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Sam Baughn · 10-03-2020, 02:23 PM

A big issue is that we don't know what areas are going to be important in the future, because we aren't there yet. At a guess, for most people the 'standard' TL 9 (i.e. cyberpunk-ish world) is probably going to be defined by Computer Operation, Current Affairs and just maybe a very shallow understanding of science and medicine.

Maybe a better question might be, what would educating someone to a TL we actually know about look like? What would you need to teach a TL 5 person to get them to TL 8? There's practical things, like Driving and Computer Operation, obviously. But how much theoretical stuff is needed? How much does a normal TL 8 person actually know about the science which drives the world around them?

That's far from obvious. You might assume that people understand what atoms, molecules, and basic subatomic particles like electrons are in an abstract kind of way, which gives them some idea of how things like atomic power, neurotransmitters, and electricity work. But when you actually talk to normal people it soon becomes obvious that a lot of them don't know even really basic stuff, like whether electrons or molecules are smaller. Most of their 'knowledge' is kind of rote learning and association, not understanding. We don't really understand how our world works; we just know how to get things done and which experts to defer to most of the time.

EDIT: Having just checked the skill list, I only now noticed that Housekeeping isn't TL dependent. That seems really weird to me.

10-03-2020, 02:23 PM	#5
Sam Baughn Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and some other bits.	Re: The Skills that define a TL A big issue is that we don't know what areas are going to be important in the future, because we aren't there yet. At a guess, for most people the 'standard' TL 9 (i.e. cyberpunk-ish world) is probably going to be defined by Computer Operation, Current Affairs and just maybe a very shallow understanding of science and medicine. Maybe a better question might be, what would educating someone to a TL we actually know about look like? What would you need to teach a TL 5 person to get them to TL 8? There's practical things, like Driving and Computer Operation, obviously. But how much theoretical stuff is needed? How much does a normal TL 8 person actually know about the science which drives the world around them? That's far from obvious. You might assume that people understand what atoms, molecules, and basic subatomic particles like electrons are in an abstract kind of way, which gives them some idea of how things like atomic power, neurotransmitters, and electricity work. But when you actually talk to normal people it soon becomes obvious that a lot of them don't know even really basic stuff, like whether electrons or molecules are smaller. Most of their 'knowledge' is kind of rote learning and association, not understanding. We don't really understand how our world works; we just know how to get things done and which experts to defer to most of the time. EDIT: Having just checked the skill list, I only now noticed that Housekeeping isn't TL dependent. That seems really weird to me.