TLHoD: World Building ( Don't Pee in the Gene Pool)

[Iain]

I was struck listening to Tom's comments on the lack of sexual drive leading to the slow development on Winter ( Don't Pee in the Gene Pool Podcast). I thought I would start a new thread.

My impressions form the book was that the slow rate of "progress" had more to do with the harshness of the environment. Daily life was a struggle and building up enough surplus to allow for risk taking was difficult. People living on the edge continuously need to be conservative in the risks they take.

However, much of the lack of technological development is down to choice.

The stove that features in the last part of the book can run for two years continuously without recharging. They have an advanced plastics industry, radio and electric cars. OK, no planes, but there are no flying animals at all on Winter (just a few bugs) giving no examples to work from.

Karhide is a strange mix of the feudal and the modern. I am not sure there is any real analogy in our history.

The lack of war, I think also comes down to the harshness of the environment. No one has enough surplus to support an army on the field. Only Orgoryne has developed enough to consider doing this in the last 100 or so years.
Feuds do exist as productive land is incredibly valuable and requires defending.

I found the society on Winter to be entirely believable. A wonderful example of world building.

[Buzz]

Historically, my understanding is that harsher environments have actually lead to more aggressive societies and more technological innovation.

[Iain]

Not sure I see that, I would be happy to have pointers to any literature.

I was thinking of native Australians, the Inuit, etc. Here you have societies that have survived a long time in hostile environments with out plentiful food supplies. There is technological innovation but it is much slower than, for example, the North West of England during the industrial revolution.

The Euphrates, India, China, and Europe are all rather benign environments with plenty off food. This is where most technological development has occurred.

Actually, on further reflection, Australian Aboriginal society has many parallels with Winter.

[Rick]

I think we need to differentiate between a harsh environment where the natives can raid easier ones (Vikings, etc) and a harsh environment where that's all that there is. We also, for this discussion to work, need to define harsh. It's one thing for the weather to be unforgiving and another for that to be true and to always be on the edge of starvation, etc.