The first major point is to consider is what is being fought over and why. To summarize, Spacedock’s argument is that planetary invasions would never happen because the firepower advantage of an orbiting hostile fleet in any science fiction setting is so great that any planet would be forced to surrender and that consequently science-fiction armies would be minimal mostly-all-infantry garrison forces.Īnd that makes some assumptions about the effectiveness of aerial (or orbital, in this case) firepower which are worth digging into. I very much wanted one my wife moved heaven and earth to make sure I’d have mine in time for my Ph.D graduation (there having been a problem with the supplier), quod ea optima uxorum est.įor my musing this week, I actually want to muse about this video and the points that it raises, particularly because I think the video’s creator, Spacedock, has gotten firepower wrong in a very common way. Few of my colleagues could.įun story, while we’re here – when I graduated high school, a couple of my teachers (who had Ph.Ds) attended the graduation ceremony in their academic regalia, which included the academic tam (that floppy hat I’ve got on) my nerdy friends and I were entrancedby the fact that they got to wear something other than the silly mortarboards we and everyone else was stuck with. They are, in fact, hideously expensive – had I been surviving on my stipend and teaching income alone, I would certainly have been unable to afford them. I should also note that is not my trebuchet it also belongs to my better half.Īs an aside, no we do not get these fancy academic gowns for free on earning a Ph.D. Otherwise… The Pedant looking stern in his academic regalia (so kindly purchased by his better half as a graduation gift) and showing that the best dissertation defense is, in fact, a good dissertation offense. So far, it looks like everyone has comported themselves well enough please continue to do so. My rule of thumb is that if I wouldn’t allow it in a classroom discussion, I won’t allow it in the comments. That said, just to make sure it’s clear going forward: there will be no ad hominem attacks, harassment, flame wars, or anything of that sort in the comments. Everyone is wrong from time to time, even me. Yes, there are bad-faith arguers out there (fewer, though, than is sometimes supposed), but for the most part, we’re discussing these things in good faith and we should lend each other the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone writes in the guarded sort of academic style that is designed to be read by a hostile or at least sharply critical audience and so when we read our fellow commenters (or fellow citizens, or fellow humans) it is important to read from that place of charity. I appreciate that, insofar as I have seen, everyone has remained civil (thank you I don’t particularly want to have to wield the moderation powers, but I will if I must), but I did notice some rising temperatures, so I want to reiterate the importance of reading with charity. The last two posts have produced some contentious debates in the comments. I hope that will be interesting both from a historical perspective, but also for all of you fiction-writers and game-masters interested in historical world-building.īefore we dive into the musing, I do want to address the comments a bit. My plan for that is to start with agriculture, textile production and iron-working (not necessarily in that order). I am working currently on (among other things) getting the “How They Made It” post series started up those will be a set of post-series detailing how pre-modern societies made all of the stuff they had, with a special focus on the people who did the making, with the hope of – by slowly but surely accumulating workers – drawing a more complex and real image of what an ancient or medieval society might look like. Hey folks! Fireside this week musing on a rather silly topic: the practicality of planetary invasions in a science fiction setting.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |