). If they are good at colonizing and
competing with local flora and fauna, it implies that they got good at it over
millions of years of interactions with their shipmates (or asteroid-mates). The take-home message is that, to evolve a highly-capable colonising creature, you need a complex ecology (not teh kind usually depicted on asteroids).<br />
<br />
The
second issue is that, when something evolves to live on a planet, it is
rewarded for being really good at exploiting <i>that </i>planet. Even on our own planet, only around 10% of introduced
species take hold in their new environments, and only 1% become problematic
pests<w:sdt citation="t" id="1399008338"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Jan11 \l 1033<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[4]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. What would the chances be if they came
from an alien climate and atmosphere?</div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
As always, I am not suggesting
that alien-invasion plots be abandoned; I am only suggesting that authors patch
up the obvious holes before their readers point them out on a forum site.</div>
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<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Lovecraftian horrors and their ilk</u></b></h3>
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Who doesn’t love a good
Cthulhu-esque tale? Sentient, terrible forces conquering our world from within
the shadows. Perhaps without Lovecraft, there would have never been an <i>X-Files</i>. The big problem is that these
stories usually rely on unbelievably competent conspiracies and an equally
incompetent scientific community. Having been a biologist for years, I know how
quickly <i>good </i>evidence is disseminated
and taken seriously. When a tentacled, vampiric, flying werewolf ate the local
sheriff, did that <i>really</i> go unnoticed
by everyone except for the local high school heroes and the stodgy librarian? Especially
with the aid of current global communication, it only takes the stodgy
librarian sending a photo attachment of the creature before interests would be piqued.
Maybe the poor old dear would be eaten before others began to take him seriously,
but information gets around and, once it is confirmed as being something new,
the entire global scientific community goes ape (if discovery of a new species
of frog got a 839 words in the <i>New York
Times</i><w:sdt citation="t" id="1399008337"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Lis12 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[5]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, then the discovery
of said werewolf would not be tucked away in a file). This is my usual first
filter for conspiracy stories in real life. If an average citizen can find
evidence that they are using to demonstrate an incredible cover-up, then I
regard it as just that: in-credible. Why is the entire astrophysics community
ignoring the webpage that clearly presents evidence of an alien in a ‘government’
freezer? Because they know better. </div>
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<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Act of god(s) </u></b></h3>
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Knock yourselves out, folks --
it’s hard to make less sense than what many religious readers <i>actually</i> believe to be the final fate of
the world.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">References:</span></u></b><!--[if supportFields]><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span></span></u></b><b style='mso-bidi-font-weight:
normal'><u><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:14.0pt;mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
BIBLIOGRAPHY<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>\l 1033 </span></u></b><b
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'><u><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span></span></u></b><![endif]--><b><u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<tbody>
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<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">[1] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">W. Johnston, "The
effects of a global thermonuclear war.," in <i>Dean's Scholars seminar</i>,
University of Texas at Austin, 2003. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">[2] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">B. Martin, "The global
health effects of nuclear war," <i>Current Affairs Bulletin, </i>vol.
59, no. 7, pp. 14-26, 1982. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">[3] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">P. Davies, The Eerie
Silence, New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">[4] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">J. Reece, Campbell Biology,
Pearson, 2011. </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">[5] </span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">L. Foderaro, "New
leopard frog species is discovered in NYC.," NYT, 13 March 2012. [Online].
Available:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/nyregion/new-leopard-frog-species-is-discovered-in-nyc.html?_r=0.
[Accessed 10 March 2014].</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
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Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-53826462177678007582015-03-12T23:42:00.000-07:002015-04-13T08:19:08.327-07:00<h2 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Post-Apocalypse Issues: Part I – General
Issues</span></b></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Post-apocalypse scenarios are
cool. Really cool. They appear repeatedly
in speculative fiction. But why? Shouldn’t we be horrified by them, as they are
often reasonably plausible? I think that’s the hook, actually. Their closeness
to a potential reality places them (for me) in the <i>speculative</i> rather than <i>fantasy</i>
category, and my interest in such fiction is that I can learn from it. I will
even go out on a limb here to suggest that post-apocalypse fiction belongs somewhat
near historic fiction (even though it occurs in the future) because it focuses
on asking “what if” questions about a world nearly identical to our own, but
with some differences in the events that have occurred. I hate being able to
out-think an author when it comes to “what if” questions (I’ve put in the time
reading the book, dammit, and the author should have put in the time
researching and critiquing his or her conclusions) so, for me, it is critically
important that the speculation be at least as good as the fiction if it is
going to get my vote (I recommend <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>S.M. Stirling’s <i>Dies the Fire</i> series). In this post I
present some issues that you may want to consider if your story takes place in
the aftermath.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>How does the landscape decay?</u></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
I recommend the pilot episode of
a television series called “Life After People,” (subsequent episodes might be
good, but I have not seen them). For
more detail, you may want to read <i>The
World Without Us</i>. Both pieces attempt to answer the question, ‘What if all
humans suddenly disappeared?’ Many of the consequences are not obvious, and
that makes them interesting. So much so, in fact, that even without the fiction
element to give it a boost, the book reached #6 on the NYT Best Sellers list<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747242"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
New07 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[1]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. If you are looking
for a more concise version of <i>World,</i>
consider the original two-page <i>Discovery Magazine
</i>article from which it sprang. I have included the last bit of the article
here, which describes the fate of New York City: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">10 years: Sidewalks
crack and weeds invade. Hawks and falcons flourish, as do feral cats and dogs. The
rat population, deprived of human garbage, crashes. Cockroaches, which thrive
in warm buildings, disappear. Cultivated carrots, cabbages, broccoli, and brussels
sprouts revert to their wild ancestors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">20 years:
Water-soaked steel columns supporting subway tunnels corrode and buckle. Bears
and wolves invade Central Park.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">50 years: Concrete
chunks tumble from buildings, whose steel foundations begin to crumble. Indian
Point nuclear reactors leak radioactivity into the Hudson River.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">100 years: Oaks and maples re-cover the land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">300 years: Most bridges collapse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1,000 years: Hell Gate Bridge, built to bring the railroad across
the East River, finally falls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">10,000 years:
Indian Point nuclear reactors continue to leak radioactivity into the Hudson
River.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 36.0pt; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">20,000 years:
Glaciers move relentlessly across the island of Manhattan and its environs,
scraping the landscape clean.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747241"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Ala05 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[2]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Waterworks present an interesting
situation for years to come. NYC’s
subways would flood completely within days and streams would quickly form in
the streets as sewers backed up with debris. Across the globe, sewers, reservoirs, dams,
locks, and dykes would eventually fail (surprisingly, the Hoover Dam would
continue to generate power for a few years). Living near water would present flooding
issues and the water may be contaminated with heavy metals and radioactive material.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Fires would, of course, eventually
occur in nearly every city and would leave most structures dramatically
altered.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>All of those rotting bodies</u></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While it makes intuitive sense
that rotting bodies will infect the survivors, they won’t. Recent analyses of
catastrophic events such as earthquakes suggest that dead bodies may traumatize
the living, but they do not spread disease <w:sdt citation="t" id="527747236"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION Sco04 \l 1033<span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--><span lang="EN-US">[3]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="527747235"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Rel03 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[4]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. The simple reason is that infectious
diseases need a live host to propagate. Yes, a rotting body will pollute a
water supply, but that issue can be easily solved by boiling and/or distilling.
So long as the survivors keep their food and drink cadaver-free, they will be
fine until scavengers (including insects and bacteria) consume the remains,
which should take weeks to months (or even more) depending on the conditions<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747240"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Wil97 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[5]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. Interestingly, some
diseases will run rampant through animal populations, including rabies<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747260"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
Dav08 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[6]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, and bubonic plague
may resurge<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747262"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Joh03 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[7]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Scarcity of resources</u></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
How many people are left in your
scenario? Perhaps the percentage of survivors should best be determined by what
kind of social dynamics you want to tackle, as a writer. Kansas City has nearly
half a million people<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747256"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Sta \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[8]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. Do you want the
survivors to be a small band of ten characters who can become known to the
reader (<i>i.e.</i> 1/50,000) or do you want
to tackle the administrative dynamics of a tribe of 500 survivors (1/1000)? What
you decide will have a dramatic impact on what is available to scavenge though,
as always, you can make any scenario work if you rationalize enough, so don’t
let the numbers rule your vision, just account for those figures to let the
reader know that you are paying attention.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If your world is left intact
after most of the people perish, then I contend that basic resources such as
food would not (indeed, <i>could </i>not) be
scarce. Let’s start with the extreme case of <i>very</i> few survivors (say, only 1 out of 100,000 people are left). If
every residential household (2.5 people<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747233"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION htt \l 1033<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span></span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[9]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>) had only enough canned and dried goods
to provide one day’s worth of nutrients for one survivor (check your shelves to
prove me wrong), then each survivor could raid 999,999/2.5 pantries, providing more
than 1000 years worth of stored food per person (I also accounted for 10
feasting days to make their holidays a bit happier, and none of this accounts
for all of the game that would become prevalent, as well as all of the fruits
and veg that could be gathered or grown). The same principles would apply to
gasoline, clothing, tools, weapons, etc. Very few people means <i>a lot</i> of left-over goodies.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On the other extreme, if the
survivors were plentiful (say, 5% of the original population), there would only
be 20 days of free stored food, but there would be loads of survivors (in a
city of a million people, there would be 50,000). They would have 20 days to
organize and start farming, herding, etc. With all of the newly available
space, that wouldn’t be a problem. Perhaps many of them would be former pencil-pushers,
but some would know how to farm, even if it were at a crude level. In fact, I
would posit that, if 1/20 people were left, they would still be able to keep
some trains running and radio stations broadcasting messages to other survivors.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
If we set an example in the
middle (let’s say 1/1000 people remaining), we still get more than a year of
free food per capita and 1000 survivors in a small city of 1 million. Those
survivors would figure out pretty quickly how to contact each other (remember
that vehicles are freely available and partially fuelled) and how to provide
for their future. In short, there is an inverse relationship between free stuff
lying around and the survivors’ ability to regroup and provide from themselves
but, in any event, there are always enough resources or survivors to provide
for the future. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The picture gets trickier when we
consider resources that need high levels of skill and/or industrial
infrastructure to produce, especially those goods that need special storage
conditions. I am proposing a list of items below (1/10,000 survivor milieu) but
I am, quite frankly, winging it. It would be interesting if industries closed
down, but keep in mind that many survivors would seek the safety of others and
global gathering points would form with enough people to get things running
again (in my 1/10,000 scenario, there would be around 27,000 people in the US,
and they all have maps, cars, and time to get to major gathering points full of
civil engineers, doctors, IT workers, pilots, etc., etc.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Please comment on those that are
here, or should be; I can alter them as per discussions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
<u>not scarce for many years</u>: food, alcohol, cigarettes, gasoline, vehicles
of all sorts, tools (including hefty ones like welding rigs), weapons,
ammunition, non-perishable medical supplies and medicine such as mild
painkillers, safe buildings, construction materials, batteries (car and other),
electric generators (gasoline powered), solar cells and solar-powered devices
such as lights, formerly precious metals</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
<u>scarce</u>: sophisticated medicines (insulin [self life 2.5 yrs]<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747257"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
eMC12 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[10]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, morphine [3 yrs]<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747258"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
eMC12 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[10]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>), antibiotics [2-5
yrs -- though drugs can often be used long after expiration date with reduced
efficacy]<w:sdt citation="t" id="527747259"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION USA06 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[11]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>), certain
recreational drugs, vaccines</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
<u>hard to replenish without industrial infrastructure</u>: gasoline, plastics,
medicines, motors, electronics, guns, ammunition, electric generators (gasoline
powered), solar cells and solar-powered devices such as lights, formerly
precious metals, birth control (?), everything in the ‘scarce’ category</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Questions that I still have, but
am too stupid to answer – readers, please help me out here!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
Do communications satellites still function without our input? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
How many servers need to be powered-up to have a reasonable internet?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>
How easy is it to fire up a radio transmitter?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<w:sdt docparttype="Bibliographies" docpartunique="t" id="527747424" sdtdocpart="t">
</w:sdt><br />
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Works
Cited</span></h3>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 4.68%;" valign="top" width="4%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">[1] </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 94.34%;" valign="top" width="94%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">New York Times, “Best
Sellers: Hardcover Nonfiction,” 9 September 2007. [Online]. Available:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/09/books/bestseller/0909besthardnonfiction.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&.
[Accessed 1 March 2014].</span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 4.68%;" valign="top" width="4%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">[2] </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 94.34%;" valign="top" width="94%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">A. Weisman, “Earth Without
People,” <i>Discover, </i>6 February 2005. </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 4.68%;" valign="top" width="4%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">[3] </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 94.34%;" valign="top" width="94%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">S. Gottlieb, “Dead bodies
do not pose health risk in natural disasters,” <i>BMJ, </i>vol. 328, no.
7452, p. 1336, 2004. </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 4.68%;" valign="top" width="4%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">[4] </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 94.34%;" valign="top" width="94%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">Relief Web, “Mass burials
do more harm than good-experts,” 30 December 2003. [Online]. Available:
http://reliefweb.int/report/iran-islamic-republic/mass-burials-do-more-harm-good-experts.
[Accessed 28 February 2014].</span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 4.68%;" valign="top" width="4%"><div class="MsoBibliography" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="UZ-CYR">[5] </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
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<span lang="UZ-CYR">W. H. a. M. S. (eds),
Forensic Taphonomy: The Postmortem Fate of Human Remains, Bocan Raton, FL:
CRC Press, 1997. </span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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D. d. Vries, Director, <i>Life After People. </i>[Film]. United States:
Flight 33 Productions, 2008. <o:p></o:p></div>
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W. Johnston, “The effects of a global thermonuclear war.,” in <i>Dean's
Scholars seminar</i>, University of Texas at Austin, 2003. <o:p></o:p></div>
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175,000 or More Inhabitants in 2010—Population: 1970 to 2010,” United States
Census Bureau.<o:p></o:p></div>
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November 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://www.marketingcharts.com/wp/traditional/american-households-are-getting-smaller-and-headed-by-older-adults-24981/.
[Accessed 28 February 2014].</span><span lang="UZ-CYR"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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2014].<o:p></o:p></div>
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US Army, “slep info paper,” US Army, 1 2006. [Online]. Available:
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3 2014].<o:p></o:p></div>
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Affairs Bulletin, </i>vol. 59, no. 7, pp. 14-26, 1982.</div>
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Anonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14506410057607486994noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-306916659164702023.post-56902003190639862992015-03-12T13:57:00.001-07:002015-03-12T14:08:07.110-07:00<h2>
<u><span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Weights and Measures I:
coins, swords, and armour</span></u></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Fantasy writers are, by definition, confronted with
situations outside of our common experiences. In this series, Weights and Measures, I offer a few suggestions
regarding some common fantasy measures that might be hard to find in today’s
world. I hope that you will find them useful
in your fantasy writing and encourage you to suggest any topics that you would
like to see covered in future posts.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<h3>
<u>Coins:</u></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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alt="http://access.aasd.k12.wi.us/wp/baslerdale/files/2010/08/WhiteCollar-Krugerrand.png"
style='position:absolute;margin-left:374.25pt;margin-top:70.3pt;width:75pt;
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cropleft="15090f" cropright="35115f"/>
<w:wrap type="square"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->How many are in that hoard? The simple answer is, more than most people think
(and, yes, that chest is <i>very</i> heavy). By coins, I am referring to bullion, the raw
form of a metal valued for its own sake (coins can be worth more, depending on
the stability of a government to back their currency – Roman coins were typically
worth up to three times the value of their metal<w:sdt citation="t" id="357534854"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Rob14 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[1]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). We can do some calculations for our fantasy coins based on current
coins. A pure gold coin around the size
of a penny weighs around ¼ oz (7-8g), while one approximating a 2p British coin (slightly bigger than a US Quarter) weighs twice that [2]. A South African Krugerrand weighs just over an ounce and is a nice size for a fantasy gold piece (32.77 mm diameter and 2.84 mm thick), but its value would be high, if gold in the fantasy milieu is similar to our reality. Currently (Feb., 2014), a 1 oz coin would be worth around $1300 US dollars [3]. Considering that gold coins frequently make appearances in stories (more than would be expected if they approximated $1000 bills by today’s standards) you may want to make your coins smaller than 1 oz. I followed this assumption in making my volume calculations, placing the hypothetical coins in question somewhere between ¼ and ½ oz (a note for Dungeons and Dragons fans: gold coins in 1st ed. AD&D were 1.6 oz [4] (1.5 times the size of a Krugerrand, but changed to 1/5 that size by 4th ed. [5]. Each 4th ed. coin would be just over 1/3 oz – perfect for the calculations that follow -- and worth around $380,
though item prices in the <i>Players Handbook</i> suggest that gold is worth far less
in that world). </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Assuming these to be the margins of fantasy coin size, I
tossed 50 1p and 50 2p coins into a box and they displaced approximately 8.5
cubic inches. With 1728in<sup>3</sup>/ft<sup>3</sup>,
this extrapolates to a whopping 20 thousand coins per cubic foot, weighing
approximately 500 pounds, depending on how closely they are packed (by
comparison, similar sized coins made of platinum would be slightly heavier
while those made of silver, copper, and electrum would be about half the weight<w:sdt citation="t" id="435810157"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION
The14 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[6]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>). Yes, my measurements are approximations and,
yes, there are box-edge effects and, yes, extrapolating increases my margin of
error, but you get the idea. No matter
what the size of your fantasy coins, we’re talking about at least 10,000 coins
per cubic foot at a weight that a typical person (or wooden box) can’t manage. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
So what does this mean for a pile that a dragon might be
sitting on? Uggh. Consider a conical pile 20 ft. in diameter. If it had a 35 degree angle of repose (pitch),
which is typical of many particulates<w:sdt citation="t" id="357534863"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Clo95 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[7]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, it would be 7 feet
high and the volume would be (1/3<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>π<span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>r<sup>2</sup><span style="font-family: "Wingdings 3"; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: "Wingdings 3";"></span>h),
or 733ft<sup>3</sup>. If we use the very
conservative estimate of 10,000 coins, that’s more than 7 million. A 40 ft. wide pile would have nearly 60
million. Maybe the brilliance of this
image is more important to you than its verisimilitude (in which case, keep
it!), but a few readers will be irked. I
realise that I am the worst audience member, in this regard, but I couldn’t
help doing the math as I watched Bilbo scuttling through the dwarfish treasure
room in <i>The Desolation of Smaug</i>. My rough estimation of the volume of gold
suggests something along the lines of four billion gold pieces (let’s not even
mention the giant statue of the dwarf at the end – a subject that is covered
nicely by Rhett Allain [8]). And Middle-earth only has, what, a few million
inhabitants<w:sdt citation="t" id="435810150"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION Lob87 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[9]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="639529812"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION Mic12 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[10]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>? If so, then the dwarves minted 2000 gold pieces for every humanoid in
existence. I’m no economist, but I am
guessing that they risked flooding the market. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iHXlPOJTkhg1DX9zerhyphenhyphenOZst9zW2R9Iw8aknpvB1GGVdB5AZYGZ6frLp0w11g-me-7hYnq6tD3g1Y0x524rYlS4Kq4zyNUnox4FrwDEx0z3QPk4bPHf_KDNH3jXnauUp-zX0BrAcuDc/s1600/swords.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iHXlPOJTkhg1DX9zerhyphenhyphenOZst9zW2R9Iw8aknpvB1GGVdB5AZYGZ6frLp0w11g-me-7hYnq6tD3g1Y0x524rYlS4Kq4zyNUnox4FrwDEx0z3QPk4bPHf_KDNH3jXnauUp-zX0BrAcuDc/s1600/swords.png" /></a></div>
<h3>
<u>Swords:</u></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Fantasy writing occasionally includes 30-pound swords and
50-pound axes. This one is far easier to
tackle than the speculations of coinage: people have weighed ye olde weapons
that are kept in museums. The truth is
that a typical sword weighs around three pounds, with the largest ‘two handed great
swords’ reaching around five to eight pounds<w:sdt citation="t" id="435810152"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION JCl04 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[11]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>. Even the most delicate doe-eyed princess
could lift one (though wielding one effectively might be a different story).
For an excellent exploration of this subject, I recommend the work of John
Clemens<w:sdt citation="t" id="435810153"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:
EN-US'> CITATION JCl04 \l 1033 </span><span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[11]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="435810154"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
lang=EN-US style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> CITATION JCl14 \l 1033 </span><span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> <span lang="EN-US">[12]</span><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt>, done for the Association for
Renaissance Martial Arts. In fact, if
you are interested in realistic fighting techniques, you would do well to spend
a few hours poking around ARMA’s site (<a href="http://www.thearma.org/">http://www.thearma.org/</a>)
if not paying one of their chapters a visit.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
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<h3>
<u>Armour:</u></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As they do with swords, most people over-estimate the
cumbersomeness of armour (with the exception of some tournament armour, which
could be, indeed, quite unwieldy, but would have never been worn to complete a
fantasy quest). While there are many sources on this subject, I trust Dirk
Breiding, who states that, “An entire suit of field armour usually weighs between 45 and 55 lbs. (20 to 25 kg), with the helmet weighing between 4 and 8 lbs. (2 to 4 kg) -- less than the full equipment of a fireman with oxygen gear, or what most modern soldiers have carried into battle since the nineteenth century” [13]. He goes on to state that an armoured combatant could also move quite well, could get himself off the ground (i.e. he was not stuck on his back if he fell over), and could mount a horse without a crane (a misconception that was “finally immortalized in 1944 when Sir Laurence Olivier used it in his movie Henry V -- despite the protestations of his historical advisers, who included the eminent authority Sir James Mann, Master of the Armouries at HM Tower of London”) [13].<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="background: rgb(250, 250, 250);">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
While armour may have been less cumbersome than some think,
remember that field armour was just that – meant to be worn on the field (of
battle). It may have been manageable for
a fight, but probably would have been more harmful than helpful on a quest
lasting months. Breastplates and leather
jerkins would be much lighter, but I am will always be suspicious of the Renaissance
paintings that depict Spanish conquistadors marching through the New World
tropical heat in steel helmets, breastplates, and sleeve-length bombasts. I expect that any man who did so would be a
very well-protected heat-stroke casualty.</div>
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<h1>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Works Cited</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if supportFields]><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>BIBLIOGRAPHY <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span></span><![endif]--><o:p></o:p></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="mso-cellspacing: 1.5pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 100%px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
[1] <o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
S. o. t. R. N. S.
Robert Bracey, <i>personal communication, </i>London, 2014. <o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt; width: 1.0%;" valign="top" width="1%"><div class="MsoBibliography">
[2] <o:p></o:p></div>
</td>
<td style="padding: .75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt;" valign="top"><div class="MsoBibliography">
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