General+Worldbuilding

  o  Are the laws of nature and physics actually different in this world, or are they the same as in real life? How does magic fit in? How do magical beasts fit in? The laws of nature are essentially the same. There is no magic, psionics, or magical beasts. There have been some advances in technology, including quantum computing, nanite manufacture, artificial intelligence, and fusion power. Many of these technologies had unexpected and sometimes catastrophic consequences—for example, the robotic Cthonic AIs that nearly destroyed humanity. Other systems such as fusion power proved useful, but not to the point of completely replacing modern systems such as solar power or biofuels.  o  Is this generally an earth-like world? Is it an "alternate Earth"?  A.  This is the planet earth, but 800 years in the future. There have been numerous catastrophes and wars, including the melting of the polar ice caps and the raising of the temperature of the earth by 20 degrees.  B.    o  Are there different human races, whether or not there are non-humans like elves or dwarves? How does the cultural and ethnic diversity of this world compare to the real world?  A.  There are non-human races, either derived from humans or animals, or created de novo. Several alternate races derived from humanity have been created. Several species such as dolphins, dogs, and chimpanzees have been altered to make them able to communicate with humans more easily. There are uncountable variations on artificial intelligence—all of them considered abominations by the majority of the human race. The Treaty of St. Helena outlawed creation of new races through biological engineering, and in practice there is little impetus to create new ones as most governments are too busy coping with relations amongst those already extant.  B.  The level of diversity is comparable to or slightly less than that of the modern world. While the population is more genetically diverse than it was in the 20th century vast majority of the indigenous cultures have been forced to abandon their traditional ways of life because of the ecological and political upheavals. . However, the teeming cities foster innumerable gangs, cliques, and sub-cultures, where language and behavior are constantly shifting. Because of this, most traditional identifications such as ‘caucasian’ or ‘african’ have ceased to be a meaningful identifier—people might be blond haired or dark skinned, but these features too are more fluid in the world of 2880 <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">How long have there been people on this world? Did they evolve, or did they migrate from somewhere/when else? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> A.  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">People still have various creation myths but most acknowledge some form of evolutionary process. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">How many people are there in this country? How does this compare with world population? What is considered a small town/large town/city in terms of number of people? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> A.  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">There are approximately 1.2 billion people in the Boreal States, and another billion in the Southern states, and less than one hundred thousand scattered amongst squalid settlements in the Intemperate Zones. In the Boreal States, roughly half the population lives in arcologies, giant city-structures with an average population of three million. The other half live in small farming or aquaculture villages or as nomads. The inhabitants of the southern hemisphere tend to live in small cities of ten to one hundred thousand people, with the notable exception of Endurance, with a population of 22 million, which is the largest city on the face of the planet. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> B.  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">There are approximately 100 million extra-terrestrials scattered amongst the plants from Helios station in orbit of Mercury to the transuranian settlements on Eris and Sedna. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 14.5pt; COLOR: #008800; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Are there non-human inhabitants of this planet (elves, dwarves, aliens)? If so, how numerous? How openly present? What areas do they occupy (examples: dwarves in mountains or caves, elves in forests, etc.)? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">There are numerous different clades including uplifts such as the neofins or chimps, and a dozen commonly encountered neohumans who have had biological or cybernetic alterations to their minds and bodies. There are roughly one hundred clades recognized by the treaty of St. Helena, and another dozen that were not registered at the time but are tolerated to varying degrees. There are another hundred clades that are exiled from the polar regions and either live in secret or eke out an existence amongst the desert wastes. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">Among the extra-terrestrials, the only limitation on the diversity of sentient beings is survival itself. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">How similar are the history and culture of the alternate earth to real history and culture? Why is it so similar/different? <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Courier New'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Courier New'; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"> o  <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">If there is no specific point of divergence, what are the differences between this imaginary world and the real one? How obvious are they in everyday life?
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; COLOR: #008800; FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'">The World **