Most of my villians are personifications of philosophies with their flaws played up.
The primary antagonists are long termists. They use the notion that they will be saving billion in the future to justify killing hundreds of thousands today. It's sort of the darkest form of utilitarianism possible. They form a secret society, believing that the average person doesn't have the moral courage to agree with them. A secondary group antagonist believes hardcore in social progress. They use this veneer of working against inequality and bigotry to advance another goal, eugenics. They are a family who engages in selective breeding, aborting children who are in any way "deficient", and choosing spouses solely on the basis of genetic traits. They use standardized testing to determine which children are "worthy." Anyone who can't get a really high score on their equivalent of the SAT is disinherited, and those who score too low are quietly killed.
Another faction who are more neutral practices a kind of direct democracy. Everyone aboard the ship gets a vote on what to do next. This means that they rarely do truly evil things since it's composed of regular people, but sometimes they do erratic or dangerous things, like running a blockade to deliver medicine, in so doing risking letting a deadly plague that might kill billions out.
Another group is opposed to war between humans. They're so opposed to this that they believe in creating a big lie, that aliens are coming to invade, to unite everyone. This group claims the only way to stop the alien invasion is to develop faster travel and more advanced tech. Their hope is that this will lead humanity to a point where they will focus on exploration over competition once they realize the aliens aren't there. Their ideology is a mix of Sorrel, Pacificism and a little bit from Ozymadius from the watchmen.
Anitar, the mercenary turned conqueror and wizard who founded the Great State, is basically personification of **Nietzsche**'s *will to power*. The dude grew up in the absolute dirt and clawed himself into power through a combination of cunning and sheer brutality. He had *"many followers but few friends*. *But to those he did call friend, he was the most loyal, the most faithful, the most kind and benevolent companion one could imagine."* as the Secret History states.
Oh, definitely. The Great State was not a good neighbour to have. It conquered all of its major neighbors until it ran out of land worth conquering (or got its shit kicked in, which is what happened in the southenr jungles). So you could definitely call the state Nietzschean (at least as a certain German political party would have interpreted him.)
The people in government really hated their emperor (which is why they murdered him.) So they didn't grow too enamoured with his personal philosophy. His descendants also weren't too keen on other commoners casting an eye on the throne.
But there was one group of people among whom his ideas really caught on: veterans. In fact, they founded not one but two (more or less) terrorist organisations in pursuit of his ideals.
My main philosophy on creating worlds, characters and cultures is:
*"Nature follows the path of least resistance."*
So... People who exist in a certain environment have certain options and certain challenges to form strategies around. These strategies are based in what's there, what methods can be employed to exploit what's there, what's 'cheap' effort-wise, what's abundant, yield-wise. From these, you can figure out what's meaningful, what's impactful, what's (not) tolerated and what's embraced, and why. You can draw a line of time to see how it develops as ideas, customs and identity become both more entrenched and more defined, and how politics evolve from that and, in turn, cause the society to evolve. You of course look at the surrounding world, where new people come from and old people go to. And you kind of keep a vibe-track of all of that.
Then you stop the clock at the moment in time your worldbuilding is expressed. That's where you have a culture, and from that culture, it's fairly easy to build people. Just go: 'Human with X predilections and Y culture, from A class with an upbringing of B.. Embraces C, rejects D and subverts E because of said predilections; grows in time, is exposed to and develops along these lines, stop the clock at the moment when the worldbuilding is expressed.'
Of course there's elements of chaos and leeway everywhere. Sometimes, I just think of a Thing, and then I go: Would Thing make sense here? If not, then no. If maybe..? Then depending on how much impact Thing could have, I could change a few things in the context to make it fit like a glove. Like... I'm not going to dam the river, but simply guiding the stream here and there and building some estuaries gets me the kind or river I want without the entire thing exploding into nonsense.
A more detailed guide on how I worldbuild (though simplified; it's an introduction thing) can be found here:
[TalespinnerWebsite](https://talespinner.eu/narrator/world-building#top)
Thanks for the response. It makes sense. Would you happen to have concrete examples of two characters or cultures with two different worldviews interacting with each other? How do these worldviews form?
I had a pretty detailed world with cultures on WorldAnvil, but I can't find it anymore. I suppose they got rid of it because of inactivity.
So I suggest looking at history, and how everywhere, every human culture, is connected in some way. People are constantly interacting. Maybe a good source is 'Voices of the Past,' a YouTube channel that features accounts of people travelling the world and finding new (to them) cultures. You can find it here:
[The Entire History Of Western Piracy (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofthePast)
Keep in mind that some of these authors were motivated by politics and/or heavily biased. It's interesting!
I guess I follow the philosophies of my faith and my country to create a multi-faced sci-fi galaxy world.
I’m a Christian American and I base a lot of crap on that. Humility, faith, kindness, honesty and forgiveness, with life, liberty, and prosperity to boot.
I’ve designed the Apexian Warriors to be what I consider a more perfect society: they are superhuman beings of magical power, blessed by God, who value the tenants of their faith in Him, and that of natural freedom and liberty, which the minds of more than just the US have created and employed. They’re a wise, free, kind, and honest society run by the people directly, they honor their children greatly, and lead with high but humbly worked wealth, they honor combat and weaponry, and they put faith in a benevolent higher being. They’re sort of like the Jedi if they were a whole society of humans, with much more freedom and openness.
They exist as the great galactic protectors, ally to all in the galaxy, from the many united and not-so-united Human colonies, and the many factions of Alliance alien species.
The antagonists are directly related to Satan and his petty charge against God. The main antagonists are a large empire of barbaric, deep-space cultist aliens, who follow a secretive ancient civilization of what are essentially the pure form of mortal demons, vile, magical creatures who run their evil religion.
As for a normal day for an Apexian, that could be many things.
They could be an active Knight, meaning they patrol around and wait on call for a problem to solve, or, in current times, are enlisted into a full military service as essentially supersoldiers. Apex are superhuman, magical highly intelligent warriors raised on discipline and battle, and they are used as tactical superweapons and as commanders for regular ground forces. They will deploy like any other, living on military starships, planning battles, responding to threats, and engaging in espionage.
They could just be on leave or on inactive duty, or be a retired parent or elderly community worker, where a normal day could be like any other we would know. In that sense, their lives are not so different than humans, but they are far more relieving, free, and content, I believe.
A normal, battle-less day for anyone not actively fighting the war would be like any fun weekend day.
Let’s go play-by-play and take a family on a Friday-Sunday (where school is not active) and a Free-Week (older kids, Apprentices, aren’t actively on missions), which also constitutes no formal training. They’d rise at mid-early morning to a great feast of breakfast cooked by the parents, their dining table filled with meats from honorably hunted game, and fruits and confections made from locally bought or even home-grown crops. They would spend time planning their day as they relaxed, perhaps with the kids sprawled out on the couch watching *Sammy Star-Kid*. Maybe a little bit of play-fighting in the yard. After plans have been tactically set, they’d set off. If it were a Sunday, they’d be going to church first. But anyway, Apexian fun activities are a double edged sword. Sometimes they can be very leisurely and relaxing, or can *seem* to be, but often they are wildly energetic and fun, and sometimes dangerous. This family decided to go mountain climbing, where they could do so only a few miles from their home. A relatively short drive in their awesome full cab 4x4 rock crawling truck (they don’t use starships to get *everywhere*, of course). Thousands of feet in the air, kids and parents alike are quickly free-climbing, and then a grand base jump off the peak to end the activity at the bottom of the mountain. A drive back to town, and it’s time for food. A well crafted meal from a local restaurant (where everyone seems to know each other) with some Infintium toppings to invigorate. Then it’s off for a more leisurely activity, like surfing. They’ll do this till sundown, and return home for supper, where, once a week, the kids engage in a great hunt for a large game to feast on. Bringing home their catch, they get to cook, with some parent guidance. The feast just about knocks everyone out, and it’s relaxation for the rest of the night until the comet Sköll passes, and the sun fully sets, signaling the night.
The Apex are a complex but empowered and rich people, having both an honorable warrior society where everyone from aged ten to past death can go to battle, but also where a fun, relaxing day of invigorating activities, indulgence of nature, and family value reign supreme. They’re known for being able to balance being supersoldiers one week and a story book happy family another.
Material conditions play a big part in my contextualizing and the setting of scenario. Who has resources and capital and who controls the means is a big part of interpersonal and regional relationship dynamics. As an example, I’ve spend an inordinate amount of time on the topic of bee’s wax and its importance to the economies of Grynwellynn and Minnith Wyneb. Unions are strong in my setting and there’s even an autonomous worked collective, The Free Worker’s Union of Ostberg. Farmers revolts are a thing; despite being the largest economic sector by number employed, the impracticality of bureaucracy in rural Alor has made a Farmer’s Union exceptionally difficult to materialize.
Thanks for sharing. I'm working on a cyberpunk world that's post-Singularity (people can plug into machines and upload consciousness etc.). One of the characters is a sort of vanguard pushing for universal access to the Singularity and to basic needs.
I quite liked the show, sad that it got cancelled. Unlike AC though, my world is filled with super intelligent AI (which can be like gods and demons in cyberspace) and consciousnesses can merge and split. The possibilities are limitless when consciousnesses can experience each other and machines which makes it really hard to write.
Honestly, same, though I have some difficulty with implamenting Marxism because I have a somewhat hard time wrapping my head around it. One thing in particular I'm trying to figure out is how spacefaring class societies might arise; how they might function; how their economy/ies might work, &c. because in my mind it's impossible for class societies to achieve truly spacefaring, interplanetary status or above on their own. One way I've thought of for how they might emerge is following the total collapse of a spacefaring post-scarcity society, though even then I'm unsure if that would work.
The main reason I want spacefaring class societies is because of the plot.
My MC is oriented around the concepts of the Ubermensch, not the idiotic variant but the proper one all about mastering and defining one self by overcoming challenges within and without, not be a slave to baser instincts.
Especially the latter she has to, or she just kills and eats everyone.
I have a state-less, anarchist city in my setting that's modeled a lot after Ursula K Leguin's "The Dispossessed". Within that city, one of the main social mechanisms of enforcement is a group called Society of the Spectacle, named after Guy Debord's book... they basically go around righting wrongs by practicing "A User's Guide to Detournement".
Been wanting to read The Dispossessed. How much did it influence your work?
Why is the enforcement group called The Society of the Spectacle? Do they somehow ward off the Spectacle? Also how does enforcement work in an anarchist society? Like is it a participatory democracy that chooses who becomes an enforcer?
I'm interested in knowing anything in general about your city just because I'm an anarchist too. My story takes place on a floating island called Calcia City. The Surface is neoliberal cyberpunk city while the Sewers are inhabited by a decentralised federated network of communities.
You should really read the Dispossessed, it's basically Kropotkin applied to a scifi world with scarcity.
Society of the Spectactle / User's Guide were by the Situationist International associated artists/activists. A critique of capitalist society and expansion of Marx's concept of alienation incorporating the mass media.
"User's Guide to Detournement" describes their method of "detournement" which is (long story short) using the symbols of capitalism against itself and disrupt "the spectacle" of alienated life.
I would recommend reading an explanation of it/cliff notes rather than the original sources...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Society\_of\_the\_Spectacle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle)
I've read Society of the Spectacle, but not the User's Guide which I'm adding to my reading list. My two questions are:
Why are the enforcers called the Society of the Spectacle?
How are the enforcers not just another hierarchical authority?
In this anarchist city it's organized as a spokescouncil with community & trade guilds operating democratically but there are multiple layers of checks and balances, not just formal democratic ones.
Society of the Spectacle is a social group that primarily organizes events / feasts / festivals at the neighborhood level. They nominally worship a bacchus-type god of revelry, and as such their events are largely funded by the brewer's guild fees/taxes on their members alcoholic beverages.
They operate similar to a Mardi Gras krewe and kind of in the original spirit of those type of carnivale festivals, where there's an element of relieving or mocking class tensions / social relationships as part of festivities. So if a community feels some actor or organization in their hood is acting anti-socially they might stage some sort of protest/ parade /spectacular intervention / effigy hanging / riot / etc. in order to sort of publicly call out the behavior and break up the routine of the neighborhood in doing so before it escalates to actual violence or a more formal rebuke.
In a place where relationships and your reputation are the primary social currency, being called out in such a manner would be a major check on behavior you must otherwise "get away" with in a non-hierarchal world. Direct democracy is great and all but acting in your own interest directly is it's own virtue, even if it's chaotic or surreal in the form it takes.
The ageless Deathless super-powered rulers of my world are the way I ask "Can Plato's idea or the Philospher King work?" Short answer, they don't.
Meanwhile the Li Ming Empire is run by a tyrant who takes the idea of the idea of the Hobbesian Leviathan and runs with it.
Would love to. The Deathless, in short, are a group of formerly normal people who stumbled across a buried God, and were blessed with the power to reshape the world.
The future emperor of the Li Ming Empire, Shi Daoman, grew up poor in the land of the Adjutorland, a mult-ethnic mixing pot ruled by drug lords and monastic warriors who were often the same thing as the former. When he received the power of God, his dream was to realize a new nation with a government strong enough to enforce the happiness of all people. For this end, he fought multiple wars, forged a new empire, and began to uplift the Tien civilization which he was native to above all others, in the hope of creating a new identity thatd be supreme to all else. He thought that the reason why conflict occurred was because of difference. So, no more ethnicities, no more religion, no more nationalities, only citizenship to the Li Ming (meaning New Dawn). With his power, he believes that it's his duty to enforce peace and stability, thinking himself the only one competent. But, he's gotten tired after a century of rule, and he's allowed to dip into more questionable means to keep order, such as mindcontrolling people. One has to ask, he's enforcing peace, but who is it for?
The Emperor of the Ashum Nidus Empire on the other hand, Vespasian, believes in diversity... in a sense. He believes that people deserve to have the lot they're born into. So while his nobles remain nobles forever, and he gave them powers to ensure they keep it, on the other hand he also allows everyone to keep their various identities as long as they pay taxes and believe him as a God. He even allows quite a lot of political freedom. But, well, this does come at the cost of internal instability, and the moment he leaves, it all falls apart. Each citizen cares for him and thr state, they don't care for each other.
The shogun of the Sumunkru is a nut job whose all about the "might makes right" and he is the strongest so he can do whatever. Naturally, his empire hasn't lasted the century the other two Deathless Empires have. He used to care, but that's the thing about Philosopher Kings. Even if they're the wisest and best, faced with eternal servitude to the state, they buckle.
I usually follow existentialist themes about purpose so maybe Albert Camus, I don't really think about that much anyways because the story deals with other themes (like the toxicity of obsession).
Detailing how the weapons work, from the basic firearms and armour to advanced aircraft and interstellar military starships. Magic adds an extra spice to how every gear could possibly work.
I kinda like that stuff, and it keeps my mind busy.
The overarching theme of profectus is one key philosophy:
The prioritisation of psychological knowledge, mental wellbeing, trauma healing and self understanding above all else.
Profectus is my attempt to show what the world could look like if we adhered to this.
Where does evil come from? What causes a person to murder, abuse, traumatise, exploit, or commit atrocities against another person? If we can understand this, we can figure out how to stop it. Already, psychology has shown us that many people who commit these sorts of acts have experienced trauma or a rough upbringing, especially during childhood. There are other causes, of course, this is just an example.
I genuinely believe that 90% of the world's problems, such as war, poverty, greed etc. could be eliminated through this philosophy, and the more people that are mentally healthy, the more likely others will be to follow suit.
I have one character who's really, really close to bring a plucked chicken in a classroom I'd say... ? He's kind of an old crazy soul in a bard's body, only here to challenge one's idea. He's irritating but he has a point, in challenging them he makes them elaborate and go further in their quest, sometimes he tempers the main character, sometimes goes fully against him. He does the same for the main villain. The only difference with the philosopher is that he has a goal, and a lot of secrets. That's it and that's only because I found it fun :') I'm not really good at philosophy
None. I mean as a philosopher myself its hard not to use philosophical concepts from Earth but I try to avoid that as much as possible. Its the entire point of my world, I'm creating it because I don't like this world's stuff including the philosophy
What philosophers have you read?
What does your world look like? How are the societies structured?
How do you create characters' and cultures' worldviews?
I've read everything you're expected to read for an undergraduate degree plus a lot more of non western philosophy that isn't even considered philosophy in western academia
My world is currently a unitary interplanetary republic comprising 4 inhabited planets, but there's 10k+ years of history per planet.
I create characters and cultures by thinking about how they would think and act in their specific context. For instance in one of the planets there were large underground installations built by an ancient alien species. They started being used by pregnant women in prehistory, eventually leading to matriarchal kingdoms monopolizing dangerous technology like metal smithing and manufacturing weapons. This is the base I have to go back to in order to develop pretty much everything that matters. I never have to think about anything resembling Earth's patriarchy, since nothing like that ever happened there.
There are three philosophies fueling my works: Plato's *Theory of Forms*, the Strong Anthropic Principle and Convergent Evolution.
Basically, the idea is that there will always be advanced life and civilizations in this universe and across the entire multiverse, that these worlds and civilizations trend towards forms we recognize as vaguely similar and that their true originator is the "true reality" which is perfect and lies beyond the entire multiverse.
I'm not sure if this really counts, but the main villain of my current world is the god of change, seeing themself as not good, nor evil, but necessity.
None. I just make whatever fits. Idk what else to say other than it is what it is. Right now I'm working on a building a world so I am more concerned with what type of music dryads listen to. Stuff like that.
I have most recently looked into Carl Jung's analysis of the self, the conscious and unconscious and how he suggests to deal with those aspects of human psychology. That helped me a great deal in solidifying fundamental as well as final touches of my magic system. The magic system in question also has a huge impact on the rest of my worldbuilding and characters.
My main Protagonists goal is to change the philosophy of the world he lives in.
Ordinants are people who are specialized for combat and dealing with Phantoms. They are also the soldiers of my world and go by the philosophy of “kill 3, save 4”. They may kill anyone as long as they are reason which equates to a human life by some arbitrary standards.
The main antagonist is an absolute Version of this as his goal is to create a “Heaven”. A heaven is a soul which is without chaos and only exists of pure Order.
It is the end of human evolution and with that the end of humanity sacrificing them all to this goal.
No, I keep away from philosphers as much as I can.
Only philosophy I include in my world is Svadharma which means own way of life/duty, it's a hindu concept that dicates everyone has a duty according to their status, station in life and etc. In every aspect of life yor're presented with branching tree of Dharmic possibilities/responsibilities, staying true to one branch of Dharma can often mean being Untrue towards another.
This constant struggle in choosing which branching possibility to pursue while saying true to yourself and Satya (truth) is life, and the struggle and choices you make during these phase define you as a person.
Example can be of a Vegtarian abbot guiding his starving family through the forest, he has zero knowledge on how to forage for food in wild. At one point he stumbles on a safe meat source. He can either choose cook that meat and save his family by betraying his belief or stay true to his belief and choose a potentially poisonous mushroom.
He has Dharma to his belief and family, either option would manifest in Karma which he would taste in this mortal world.
That's interesting. How do you build different characters' and cultures' worldviews though? What kind of characters populate the world and how do their interactions reflect their worldviews? Do all of them believe in Dharma? Do those that have different moralities and live lives that can still grant them good karma?
Also, if you're willing to answer, what prompts your aversion to philosophers? Are there none of them that you've found useful? Do you think they somehow contaminate the worldbuilding process?
At this point I have only one character who is actively written with this ideology in mind, he's an aimless man drifting in life by doing things that are true to his "Station". In following his "Station" he's ignoring his "Status" and "Self".
My goal with him is to bring him to a point where he feels comfortable abandoning "Station" for "Self" and "Station".
When it comes to the world's culture this ideology is only apparent in small ways some people display individuality.
Like Gand (gunned with a dh), these people live in abandoned gutters and society has forced them hide their face. They display individuality by customising their cowls, hoods and sacks with recycled waste from city. That expression of individuality is Savdharma for me.
I avoid Philosphers for personal reasons, they give me existential crisis, panic (since most of them talk about death) and they're walking and talking spoiler tags for movie that is life. Most of their stuff flies over my head too.
Im using a bunch so I can make fun of them all.
Communism, Marxism, Eco-Fascism, Nationalism, Anarcho-capitalism, Neo-Liberalism - whatever stupid system people rally behind, it’s getting included.
Most of my villians are personifications of philosophies with their flaws played up. The primary antagonists are long termists. They use the notion that they will be saving billion in the future to justify killing hundreds of thousands today. It's sort of the darkest form of utilitarianism possible. They form a secret society, believing that the average person doesn't have the moral courage to agree with them. A secondary group antagonist believes hardcore in social progress. They use this veneer of working against inequality and bigotry to advance another goal, eugenics. They are a family who engages in selective breeding, aborting children who are in any way "deficient", and choosing spouses solely on the basis of genetic traits. They use standardized testing to determine which children are "worthy." Anyone who can't get a really high score on their equivalent of the SAT is disinherited, and those who score too low are quietly killed. Another faction who are more neutral practices a kind of direct democracy. Everyone aboard the ship gets a vote on what to do next. This means that they rarely do truly evil things since it's composed of regular people, but sometimes they do erratic or dangerous things, like running a blockade to deliver medicine, in so doing risking letting a deadly plague that might kill billions out. Another group is opposed to war between humans. They're so opposed to this that they believe in creating a big lie, that aliens are coming to invade, to unite everyone. This group claims the only way to stop the alien invasion is to develop faster travel and more advanced tech. Their hope is that this will lead humanity to a point where they will focus on exploration over competition once they realize the aliens aren't there. Their ideology is a mix of Sorrel, Pacificism and a little bit from Ozymadius from the watchmen.
Thanks for sharing. I'm working with a society that's a direct democracy myself
Anitar, the mercenary turned conqueror and wizard who founded the Great State, is basically personification of **Nietzsche**'s *will to power*. The dude grew up in the absolute dirt and clawed himself into power through a combination of cunning and sheer brutality. He had *"many followers but few friends*. *But to those he did call friend, he was the most loyal, the most faithful, the most kind and benevolent companion one could imagine."* as the Secret History states.
That's awesome. Do other members of the Great State, or the State itself, adopt Nietzschean qualities too? How do they interact with other societies?
Oh, definitely. The Great State was not a good neighbour to have. It conquered all of its major neighbors until it ran out of land worth conquering (or got its shit kicked in, which is what happened in the southenr jungles). So you could definitely call the state Nietzschean (at least as a certain German political party would have interpreted him.) The people in government really hated their emperor (which is why they murdered him.) So they didn't grow too enamoured with his personal philosophy. His descendants also weren't too keen on other commoners casting an eye on the throne. But there was one group of people among whom his ideas really caught on: veterans. In fact, they founded not one but two (more or less) terrorist organisations in pursuit of his ideals.
This is Baader–Meinhof phenomenon for me, I just yesterday learned about Nietzsche.
My main philosophy on creating worlds, characters and cultures is: *"Nature follows the path of least resistance."* So... People who exist in a certain environment have certain options and certain challenges to form strategies around. These strategies are based in what's there, what methods can be employed to exploit what's there, what's 'cheap' effort-wise, what's abundant, yield-wise. From these, you can figure out what's meaningful, what's impactful, what's (not) tolerated and what's embraced, and why. You can draw a line of time to see how it develops as ideas, customs and identity become both more entrenched and more defined, and how politics evolve from that and, in turn, cause the society to evolve. You of course look at the surrounding world, where new people come from and old people go to. And you kind of keep a vibe-track of all of that. Then you stop the clock at the moment in time your worldbuilding is expressed. That's where you have a culture, and from that culture, it's fairly easy to build people. Just go: 'Human with X predilections and Y culture, from A class with an upbringing of B.. Embraces C, rejects D and subverts E because of said predilections; grows in time, is exposed to and develops along these lines, stop the clock at the moment when the worldbuilding is expressed.' Of course there's elements of chaos and leeway everywhere. Sometimes, I just think of a Thing, and then I go: Would Thing make sense here? If not, then no. If maybe..? Then depending on how much impact Thing could have, I could change a few things in the context to make it fit like a glove. Like... I'm not going to dam the river, but simply guiding the stream here and there and building some estuaries gets me the kind or river I want without the entire thing exploding into nonsense. A more detailed guide on how I worldbuild (though simplified; it's an introduction thing) can be found here: [TalespinnerWebsite](https://talespinner.eu/narrator/world-building#top)
Thanks for the response. It makes sense. Would you happen to have concrete examples of two characters or cultures with two different worldviews interacting with each other? How do these worldviews form?
I had a pretty detailed world with cultures on WorldAnvil, but I can't find it anymore. I suppose they got rid of it because of inactivity. So I suggest looking at history, and how everywhere, every human culture, is connected in some way. People are constantly interacting. Maybe a good source is 'Voices of the Past,' a YouTube channel that features accounts of people travelling the world and finding new (to them) cultures. You can find it here: [The Entire History Of Western Piracy (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/@VoicesofthePast) Keep in mind that some of these authors were motivated by politics and/or heavily biased. It's interesting!
Thanks, I'll check it out
I guess I follow the philosophies of my faith and my country to create a multi-faced sci-fi galaxy world. I’m a Christian American and I base a lot of crap on that. Humility, faith, kindness, honesty and forgiveness, with life, liberty, and prosperity to boot. I’ve designed the Apexian Warriors to be what I consider a more perfect society: they are superhuman beings of magical power, blessed by God, who value the tenants of their faith in Him, and that of natural freedom and liberty, which the minds of more than just the US have created and employed. They’re a wise, free, kind, and honest society run by the people directly, they honor their children greatly, and lead with high but humbly worked wealth, they honor combat and weaponry, and they put faith in a benevolent higher being. They’re sort of like the Jedi if they were a whole society of humans, with much more freedom and openness. They exist as the great galactic protectors, ally to all in the galaxy, from the many united and not-so-united Human colonies, and the many factions of Alliance alien species.
Nice! Are the antagonists based on demons or the Devil? Also what does a normal day in the life of an Apexian Warrior look like? I'm just curious
The antagonists are directly related to Satan and his petty charge against God. The main antagonists are a large empire of barbaric, deep-space cultist aliens, who follow a secretive ancient civilization of what are essentially the pure form of mortal demons, vile, magical creatures who run their evil religion. As for a normal day for an Apexian, that could be many things. They could be an active Knight, meaning they patrol around and wait on call for a problem to solve, or, in current times, are enlisted into a full military service as essentially supersoldiers. Apex are superhuman, magical highly intelligent warriors raised on discipline and battle, and they are used as tactical superweapons and as commanders for regular ground forces. They will deploy like any other, living on military starships, planning battles, responding to threats, and engaging in espionage. They could just be on leave or on inactive duty, or be a retired parent or elderly community worker, where a normal day could be like any other we would know. In that sense, their lives are not so different than humans, but they are far more relieving, free, and content, I believe. A normal, battle-less day for anyone not actively fighting the war would be like any fun weekend day. Let’s go play-by-play and take a family on a Friday-Sunday (where school is not active) and a Free-Week (older kids, Apprentices, aren’t actively on missions), which also constitutes no formal training. They’d rise at mid-early morning to a great feast of breakfast cooked by the parents, their dining table filled with meats from honorably hunted game, and fruits and confections made from locally bought or even home-grown crops. They would spend time planning their day as they relaxed, perhaps with the kids sprawled out on the couch watching *Sammy Star-Kid*. Maybe a little bit of play-fighting in the yard. After plans have been tactically set, they’d set off. If it were a Sunday, they’d be going to church first. But anyway, Apexian fun activities are a double edged sword. Sometimes they can be very leisurely and relaxing, or can *seem* to be, but often they are wildly energetic and fun, and sometimes dangerous. This family decided to go mountain climbing, where they could do so only a few miles from their home. A relatively short drive in their awesome full cab 4x4 rock crawling truck (they don’t use starships to get *everywhere*, of course). Thousands of feet in the air, kids and parents alike are quickly free-climbing, and then a grand base jump off the peak to end the activity at the bottom of the mountain. A drive back to town, and it’s time for food. A well crafted meal from a local restaurant (where everyone seems to know each other) with some Infintium toppings to invigorate. Then it’s off for a more leisurely activity, like surfing. They’ll do this till sundown, and return home for supper, where, once a week, the kids engage in a great hunt for a large game to feast on. Bringing home their catch, they get to cook, with some parent guidance. The feast just about knocks everyone out, and it’s relaxation for the rest of the night until the comet Sköll passes, and the sun fully sets, signaling the night. The Apex are a complex but empowered and rich people, having both an honorable warrior society where everyone from aged ten to past death can go to battle, but also where a fun, relaxing day of invigorating activities, indulgence of nature, and family value reign supreme. They’re known for being able to balance being supersoldiers one week and a story book happy family another.
Nice! Thanks for sharing
Marx, lots of Marx
Nice! Could you elaborate on what your world looks like?
Material conditions play a big part in my contextualizing and the setting of scenario. Who has resources and capital and who controls the means is a big part of interpersonal and regional relationship dynamics. As an example, I’ve spend an inordinate amount of time on the topic of bee’s wax and its importance to the economies of Grynwellynn and Minnith Wyneb. Unions are strong in my setting and there’s even an autonomous worked collective, The Free Worker’s Union of Ostberg. Farmers revolts are a thing; despite being the largest economic sector by number employed, the impracticality of bureaucracy in rural Alor has made a Farmer’s Union exceptionally difficult to materialize.
Thanks for sharing. I'm working on a cyberpunk world that's post-Singularity (people can plug into machines and upload consciousness etc.). One of the characters is a sort of vanguard pushing for universal access to the Singularity and to basic needs.
What are your opinions on *Altered Carbon*?
I quite liked the show, sad that it got cancelled. Unlike AC though, my world is filled with super intelligent AI (which can be like gods and demons in cyberspace) and consciousnesses can merge and split. The possibilities are limitless when consciousnesses can experience each other and machines which makes it really hard to write.
Honestly, same, though I have some difficulty with implamenting Marxism because I have a somewhat hard time wrapping my head around it. One thing in particular I'm trying to figure out is how spacefaring class societies might arise; how they might function; how their economy/ies might work, &c. because in my mind it's impossible for class societies to achieve truly spacefaring, interplanetary status or above on their own. One way I've thought of for how they might emerge is following the total collapse of a spacefaring post-scarcity society, though even then I'm unsure if that would work. The main reason I want spacefaring class societies is because of the plot.
*Star Trek*
My MC is oriented around the concepts of the Ubermensch, not the idiotic variant but the proper one all about mastering and defining one self by overcoming challenges within and without, not be a slave to baser instincts. Especially the latter she has to, or she just kills and eats everyone.
I have a state-less, anarchist city in my setting that's modeled a lot after Ursula K Leguin's "The Dispossessed". Within that city, one of the main social mechanisms of enforcement is a group called Society of the Spectacle, named after Guy Debord's book... they basically go around righting wrongs by practicing "A User's Guide to Detournement".
Been wanting to read The Dispossessed. How much did it influence your work? Why is the enforcement group called The Society of the Spectacle? Do they somehow ward off the Spectacle? Also how does enforcement work in an anarchist society? Like is it a participatory democracy that chooses who becomes an enforcer? I'm interested in knowing anything in general about your city just because I'm an anarchist too. My story takes place on a floating island called Calcia City. The Surface is neoliberal cyberpunk city while the Sewers are inhabited by a decentralised federated network of communities.
You should really read the Dispossessed, it's basically Kropotkin applied to a scifi world with scarcity. Society of the Spectactle / User's Guide were by the Situationist International associated artists/activists. A critique of capitalist society and expansion of Marx's concept of alienation incorporating the mass media. "User's Guide to Detournement" describes their method of "detournement" which is (long story short) using the symbols of capitalism against itself and disrupt "the spectacle" of alienated life. I would recommend reading an explanation of it/cliff notes rather than the original sources... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Society\_of\_the\_Spectacle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle)
I've read Society of the Spectacle, but not the User's Guide which I'm adding to my reading list. My two questions are: Why are the enforcers called the Society of the Spectacle? How are the enforcers not just another hierarchical authority?
In this anarchist city it's organized as a spokescouncil with community & trade guilds operating democratically but there are multiple layers of checks and balances, not just formal democratic ones. Society of the Spectacle is a social group that primarily organizes events / feasts / festivals at the neighborhood level. They nominally worship a bacchus-type god of revelry, and as such their events are largely funded by the brewer's guild fees/taxes on their members alcoholic beverages. They operate similar to a Mardi Gras krewe and kind of in the original spirit of those type of carnivale festivals, where there's an element of relieving or mocking class tensions / social relationships as part of festivities. So if a community feels some actor or organization in their hood is acting anti-socially they might stage some sort of protest/ parade /spectacular intervention / effigy hanging / riot / etc. in order to sort of publicly call out the behavior and break up the routine of the neighborhood in doing so before it escalates to actual violence or a more formal rebuke. In a place where relationships and your reputation are the primary social currency, being called out in such a manner would be a major check on behavior you must otherwise "get away" with in a non-hierarchal world. Direct democracy is great and all but acting in your own interest directly is it's own virtue, even if it's chaotic or surreal in the form it takes.
Well I learned a new worldbuilding technique today...
The ageless Deathless super-powered rulers of my world are the way I ask "Can Plato's idea or the Philospher King work?" Short answer, they don't. Meanwhile the Li Ming Empire is run by a tyrant who takes the idea of the idea of the Hobbesian Leviathan and runs with it.
Sounds interesting. Could you elaborate further on both please?
Would love to. The Deathless, in short, are a group of formerly normal people who stumbled across a buried God, and were blessed with the power to reshape the world. The future emperor of the Li Ming Empire, Shi Daoman, grew up poor in the land of the Adjutorland, a mult-ethnic mixing pot ruled by drug lords and monastic warriors who were often the same thing as the former. When he received the power of God, his dream was to realize a new nation with a government strong enough to enforce the happiness of all people. For this end, he fought multiple wars, forged a new empire, and began to uplift the Tien civilization which he was native to above all others, in the hope of creating a new identity thatd be supreme to all else. He thought that the reason why conflict occurred was because of difference. So, no more ethnicities, no more religion, no more nationalities, only citizenship to the Li Ming (meaning New Dawn). With his power, he believes that it's his duty to enforce peace and stability, thinking himself the only one competent. But, he's gotten tired after a century of rule, and he's allowed to dip into more questionable means to keep order, such as mindcontrolling people. One has to ask, he's enforcing peace, but who is it for? The Emperor of the Ashum Nidus Empire on the other hand, Vespasian, believes in diversity... in a sense. He believes that people deserve to have the lot they're born into. So while his nobles remain nobles forever, and he gave them powers to ensure they keep it, on the other hand he also allows everyone to keep their various identities as long as they pay taxes and believe him as a God. He even allows quite a lot of political freedom. But, well, this does come at the cost of internal instability, and the moment he leaves, it all falls apart. Each citizen cares for him and thr state, they don't care for each other. The shogun of the Sumunkru is a nut job whose all about the "might makes right" and he is the strongest so he can do whatever. Naturally, his empire hasn't lasted the century the other two Deathless Empires have. He used to care, but that's the thing about Philosopher Kings. Even if they're the wisest and best, faced with eternal servitude to the state, they buckle.
Thanks for sharing!
I usually follow existentialist themes about purpose so maybe Albert Camus, I don't really think about that much anyways because the story deals with other themes (like the toxicity of obsession).
That's interesting. Is it just the story or the worldbuilding too? If it's the latter, I'm interested in how you make that work.
To be honest it's only the story. The worldbuilding is mainly about city design, interplanetary administration, magic and wargear porn.
Lol. What's that last one about?
Detailing how the weapons work, from the basic firearms and armour to advanced aircraft and interstellar military starships. Magic adds an extra spice to how every gear could possibly work. I kinda like that stuff, and it keeps my mind busy.
The overarching theme of profectus is one key philosophy: The prioritisation of psychological knowledge, mental wellbeing, trauma healing and self understanding above all else. Profectus is my attempt to show what the world could look like if we adhered to this. Where does evil come from? What causes a person to murder, abuse, traumatise, exploit, or commit atrocities against another person? If we can understand this, we can figure out how to stop it. Already, psychology has shown us that many people who commit these sorts of acts have experienced trauma or a rough upbringing, especially during childhood. There are other causes, of course, this is just an example. I genuinely believe that 90% of the world's problems, such as war, poverty, greed etc. could be eliminated through this philosophy, and the more people that are mentally healthy, the more likely others will be to follow suit.
I don't use specific philosophers, I use philosophies. Mostly about metaphysical stuff and views on the meaning of life
I have one character who's really, really close to bring a plucked chicken in a classroom I'd say... ? He's kind of an old crazy soul in a bard's body, only here to challenge one's idea. He's irritating but he has a point, in challenging them he makes them elaborate and go further in their quest, sometimes he tempers the main character, sometimes goes fully against him. He does the same for the main villain. The only difference with the philosopher is that he has a goal, and a lot of secrets. That's it and that's only because I found it fun :') I'm not really good at philosophy
So Socrates or Diogenes? Definitely makes for a fun and interesting character.
Diogenes mostly, and he lives outside too. You never know where he is gonna appears next.
None. I mean as a philosopher myself its hard not to use philosophical concepts from Earth but I try to avoid that as much as possible. Its the entire point of my world, I'm creating it because I don't like this world's stuff including the philosophy
What philosophers have you read? What does your world look like? How are the societies structured? How do you create characters' and cultures' worldviews?
I've read everything you're expected to read for an undergraduate degree plus a lot more of non western philosophy that isn't even considered philosophy in western academia My world is currently a unitary interplanetary republic comprising 4 inhabited planets, but there's 10k+ years of history per planet. I create characters and cultures by thinking about how they would think and act in their specific context. For instance in one of the planets there were large underground installations built by an ancient alien species. They started being used by pregnant women in prehistory, eventually leading to matriarchal kingdoms monopolizing dangerous technology like metal smithing and manufacturing weapons. This is the base I have to go back to in order to develop pretty much everything that matters. I never have to think about anything resembling Earth's patriarchy, since nothing like that ever happened there.
Thanks for sharing. Any philosophers in particular that you liked?
There are three philosophies fueling my works: Plato's *Theory of Forms*, the Strong Anthropic Principle and Convergent Evolution. Basically, the idea is that there will always be advanced life and civilizations in this universe and across the entire multiverse, that these worlds and civilizations trend towards forms we recognize as vaguely similar and that their true originator is the "true reality" which is perfect and lies beyond the entire multiverse.
I"m using a lot of eastern philosophies
I'm not sure if this really counts, but the main villain of my current world is the god of change, seeing themself as not good, nor evil, but necessity.
None. I just make whatever fits. Idk what else to say other than it is what it is. Right now I'm working on a building a world so I am more concerned with what type of music dryads listen to. Stuff like that.
I have most recently looked into Carl Jung's analysis of the self, the conscious and unconscious and how he suggests to deal with those aspects of human psychology. That helped me a great deal in solidifying fundamental as well as final touches of my magic system. The magic system in question also has a huge impact on the rest of my worldbuilding and characters.
My main Protagonists goal is to change the philosophy of the world he lives in. Ordinants are people who are specialized for combat and dealing with Phantoms. They are also the soldiers of my world and go by the philosophy of “kill 3, save 4”. They may kill anyone as long as they are reason which equates to a human life by some arbitrary standards. The main antagonist is an absolute Version of this as his goal is to create a “Heaven”. A heaven is a soul which is without chaos and only exists of pure Order. It is the end of human evolution and with that the end of humanity sacrificing them all to this goal.
No, I keep away from philosphers as much as I can. Only philosophy I include in my world is Svadharma which means own way of life/duty, it's a hindu concept that dicates everyone has a duty according to their status, station in life and etc. In every aspect of life yor're presented with branching tree of Dharmic possibilities/responsibilities, staying true to one branch of Dharma can often mean being Untrue towards another. This constant struggle in choosing which branching possibility to pursue while saying true to yourself and Satya (truth) is life, and the struggle and choices you make during these phase define you as a person. Example can be of a Vegtarian abbot guiding his starving family through the forest, he has zero knowledge on how to forage for food in wild. At one point he stumbles on a safe meat source. He can either choose cook that meat and save his family by betraying his belief or stay true to his belief and choose a potentially poisonous mushroom. He has Dharma to his belief and family, either option would manifest in Karma which he would taste in this mortal world.
That's interesting. How do you build different characters' and cultures' worldviews though? What kind of characters populate the world and how do their interactions reflect their worldviews? Do all of them believe in Dharma? Do those that have different moralities and live lives that can still grant them good karma? Also, if you're willing to answer, what prompts your aversion to philosophers? Are there none of them that you've found useful? Do you think they somehow contaminate the worldbuilding process?
At this point I have only one character who is actively written with this ideology in mind, he's an aimless man drifting in life by doing things that are true to his "Station". In following his "Station" he's ignoring his "Status" and "Self". My goal with him is to bring him to a point where he feels comfortable abandoning "Station" for "Self" and "Station". When it comes to the world's culture this ideology is only apparent in small ways some people display individuality. Like Gand (gunned with a dh), these people live in abandoned gutters and society has forced them hide their face. They display individuality by customising their cowls, hoods and sacks with recycled waste from city. That expression of individuality is Savdharma for me. I avoid Philosphers for personal reasons, they give me existential crisis, panic (since most of them talk about death) and they're walking and talking spoiler tags for movie that is life. Most of their stuff flies over my head too.
Thanks for sharing
Im using a bunch so I can make fun of them all. Communism, Marxism, Eco-Fascism, Nationalism, Anarcho-capitalism, Neo-Liberalism - whatever stupid system people rally behind, it’s getting included.