Technology
Jun. 9th, 2026 02:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithCoping with the Non-Modern World, Tuesday, Second Period
"Right," Yennefer said to her class. "Let's talk about technology. You from the future, you're just going to have to figure out how to reverse this on your own time. If you're coming from a time that's just about got the hang of the water mill, or is more reliant on magic that not everyone has, the technology of this world is a boon. Hot water from a tap, flush toilets, hair dryers, don't even get me started on the phones, that will be a whole separate lesson...and then you go home and you have none of that. How can you cope? Yes, you can learn how your favorite bits are done and become a genius inventor, and yes, that may have knock-on effects you couldn't have anticipated for the rest of your society, but who cares when you're nice and comfortable and not dealing with a chamber pot? But also, that sounds like a lot of effort."
Well, that's the background radiation of my life. I always remember, in greater or lesser detail, an extremely wide range of technology. I mean from digging stick to star generator wide. So a few tips...
* Prioritize things that work based on the widest possible principles. There are more worlds that have gravity than ones that don't. Magic and science are both really common, but often they don't appear in the same world, or one is greatly dominant over the other; that makes transferring one to the other difficult. However, see below regarding diversity of methods: it is highly useful if you know both magical and scientific ways to do the same thing.
* Prioritize simple tools over complex tools. They are easier to memorize and easier to build. You could drop me bareass on an alien planet and I would immediately make a digging stick; I've done that, more than once. Here is a list of 6 simple machines you can perm easily; all of them have massively diverse applications.
* Prioritize unpowered tools over those that need a power source. Then you don't have to invent or convert power. A well-designed latrine is better than no toilet at all, and requires no power. A flush toilet requires a water source but no power, which is much better than an electric-flush toilet. Incinerators, vaporizers, etc. are nice in their home context but hardly worth porting out of it -- although the concept of such things is useful to know in case you find yourself in a world that has such power sources but not individual tools you like.
* Prioritize things with the most bang for your buck. A digging stick can dig, pry, lift heavy objects, poke things to see if they're safe, hit things that are not safe, reach for a person in quicksand, etc. A toilet system doesn't just make life nicer, it makes life healthier all around, plus it makes manure collection easier if you are using that. "Use" can be as simple as "The latrine hole is almost full; top it with dirt and plant a tree seedling over it."
* Anywhere that you are a disadvantaged person with advantaged knowledge beyond the local level, there is a very useful trick: look for a member of the advantaged class who has some other disadvantage making their life difficult, and propose that they serve as the face for your inventions. You both benefit from this arrangement and it works in most contexts where it is needed. It's not stealing your ideas if you set up an honest exchange of value for value; it's just like a pen name only it's a person. Lots of people do this.
* It is useful to learn diverse ways to do the same thing. Frex, running water can use a gravity trick, a manual pump, an animal-powered pump, an electrical pump, a temporary spell, enchanted equipment, etc. The more ways you know to accomplish a basic end goal, the more likely one of them will fit whatever world you are standing in.
* Learn all the fundamental principles that you can. Memorize the scientific method and other basic science concepts. Memorize common rules of magic -- not specific systems, but base ideas like the Law of Similarity (like can stand for like). Do this in every life until you've permed them and can retrieve that information in real time without external hints. I wrote down a bunch of common magical rules for Quixotic Ideas. One of the first things you should do in a new world is take a baseline to identify which fundamental premises it uses. TEST them. Do not assume that what you are told by locals is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
* Learn all the basic crafting skills you can, from as many different base modes (e.g. science, magic) as you can or you frequent. Be aware that when you perm a skill, it'll tend to carry an imprint from the body of the first life you permed it, not necessarily all of them. I permed braiding in a body with tentacles and still use my fingers that way, not how ordinary humans braid. It works. If you know how to make craft materials (e.g. paint, string, enchanted objects) then you're well equipped to "invent" them whenever you land in a culture without those.
* Learn how to teach things. If you're at all interested in uplift then you need ways of passing on your knowledge. Teach both widely (one thing to many people) and deeply (many things to one person) if you can. Different teaching methods (spoken, written, etc.) are well worth learning so you'll always have something that works locally. Be aware that some cultures and species have unusual methods, like learning by eating the dead; you may need to warn people that your participation in such acts may have unforeseen results. It actually is possible to pick up Farmemory or Live Upload/Download from Oversoul skills that way, or even to revive features a species has lost (for instance, species that had biological "queens" but lost them) if you have the key from past experience. Ensure that your people are making informed choices.
* A crucial rule of worldwalking: Intellectual property rights apply only within a single world. This is because plenty of people go worldwalking, plenty have farmemory, and that's how good ideas get spread around. You can cite where you found a thing if you wish, but it often makes people think you are weird, and that can be risky in some places. So feel free to borrow ideas that you can replicate with your local resources.
"Right," Yennefer said to her class. "Let's talk about technology. You from the future, you're just going to have to figure out how to reverse this on your own time. If you're coming from a time that's just about got the hang of the water mill, or is more reliant on magic that not everyone has, the technology of this world is a boon. Hot water from a tap, flush toilets, hair dryers, don't even get me started on the phones, that will be a whole separate lesson...and then you go home and you have none of that. How can you cope? Yes, you can learn how your favorite bits are done and become a genius inventor, and yes, that may have knock-on effects you couldn't have anticipated for the rest of your society, but who cares when you're nice and comfortable and not dealing with a chamber pot? But also, that sounds like a lot of effort."
Well, that's the background radiation of my life. I always remember, in greater or lesser detail, an extremely wide range of technology. I mean from digging stick to star generator wide. So a few tips...
* Prioritize things that work based on the widest possible principles. There are more worlds that have gravity than ones that don't. Magic and science are both really common, but often they don't appear in the same world, or one is greatly dominant over the other; that makes transferring one to the other difficult. However, see below regarding diversity of methods: it is highly useful if you know both magical and scientific ways to do the same thing.
* Prioritize simple tools over complex tools. They are easier to memorize and easier to build. You could drop me bareass on an alien planet and I would immediately make a digging stick; I've done that, more than once. Here is a list of 6 simple machines you can perm easily; all of them have massively diverse applications.
* Prioritize unpowered tools over those that need a power source. Then you don't have to invent or convert power. A well-designed latrine is better than no toilet at all, and requires no power. A flush toilet requires a water source but no power, which is much better than an electric-flush toilet. Incinerators, vaporizers, etc. are nice in their home context but hardly worth porting out of it -- although the concept of such things is useful to know in case you find yourself in a world that has such power sources but not individual tools you like.
* Prioritize things with the most bang for your buck. A digging stick can dig, pry, lift heavy objects, poke things to see if they're safe, hit things that are not safe, reach for a person in quicksand, etc. A toilet system doesn't just make life nicer, it makes life healthier all around, plus it makes manure collection easier if you are using that. "Use" can be as simple as "The latrine hole is almost full; top it with dirt and plant a tree seedling over it."
* Anywhere that you are a disadvantaged person with advantaged knowledge beyond the local level, there is a very useful trick: look for a member of the advantaged class who has some other disadvantage making their life difficult, and propose that they serve as the face for your inventions. You both benefit from this arrangement and it works in most contexts where it is needed. It's not stealing your ideas if you set up an honest exchange of value for value; it's just like a pen name only it's a person. Lots of people do this.
* It is useful to learn diverse ways to do the same thing. Frex, running water can use a gravity trick, a manual pump, an animal-powered pump, an electrical pump, a temporary spell, enchanted equipment, etc. The more ways you know to accomplish a basic end goal, the more likely one of them will fit whatever world you are standing in.
* Learn all the fundamental principles that you can. Memorize the scientific method and other basic science concepts. Memorize common rules of magic -- not specific systems, but base ideas like the Law of Similarity (like can stand for like). Do this in every life until you've permed them and can retrieve that information in real time without external hints. I wrote down a bunch of common magical rules for Quixotic Ideas. One of the first things you should do in a new world is take a baseline to identify which fundamental premises it uses. TEST them. Do not assume that what you are told by locals is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
* Learn all the basic crafting skills you can, from as many different base modes (e.g. science, magic) as you can or you frequent. Be aware that when you perm a skill, it'll tend to carry an imprint from the body of the first life you permed it, not necessarily all of them. I permed braiding in a body with tentacles and still use my fingers that way, not how ordinary humans braid. It works. If you know how to make craft materials (e.g. paint, string, enchanted objects) then you're well equipped to "invent" them whenever you land in a culture without those.
* Learn how to teach things. If you're at all interested in uplift then you need ways of passing on your knowledge. Teach both widely (one thing to many people) and deeply (many things to one person) if you can. Different teaching methods (spoken, written, etc.) are well worth learning so you'll always have something that works locally. Be aware that some cultures and species have unusual methods, like learning by eating the dead; you may need to warn people that your participation in such acts may have unforeseen results. It actually is possible to pick up Farmemory or Live Upload/Download from Oversoul skills that way, or even to revive features a species has lost (for instance, species that had biological "queens" but lost them) if you have the key from past experience. Ensure that your people are making informed choices.
* A crucial rule of worldwalking: Intellectual property rights apply only within a single world. This is because plenty of people go worldwalking, plenty have farmemory, and that's how good ideas get spread around. You can cite where you found a thing if you wish, but it often makes people think you are weird, and that can be risky in some places. So feel free to borrow ideas that you can replicate with your local resources.
