Natasha wrote:There simply are multiple valid conclusions from the data.
Yes.
But only one logical conclusion.
So a soldier trained to use high-technology isn't going to be issued high-technology for an assignment. That's not common sense.
No idea what you're saying here.
We are talking about a setting is based on an imaginary future that lacks groundwork. If we are to fall back on the current world when imaginary details are missing or need explanation, little makes sense when using that framework.
We are talking about a setting that is based in an imaginary future that has incomplete groundwork.
This does not mean that there is not enough information to work with.
Having land with resources in them doesn't mean you know how to extract them, process them, use them, or even that those resources are going to be industrially useful.
But when dealing with a futuristic society whose technology surpasses our own by a considerable degree, it's the way to bet.
Especially since the alternative is to assume that they got all their high-tech toys essentially out of nowhere.
Basically, there are two assumptions you can make.
You can assume that the CS has the technology to utilize the resources available, and that this is how they support themselves
OR
You can assume that even though the CH has the resources available, and they have the things that could theoretically be created using the resources, that the CS can NOT utilize the resources.
The first assumption makes sense.
The second does not.
Killer Cyborg wrote:Also, if the writings were random, there would be no discernible patterns, but there are.
Random writing is a discernible pattern.
It is a pattern that is discernibly not present.
Killer Cyborg wrote:The premise that is the foundation of knowledge frameworks: that the world is predictable. If the world doesn't fall in line with the frameworks of the real world, then nothing can be said about the ficitonal world using those frameworks.
Untrue.
The fictional world is not entirely predictable, but that doesn't mean that nothing can be said about it.
It can be said with certainty, for example, that the CS will not turn into a giant rune banana in the next book.
It can be said that the CS will not suddenly be equipped with SDC armor and weapons instead of the stuff that they already have.
It can be said that Lazlo will not suddenly be relocated to Mexico.
It can be said that the Xiticix will still be numerous when they make their next significant appearance.
LOTS of things can be said with certainty.
Lazlo could probably get rifted to Mexico, thus relocated.
It could.
But it won't.
Nevertheless, none of these assertions require a knowledge framework. Discussing what resources the CS has and how it is able to use them, however, does require a knowledge framework.
How are you defining "knowledge framework" here?
I did not say I know exactly how much research didn't go into the game. I said I have a good idea and it is not alot of research.
Okay, then give me your best idea how much.
Just a ballpark figure in minutes.
Killer Cyborg wrote:Mostly due to utter lack of foundational details.
I agree that there can be, and should be, more foundational details.
This does not mean that we don't have enough to form any conclusions.
This does not mean that we don't have more than one valid conclusion either.
I'll allow that there hypothetically might be other valid conclusions.
But we haven't heard any yet.
Besides, the other side of this discussion is rooted in an assumption that the conclusions are NOT valid- that no matter how you add it up, the CS doesn't have enough resources or ability to do the things that it does.
I assumed you knew the meaning of the words used.
And I did.
Otherwise, I couldn't really agree about them.
Killer Cyborg wrote:It's simple supply and demand. There's no reason to wander off in la la land here. What a market (especially a black market) will pay for a product does not reveal anything about the production cost of the product.
Sure it does, because it's simple supply and demand.
The cheaper and easier production, the simpler it is to meet demand, which in turn lowers price.
Except that the CS does not meet the demand of the Black Market. The CS tries to curtail the demand of the Black Market. It will try to prevent the Black Market's supply side but it cannot curtail production because its own demand side.
The cost of skelebots, though, matches the equivalent non-CS robot that is legal and/or away from CS territory in North America.
So we know that the CS's attempts to keep their merchandise away from the black market is not a significant factor.
Killer Cyborg wrote:What is the supply and demand curve of skelebots? If we ask any simpler of a question, we aren't even talking about economics anymore. If we aren't even talking about economics anymore, well, that's even sillier than using half-assed frameworks as if they offer anything other than what the author thinks would be cool to be.
We're not talking about economics. We're talking about fictional economics in a fictional world.
If that's silly, then isn't it just as silly to talk about any other fictional element?
And if it is, then why are you here?
It's not silly to talk about fictional elements. It's silly to argue from incomplete data as if it were complete. You said yourself it needs more detail but then you try to claim that you have enough detail to draw the one and only valid conclusion. That is what is silly.
I'll clarify for you:
The fictional world in general needs more detail.
The conversation at hand does not.