[MUD-Dev] Persistent Worlds

[J C Lawrence]

On Sat, 17 Feb 2001 23:42:30 +0000 (GMT) 
the logos <the_logos at www.achaea.com> wrote:

> On Sat, 17 Feb 2001, J C Lawrence wrote:

>> *doesn't* occur in a given world is fairly easy.  Dragons, magic,
>> fairy dust, angels, Cthulhu, reincarnation and pshycic phenomena
>> can also be wrapped in both self and externally consistant
>> frameworks, even for a hard science simulation model which looks
>> to build something which doesn't violate current scientific
>> knowledge.

> I'd certainly be curious to know how dragons don't violate current
> scientific knowledge. 

Several SF authors have postulated the necessary biochem to support
dragon-like creatures (ie flying lizards that breath fire).
Typically I recally this involving low-grav planets, silicate
chemistry (versus carbon), short life spans, and rather than direct
fire-breathing, being much closer to spitting flaming liquids (cf
bombadier beetles) which combust outside of the creature (again,
compare several insects)..

> Likewise with, say, reincarnation.

The main attacks on reincarnation is conservation of energy, Occam's
razor, and lack of verifiably observed evidence.  I'm not aware of
any explicit violation of currently postulated principles, if only
for the fact that most conceptions of the "soul" don't intersect
physical reality much outside of questions of identity.

--
J C Lawrence                                       claw at kanga.nu
---------(*)                          http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/
--=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--
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