Timeline for What magic system would empower peace? (Retaining free will)
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
7 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:49 | comment | added | DWKraus | The secret police aren't secret - they are Mongol-overt, beating, torturing (in public squares) or chopping off heads of all who defy them. For much of history, tyrants relied on public displays like this to maintain order specifically because they didn't know who was plotting against them. Because it's scrying, they are secret in that you don't physically see them watching you, but you always know they are. Very 1984. | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:34 | comment | added | Mason Wheeler | You appear to be thinking about what things would be like if we were to "take Earth and change one thing." I'm saying, if conditions had been different from the start, what we'd arrive at looks very different from Earth. | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:33 | comment | added | Mason Wheeler | @DWKraus How do you establish a secret police force to oppress the people, when they can't keep it secret? How does someone with oppression in their heart become wealthy enough to put their dark desires into action without doing things they don't want people to find out about? The first rule of worldbuilding is consistency: when you change the rules around one thing, it should impact other related things as well. | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:12 | comment | added | DWKraus | A common man with no power and little to protect might know the state and the rich are oppressing them, but is divination going to give them the ability to know how to overthrow the government? You can't deceive people, but most people in oppressive societies either already know they are being oppressed, or they believe in the principles of the society (theocracy, communism, divine right of kings). Does divination reveal intrinsic truth (the will of God, for example)? | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:06 | comment | added | Mason Wheeler | @DWKraus That's what happens if there's not enough divination, when "those in power" are able to monopolize it. If the common man is just as capable of using such magic as the King or the Minister of Information, you get a very different dynamic. | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 15:01 | comment | added | DWKraus | BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING: Enough divination will result in a surveillance state where no one has privacy and those in power see everyone's secrets. This favors existing authority with things to protect, as they monitor any form of rebellion. A thief stealing a loaf of bread to stay alive is detected and their hand cut off. The authorities admittedly can't keep secrets, so they must be up-front about their brutal repression, "Rebel and we will know about it beforehand and kill you." | |
| Aug 16, 2021 at 14:05 | history | answered | Mason Wheeler | CC BY-SA 4.0 |