Can My iPod Exist in the Dreamlands?
On deviantArt, one of my Watchers had a question about what kinds of technology, devices, and materials can exist in the Dreamlands.
The short answer is, it takes roughly 500 years for something to become so ingrained in the human imagination that it can show up in the Dreamlands. As such, for the most part, the Dreamlands is limited to technology, devices, and materials from before 1500 CE.
Why would that be the case? The Dreamlands was first created by H. P. Lovecraft, borrowing elements from Lord Dunsany. He created the rules, and this happens to be one of them. I believe it was to justify his alternative reality being a pre-Industrial sword & sorcery fantasy world, but whatever the reason, I abide by it as I do his other rules.
But I have made some modifications.
In the simplest terms possible, anything older than 1500 can exist in the Dreamlands. Any technology or device or system or material more recent than 1500 cannot exist in the Dreamlands. So, a longsword can exist but an AK-47 cannot. Steel can exist but depleted uranium cannot. Water wheels and windmills can exist, but steam engines and diesel motors cannot. Waterworks and plumbing can exist, but sewage treatment systems cannot.
Anomalies that seem impossible but nonetheless do exist generally fall into one of two categories.
The first is items thought to be more recent than they actually are, such as eyeglasses or trousers or steel or concrete cement or asphalt.
The second is items based on post-1500 ideas but which can be created using pre-1500 technology and materials. The Dreamlands have things such as antibiotics and antiseptics, mechanical Jacquard looms run by punch cards, breech-loading cannon, paved roads, pianos, showers, and galleons.
A corollary to this are items that existed before 1500, sometimes well before, but didn't come into their own until well after. An example is the battery. Batteries may have existed as much as 2000 years ago, but regardless, it has been demonstrated that primitive batteries can be made using pre-1500 materials.
However, there is a category of devices and systems that stubbornly refuse to exist even if they can be created using pre-1500 technology and materials. These are the so-called "iconic items", items that are strongly associated with a particular time period. For example, telescopes and microscopes can conceivably exist, being just metallic tubes and lenses, and semi-automatic firearms could be constructed from existing Dream-materials, but all attempts result in the object morphing into something different or simply refusing to function. Even something as old as the flintlock mechanism has not yet been "invented". However, firearms do exist in the form of matchlock guns and Differel's wheellock pistols.
There are, however, three categories of items that can exist despite being modern, even iconic.
One is ideas and concepts, such as interchangeable parts, assembly lines, and automation. Modern agricultural and medical ideas are especially popular. Substituting coke for coal or charcoal proved very useful as well. In fact, the entire idea of an industrial setup is quite common in the Dreamlands, as long as there is sufficient water or animal power to drive the machines.
Another is designs that can be implemented using existing materials. The best example is in clothing. Anything up to formal white ties and tails, modern business and sporting attire, military uniforms, and pants suits can exist; if they are rare, it is either because they are extremely expensive or existing materials make them bulkier than clothes made from synthetics, or the clothes makers prefer more antiquated designs. Another example is bridge design; as long as the existing material is strong enough, any kind of bridge can exist in the Dreamlands. Even clipper ships and armored cars can exist after a fashion. The only bars to using a design are cost, ease of operation, and effectiveness; examples of the last being that armored cars do not exist because armored zebras and elephants are easier to use and more efficient; and firearms are not more common because the longbow is still more powerful. The point being that if a modern design conveys no useful advantage over existing Medieval designs, it isn't adopted.
A corollary to this is post-1500 items based on post-1500 ideas being applied to pre-1500 designs. For example, both pocket watches and compasses exist, because they are based on clock and compass designs that existed before 1500, even through both were not developed until after 1500. However, as with other designs, the cost of reliable instruments of this type tends to be rather high, with cheaper models being decidedly unreliable, and often there are more effective methods already in existence, such as the sextant or simply using visual examination of the sun and stars.
The last is anything derived from natural resources that does not require specialized post-1500 technology to produce. This includes pharmaceuticals, anesthetics, explosives, fertilizers, alloys, special glass formulations, solvents, and oils. As with everything else, however, if the item in question is not more effective than an existing item, or is expensive or inefficient, it will not be adopted.
One final note, there are items that exist which technically should not, but are allowed to, either because they are important to the background of my stories or do little to change the nature of the Dreamlands. An example of the first is printing with moveable type. This straddles the 1500 boundary. Technically it was invented a few decades before, but it did not really take off until after. However, moveable type would be an extreme advantage in the Dreamlands, and everything needed to invent moveable type was already in place well before 1500, so I've fudged this to allow it to exist. An example of the second is the blast furnace. This also straddles 1500, in that the Chinese had furnaces as early as the 5th century BC and they were known in Europe for at least a century before. However, true blast furnaces did not really exist until at least a century after. I allow them, however, because they are only used in a handful of locations, whereas bloomeries are ubiquitous; even a small village can make its own steel, just not on an industrial scale.
The short answer is, it takes roughly 500 years for something to become so ingrained in the human imagination that it can show up in the Dreamlands. As such, for the most part, the Dreamlands is limited to technology, devices, and materials from before 1500 CE.
Why would that be the case? The Dreamlands was first created by H. P. Lovecraft, borrowing elements from Lord Dunsany. He created the rules, and this happens to be one of them. I believe it was to justify his alternative reality being a pre-Industrial sword & sorcery fantasy world, but whatever the reason, I abide by it as I do his other rules.
But I have made some modifications.
In the simplest terms possible, anything older than 1500 can exist in the Dreamlands. Any technology or device or system or material more recent than 1500 cannot exist in the Dreamlands. So, a longsword can exist but an AK-47 cannot. Steel can exist but depleted uranium cannot. Water wheels and windmills can exist, but steam engines and diesel motors cannot. Waterworks and plumbing can exist, but sewage treatment systems cannot.
Anomalies that seem impossible but nonetheless do exist generally fall into one of two categories.
The first is items thought to be more recent than they actually are, such as eyeglasses or trousers or steel or concrete cement or asphalt.
The second is items based on post-1500 ideas but which can be created using pre-1500 technology and materials. The Dreamlands have things such as antibiotics and antiseptics, mechanical Jacquard looms run by punch cards, breech-loading cannon, paved roads, pianos, showers, and galleons.
A corollary to this are items that existed before 1500, sometimes well before, but didn't come into their own until well after. An example is the battery. Batteries may have existed as much as 2000 years ago, but regardless, it has been demonstrated that primitive batteries can be made using pre-1500 materials.
However, there is a category of devices and systems that stubbornly refuse to exist even if they can be created using pre-1500 technology and materials. These are the so-called "iconic items", items that are strongly associated with a particular time period. For example, telescopes and microscopes can conceivably exist, being just metallic tubes and lenses, and semi-automatic firearms could be constructed from existing Dream-materials, but all attempts result in the object morphing into something different or simply refusing to function. Even something as old as the flintlock mechanism has not yet been "invented". However, firearms do exist in the form of matchlock guns and Differel's wheellock pistols.
There are, however, three categories of items that can exist despite being modern, even iconic.
One is ideas and concepts, such as interchangeable parts, assembly lines, and automation. Modern agricultural and medical ideas are especially popular. Substituting coke for coal or charcoal proved very useful as well. In fact, the entire idea of an industrial setup is quite common in the Dreamlands, as long as there is sufficient water or animal power to drive the machines.
Another is designs that can be implemented using existing materials. The best example is in clothing. Anything up to formal white ties and tails, modern business and sporting attire, military uniforms, and pants suits can exist; if they are rare, it is either because they are extremely expensive or existing materials make them bulkier than clothes made from synthetics, or the clothes makers prefer more antiquated designs. Another example is bridge design; as long as the existing material is strong enough, any kind of bridge can exist in the Dreamlands. Even clipper ships and armored cars can exist after a fashion. The only bars to using a design are cost, ease of operation, and effectiveness; examples of the last being that armored cars do not exist because armored zebras and elephants are easier to use and more efficient; and firearms are not more common because the longbow is still more powerful. The point being that if a modern design conveys no useful advantage over existing Medieval designs, it isn't adopted.
A corollary to this is post-1500 items based on post-1500 ideas being applied to pre-1500 designs. For example, both pocket watches and compasses exist, because they are based on clock and compass designs that existed before 1500, even through both were not developed until after 1500. However, as with other designs, the cost of reliable instruments of this type tends to be rather high, with cheaper models being decidedly unreliable, and often there are more effective methods already in existence, such as the sextant or simply using visual examination of the sun and stars.
The last is anything derived from natural resources that does not require specialized post-1500 technology to produce. This includes pharmaceuticals, anesthetics, explosives, fertilizers, alloys, special glass formulations, solvents, and oils. As with everything else, however, if the item in question is not more effective than an existing item, or is expensive or inefficient, it will not be adopted.
One final note, there are items that exist which technically should not, but are allowed to, either because they are important to the background of my stories or do little to change the nature of the Dreamlands. An example of the first is printing with moveable type. This straddles the 1500 boundary. Technically it was invented a few decades before, but it did not really take off until after. However, moveable type would be an extreme advantage in the Dreamlands, and everything needed to invent moveable type was already in place well before 1500, so I've fudged this to allow it to exist. An example of the second is the blast furnace. This also straddles 1500, in that the Chinese had furnaces as early as the 5th century BC and they were known in Europe for at least a century before. However, true blast furnaces did not really exist until at least a century after. I allow them, however, because they are only used in a handful of locations, whereas bloomeries are ubiquitous; even a small village can make its own steel, just not on an industrial scale.
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Songs of the Seanchaí
Musings on my stories, the background of my stories, writing, and the world in general.
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