Generation Ships

[Sindri]

What would a generation ship with enough population and resources to maintain a TL 8 society and some left over focus it's technological advancement on?

A generation ship is the ultimate hydraulic state so what sort of repercussions would there be politically? What sort of economy would there be?

What would the society focus it's energy on? How do you keep people from getting bored or crazy?

[Flyndaran]

Why only TL 8? That's much lower than the TL required to make and launch a generation ship.
I imagine you might want to look at small island populations.
But small towns survived boredom with the ever popular booze and sex. To avoid overpopulation and drunken space brawls, you could promote the hell out of games.

[Sindri]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Why only TL 8? That's much lower than the TL required to make and launch a generation ship.
I imagine you might want to look at small island populations.
But small towns survived boredom with the ever popular booze and sex. To avoid overpopulation and drunken space brawls, you could promote the hell out of games.

I don't think there is anything that keeps TL 8 from doing a generation ship but alright suppose whatever TL you desire. The question is, what kind of technological areas would be a priority for a generation ship?

For a population recruited from the modern world it seems like there would be more difficulties in a generation ship where you have more limited ability to travel than a town where you can visit a nearby city periodically or change towns combined with dislocation from their native planet and the stress involved with living in a ship that you depend on to live and that if something goes wrong no one can save you. That said games can probably help a lot.

[vicky_molokh]

I'm not sure the technological advancement is your prime concern. For me, the most puzzling question was what sort of proportion of various professions and workplaces is required for a reasonably stable canned society.

[Flyndaran]

Very tight selection of inhabitants can easily shape the micro society. Heck, agoraphobes might even like the idea.

Repair facilities and robust training for nearly everyone to know how to deal with breakdowns from aging equipment. Genetic engineering facilities to deal with small population bottle necking.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

But small towns survived boredom with the ever popular booze and sex. To avoid overpopulation and drunken space brawls, you could promote the hell out of games.

Sex: If they're firing those poor bastards off into space in a closed habitat with limited food supplies and no means of birth control reliable enough to keep the population exactly where they want it, no amount of WoW is going to keep things from getting ugly pretty fast...

Booze: If this bird is really TL8 (suspending disbelief for the sake of discussion), it's going to be pretty fragile to careless mishaps and everybody needs to be on their game 24/7. If I was writing the rules, they'd read like: "Possession gets you days in solitary equal to all cumulative offenses, per offense. Building and operating a still (without a permit for industrial uses) gets you spaced. No judge. No trial. Spaced. Any questions?"

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I'm not sure the technological advancement is your prime concern. For me, the most puzzling question was what sort of proportion of various professions and workplaces is required for a reasonably stable canned society.

A lot more like martial law than democracy. Freedom and slow decision making would lead to the death of everyone.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

...
Booze: If this bird is really TL8 (suspending disbelief for the sake of discussion), it's going to be pretty fragile to careless mishaps and everybody needs to be on their game 24/7. If I was writing the rules, they'd read like: "Possession gets you days in solitary equal to all cumulative offenses, per offense. Building and operating a still (without a permit for industrial uses) gets you spaced. No judge. No trial. Spaced. Any questions?"

Wow, I guess you see drinking as a lot more destructive than I do... and I lost a family member to a drunk driver.
I think prohibition proved that removing alcohol from a society is impossible. And constantly murdering your crew might have an adverse effect on morale.

[Sindri]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I'm not sure the technological advancement is your prime concern. For me, the most puzzling question was what sort of proportion of various professions and workplaces is required for a reasonably stable canned society.

That's also interesting thus my questions about the economy and averting boredom. What do you do after you are done maintaining the ship? I could engage in hobbies and learning things only for a long time but not everyone can and a certain amount of activity is probably required for maintaining a technological society. A generation ship is probably not going to be expanding it's population much and once everyone has the stuff they want repairing and replacing things doesn't take much work.

However while I do prefer my threads to serve as general resources for people with similar questions in my case the generation ship lies in the past and I wonder what influences this will have on it's technological ability.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Very tight selection of inhabitants can easily shape the micro society. Heck, agoraphobes might even like the idea.

Repair facilities and robust training for nearly everyone to know how to deal with breakdowns from aging equipment. Genetic engineering facilities to deal with small population bottle necking.

That's quite true. People will be selected carefully. Of course their children will start to diverge.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking about. Those kinds of technologies are more relevant to a generation ship life than others.

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Sex: If they're firing those poor bastards off into space in a closed habitat with limited food supplies and no means of birth control reliable enough to keep the population exactly where they want it, no amount of WoW is going to keep things from getting ugly pretty fast...

Booze: If this bird is really TL8 (suspending disbelief for the sake of discussion), it's going to be pretty fragile to careless mishaps and everybody needs to be on their game 24/7. If I was writing the rules, they'd read like: "Possession gets you days in solitary equal to all cumulative offenses, per offense. Building and operating a still (without a permit for industrial uses) gets you spaced. No judge. No trial. Spaced. Any questions?"

Thanks for suspension. The culture might have times and places for some of the population at a time to not be on their game.

Controlling the population is incredibly important for a generation ship and given the circumstances I think reliable birth control is quite necessary.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

A lot more like martial law than democracy. Freedom and slow decision making would lead to the death of everyone.

In important things that's true for the most part. Arguing over minor political matters might be a good way to occupy people and blow off steam.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Wow, I guess you see drinking as a lot more destructive than I do... and I lost a family member to a drunk driver.
I think prohibition proved that removing alcohol from a society is impossible. And constantly murdering your crew might have an adverse effect on morale.

Removing alcohol from that society was impossible. The thing is that a heavy drinking society doesn't mix well with the necessity for the society to be on game all the time. Light drinking is probably fine.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Wow, I guess you see drinking as a lot more destructive than I do... and I lost a family member to a drunk driver.

My view is nuanced... I drink like a fish myself, but not when I'm operating heavy machinery, which these guys are basically doing for the entire mission either actively (while on duty) or passively (by not hitting the wrong button during off hours). The only way I'd even remotely consider it is if there was a designated "beer pen" where you essentially have your "keys" taken away until you can blow 0.00%, and even then it still wastes food.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I think prohibition proved that removing alcohol from a society is impossible.

What was that you were saying about very tight selection of inhabitants? ;]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

And constantly murdering your crew might have an adverse effect on morale.

If I was a crewman on that ship and found out that somebody was wasting food to produce alcohol, I'd murder them myself.