Naive and Sophisticated: The Terms

[greyorm]

Wow...sorry to do a "me too," but I Chris, Ralph and Jesse, you got it. That's right where I'm coming from, too...so, er, I can't really add anything else.

[Christopher Kubasik]

Hi Guys,

And just to clarify, the Plane of Stories isn't divided down the middle into the nations of "That's the way things are" and "Why not?/Why can't?"

Instead, I'm seeing differnt city states, each with their own tastes and specialties.

The City of Fabulist Stories I've described.  But there's also the steam-punk driven Citidel of Why not? Why Can't? which imports tales from the City of Fabulsit Stories and teases them into all sorts of implications that produces wonderful effects, but that the citizens of Fabulist simply don't have time for.

But upriver, there's also the City of Why not? Why Can't Up To A Point -- Where the four color comics and posters for Bruce Willis movies wave on banner poles.  In this city the implication of an invention of Reed Richards is examined through the decades, but not so much that someone might do something kind of "forgets about" it for a short while.

Again, I've backed way off the binary system.  And it's not even a spectrum.  It's unique modes of storytelling that share a great deal, but are different enough, in my view, to produce different effect in the minds of the audience and maker when these differences are respected.

(Okay.  "Effects in the minds of the makers"? Please don't ask me to explain this just yet.  It's bubbling still.  But, in brief, I think different kinds of stories rub our mental tastes different ways, as if our brains were tongues for a moment, checking out different spices or fruits.  Each of us has our own "tastes" -- just as some people love spicy foods, and others hate them.  And, more than that, there are different effects different kinds of stories produce.  (Puckering, woozy delight).  But this has led me down the strange path of "Why Play RPGs?" and "What do People Want from RPGs?"  Which is HUGE.  And so for later.)

[clehrich]

The Rationalist has no problem accepting that Daedulus can fly with wax and feathers. But ONCE that has been accepted the Rationalist expects two things to happen:

1) ANYONE can fly with wax and feathers and the application of Daedulus's technique.

Jesse's point reminds me of a Terry Pratchett footnote, in which he remarks that the universe is most resistant to things that haven't been done before.  Thus the first guy to go up Everest had a heck of a slog; in 100 years, little old ladies will wander up before tea, and then stop halfway down and go back because they dropped their glasses.

Just a thought --- an interesting way to think about a belief-constructed universe, too.