[God's Dice] Socrates at Zenith
Posted: Fri May 09, 2003 2:36 am
When I used to do group creative writing and worldbuilding, one of the most effective methods I knew of was to buy a carton of cafeteria pizzas from Gordon Food Service and a 12-pack of Mountain Dew, and sit around a big table, answering the questions of our Devil's Advocate.
It was like the Socratic method, but constructive and not instructive - although both methods are only constructive by elimination. It's like answering the questions of a very, very annoying child who tends to ask the questions to which youdon'tknow the answers yet, and must instead rely on Mr. Britannica for. Or in our case, must create ourselves.
I'd like to ask a series of questions, challenging what we know about the God's Dice universe. I won't necessarily ask them one at a time; it's just that I keep thinking of questions to which I don't know the answer yet, and I'll share them as they find me.
The nature of this sort of creative process is inherently adversarial and condescending, and any conversation with me doubly so, but I retain hope we can weather through the storm if it means reaching the shore. <font color="#3597cf">Hmm. Should have been a space metaphor. Damn.</font> Also to be weathered is any redundancy; I'm certain I'll ask a number of questions to which the answer is available somewhere, but I most definitely do not know everything about God's Dice.
Onward:
How many people live on Earth?
How many on the Moon?
What are Earth and the Moon called?
How many live in orbital habitats, and what are they called? Orbs?
How many people live on Mars? On her moons? In orbit?
How many people live in the Belt?
Jove? The Saturnals? On the Outside?
Which races live where?
How far is the furthest unmanned spacecraft from Earth?
The furthest manned? The furthest /recorded/ manned?
What supplies can be made locally in each locale, and which must be imported?
How are supplies imported; how is cargo transferred to all the systems?
What currency is used to trade? Is there a single currency everywhere? Where does the barter economy rule?
Who is the oldest living person? The oldest living /recorded/ person?
That's it for now. I promise I won't normally have this many.![Aww! :aww](./images/smilies/bd_embarrassed.gif)
It was like the Socratic method, but constructive and not instructive - although both methods are only constructive by elimination. It's like answering the questions of a very, very annoying child who tends to ask the questions to which youdon'tknow the answers yet, and must instead rely on Mr. Britannica for. Or in our case, must create ourselves.
I'd like to ask a series of questions, challenging what we know about the God's Dice universe. I won't necessarily ask them one at a time; it's just that I keep thinking of questions to which I don't know the answer yet, and I'll share them as they find me.
The nature of this sort of creative process is inherently adversarial and condescending, and any conversation with me doubly so, but I retain hope we can weather through the storm if it means reaching the shore. <font color="#3597cf">Hmm. Should have been a space metaphor. Damn.</font> Also to be weathered is any redundancy; I'm certain I'll ask a number of questions to which the answer is available somewhere, but I most definitely do not know everything about God's Dice.
Onward:
How many people live on Earth?
How many on the Moon?
What are Earth and the Moon called?
How many live in orbital habitats, and what are they called? Orbs?
How many people live on Mars? On her moons? In orbit?
How many people live in the Belt?
Jove? The Saturnals? On the Outside?
Which races live where?
How far is the furthest unmanned spacecraft from Earth?
The furthest manned? The furthest /recorded/ manned?
What supplies can be made locally in each locale, and which must be imported?
How are supplies imported; how is cargo transferred to all the systems?
What currency is used to trade? Is there a single currency everywhere? Where does the barter economy rule?
Who is the oldest living person? The oldest living /recorded/ person?
That's it for now. I promise I won't normally have this many.
![Aww! :aww](./images/smilies/bd_embarrassed.gif)