Worldbuilding

Questions tagged [society]

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For questions dealing with how sentient beings interact with each other in a community.

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12
votes
9answers
4k views

How can you have an eternal war against vastly weaker opponents?

I want an empire that is simultaneously enlightened and barbaric. So the idea is to split the territory in two: the meritocracy in my previous question, a mostly peaceful realm, has a vast periphery ...
1
vote
1answer
100 views

Domesticating rockfolk

part 2 of: Evolution of Rockfolk the world i'm writing a sub-species of my Rockfolk have been Domesticated by humans becoming Golems, and are commonly use as a type guard dog or for field labor. some ...
4
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2answers
152 views

How to Build a Stable Dystopia

I have an immortal, magically powerful character who has decided that he's had enough of the world's suffering. He therefore sets out to unify every society in the world into a single whole with a ...
17
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6answers
2k views

Can you have a multicultural meritocracy?

I want to ape Ming dynasty China for my setting. Key points are that there's a big empire, several centuries old, but hereditary transition of power is practically non-existent. Instead, the country's ...
-5
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1answer
152 views

A society where you imprison/ bury the females [closed]

The hornbill imprisons its mate in a tree to deter predators. In Wayne Barlowe's Expedition, the sac-back female buries itself. What if something like this were a feature in a sentient species? How ...
4
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1answer
127 views

What would a Bandit Kingdom look like and how will it survive? [closed]

this question on this platform. My question is that, "What would a Bandit Kingdom look like and how will it survive?" This question had me thinking as I watched a gameplay of a Mount & ...
9
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7answers
2k views

Is it plausible for a tribe to have a standing army?

I'm creating a parallel world inspired by migration period in the dark ages. I have a tribe that has a something akin to standing army consisting of infantry cavalry rangers Wealthier clan leaders ...
5
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5answers
551 views

How can we limit or avoid addiction to virtual reality in a technologically advanced society?

Premise Please ladies and gentlemen, draw your eyes to our plight. Sometime in the future on Earth our society has not reached post-scarcity but has achieved: a reliable and inexpensive power source. ...
1
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0answers
99 views

Merfolk Laws And Government [closed]

Recently, I saw this image, and later, this image, which inspired me to think about the culture of merpeople. I've got quite a lot worked out, but I'd appreciate hearing other's ideas. In particular, ...
2
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3answers
171 views

In a medieval society with gigantic insects and arachnids which ones could be useful [closed]

so i'm thinking of a medieval society in a world with giant bugs. let's say the honeybee was about the size of a house mouse for reference (which makes the insects and arachnid nine times it's size). ...
6
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4answers
325 views

Could polygamous family survive half siblings incest?

I'm worbuilding a situation about a polygamous family, consisting of a father, his several wives and their many children. They are cut off from their tribe, by highland rebellion which closed the only ...
18
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13answers
4k views

A world of unrequited love

In an isolated colony of a few hundred people, a curse has ensured that no-one is attracted to anyone who likes them. Additionally everyone does like somebody else - a different person in every case. ...
1
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0answers
92 views

A fictional world where morals and ethics are completely reversed? [closed]

I want to create a world that exist in an alternate universe where all ethics and moral behaviors on earth are completely reversed/backwards. What would society in this alternate world look like?, to ...
4
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5answers
255 views

Why would being (left/right)-handed be considered a disability in a world where most are ambidextrous?

I'm creating a world where most of the population (99% or so) is ambidextrous. In the real world, most people are right-handed. A lot of everyday objects (e.g. scissors, mouse cursors) are built with ...
5
votes
4answers
148 views

Chaotic World: Large or Small Settlements?

Environment There exists a strange dimension called the Margins of Reality. All supernatural things in the world come from here and are caused by what the natives call "Margin Spirits." In ...
6
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2answers
152 views

How long would it take for two (or more) groups of geographically isolated human beings to lose the ability to procreate with one another?

Primarily a biological question, but I'd also love to dig into social implications. Here's the story - Humans have colonized at least one other planet and trade / communication remained open for some ...
0
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1answer
49 views

How would a jungle dwelling humanoid canine pack oriented society be like? [closed]

If a race of pack-oriented caninoids (humanoid canines) evolved in a jungle setting, how would their society develop? You can use real world examples in your answers. By pack oriented, the pack could ...
0
votes
1answer
81 views

How would companies capitalize on the existence of magic, forcing the little peopel to rise against them? [closed]

I wanted to combine "Shadowrun" - "industrial espionage runs rampant in a near-future setting. A "Shadowrun" is successful data theft or physical break-in at a rival ...
3
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4answers
117 views

Why might there be a sizable population of feral dogs in a poor country where food is in short supply?

Consider a country in the third world where there is a lot of hunger and poverty. Suppose that there are no laws or customs against killing dogs, that firearms are somewhat common (say, 20% firearm ...
17
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19answers
5k views

How can black magic be prevented from becoming common? [closed]

Since the olden days, black magic was used by malevolent individuals to cause harm to others. A bloke who wanted revenge or was spiteful against another could use these spells to hex that person, ...
7
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9answers
3k views

How could world civilization lose the knowledge of a global event?

Every 1000 years, the earth, moon, and sun perfectly align to form a solar eclipse that is seen around the planet. During this time, the barrier separating this reality from the demon world break down,...
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2answers
135 views

How would a dual-government country with a cordon and central zone make sense?

I want a utopian seeming country that consists of 'cordon' and 'central' zones. The central zone is supposed to be an open-border, somewhat anarchistic area with an immigrant influx, automated ...
6
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4answers
141 views

Books about Insults Across Cultures

I am trying to come up with insults and swears for some fictional races. Their cultures pretty well mapped out, but I am still having some trouble. I figured the best source of inspiration would be to ...
2
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1answer
104 views

Under what conditions would humans host earth to alien refugees? [closed]

I'm trying to come up with two scenarios for my story that takes place in a distant future where a fleet of starships with millions of unarmed humanoid aliens landed on Earth and claimed that their ...
1
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1answer
66 views

Laws between humans and anthropomorphic dragons (WIP / Questions) [closed]

I am currently creating a society for a short CG film. My main character is a young a,thropomorphic dragon living in the same standards as humans (as you can see on the image). I would have wanted to ...
3
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2answers
95 views

How can states effectively run a maternity center protected by magical wards?

Amelia Dryer was a witch who ran a baby farm for unwanted infants. She ultimately became responsible for the murders of many infants, and was executed for her crimes. She continued her activities by ...
8
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7answers
2k views

Humans, except they always find the right solution to the wrong predicament [closed]

Two mothers say a baby is theirs, simple solution, split the baby in two so they bot get half! Lost your family? Find a new one! Your husband cheats on you with your friend? Cheat on him too with your ...
5
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5answers
200 views

When colonizing Mars, what would the emergence of a local economy look like? [closed]

Let's say humanity keeps advancing in its attempt to achieve permanent human presence on Mars, At the beginning it might be only temporary deployments (like to the ISS), but after some time let's say ...
3
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1answer
154 views

How can I bring down an evil website to prevent it from warping reality? [closed]

In Wisconsin 2014, two 12 year old girls were accused of stabbing another playmate 19 times. When questioned by authorities, they admitted to committing the attempted murder in order to demonstrate ...
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5answers
1k views

Snowball Hopping

If you take real physics, you could travel to the next star in moving cities. Imagine independent, self-sufficient mining outposts attached to an asteroid. While the asteroid is being used up, the ...
18
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16answers
3k views

How can I limit the application of resurrecting spells?

A cauldron is symbolic of the goddess Cerridwen, a goddess associated with rebirth, and have been useful to warring armies throughout the centuries. There is a spell involving ressureccting a corpse ...
0
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1answer
76 views

What would human society be like if we could clearly remember our time in the womb? [closed]

The Humans of planet Eros in my worldbuilding project have superior memory compared to real humans. This superior memory is advanced enough to allow Erosi Humans to naturally and clearly remember ...
6
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2answers
261 views

What's the Use of a Susskind Hologram?

(this question may need to go to sandbox for refining) Leonard Susskind proposed that the surface of a black hole might be kind-of recording device for everything falling into it. Where 3D of space + ...
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6answers
177 views

Winning against a “god”? [closed]

The god of my world is malevolent. He loves manipulating people, destroying cities, and causing tragedies all around the globe. He thinks this is the best way to govern humans, and nothing can ...
5
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5answers
317 views

What political system, in real world spectrum, would this be?

I think I have established democracy, but I am very unintelligible on how they are called in the real world because I doubt I invented something new, I am just politically dumb. Could you please say ...
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15answers
1k views

How to shape society's values such that paleontology becomes the largest / most profitable industry?

In our iteration of "Earth," there are several studies suggesting that the study of paleontology is itself going extinct. In an attempt to envision a brighter future for the field, I want to build a ...
2
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1answer
66 views

How would caste system benefits population of hive mind?

Unlike bee population whereby the worker bee or scout bee feedback news through a complex domino style network to inform the rest of their community and then the queen bee(s) will still be busy ...
5
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4answers
409 views

Most likely source of conflict between humans and werewolves?

So, my werewolves are a diet version of the classical lycanthrope. They have considerable strength and a thick hide, but a trained human can still overpower them. They can be hurt with regular ...
3
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4answers
111 views

Does echolocation work in these conditions?

The inhabitants of a small city carved into the side of a cliff are blind and use echolocation to navigate. There is a lot of empty space, around a kilometer of between the cliff side where the ...
2
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4answers
115 views

All mammals are now conscious and extremely intelligent. Why does a non-human mammal want to revert it? [closed]

History: Our expirements backfired. We tried to give a couple great apes consciousness intelligence, and sapience and we thought we failed and released them back into nature. Turns out, our ...
5
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6answers
252 views

How large could a population of supernatural beings be and still be plausibly hidden?

I am trying to figure out how large the population of supernatural beings can be in a stereotypical urban fantasy setting before their numbers stretch the suspension of disbelief. I.e., your standard ...
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17answers
3k views

How to find out if someone is guilty of adultery?

Cheaters are considered to be inferior humans with defective genes and just like mentally ill people and individuals born with various handicaps are eliminated from the gene pool. Capital punishment ...
15
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5answers
3k views

Would a city carved into a side of a ravine be plausible?

A small city, barely even one, that built everything at the side of cliffs to be protected from the strong winds above. Is something like it plausible? I can't seem to find examples of it outside of ...
4
votes
2answers
126 views

Would a blind city have windows? [closed]

I've made it so they have the ability to echolocate and for the main character, a person with sight, the lighting is odd because it only comes from fires that are a necessity for warmth, cooking or ...
1
vote
0answers
68 views

What would a blind civilization look like? [closed]

Blind humans basically, though they are more adept in echolocation. They're also not born blind, they just believe that sight stains our understanding of the world, that it is a curse that must be ...
1
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3answers
121 views

How can a hive mind society controlled by an alien destroy human civilization?

I want to create a story where an alien had the power to telepathcally control the collective choices of human society (example controling how we feel about certain events , morals and political ...
1
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2answers
185 views

How can an immortal emperor's descendants affect the rate of population growth?

In the ancient nation of R'lyeth, a carpenter named Yeshuah Targeryean walked into a desert to prepare for his ministry. During this time, he was visited by a tentacled monstrosity who promised him ...
3
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3answers
104 views

What would the population and financial requirements be to create a self-sustaining country based on UBI that could be apart of the global economy [closed]

If a mega rich individual wanted to test the validity of UBI (Universal Basic Income) in the most efficient way possible and how it integrates into a global modern economy, what would the population ...
2
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5answers
189 views

What would happen to transgender culture/identity if sex were trivially chanageable? [closed]

This is a specific followup to the question 'How would society be different in a world where sex/gender is trivially changable?': in a future (Human, earth) society where (like in the Culture novels), ...
4
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6answers
322 views

Would a civilization living on a planet without a moon still come up with the concept of months?

We divide the year into months of ~30 days because that’s roughly the period of the moon, adapted to fit a solar year. However, would a civilization living on a world with no moon but a year of ~365 ...

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