Fun fact, the full, original quote for the "I am human; nothing human is alien to me" is:
MENEDEMUS
Have you so much leisure, Chremes, from your own affairs, that you can attend to those of others-those which don't concern you?
CHREMES
*I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.* Suppose that I wish either to advise you in this matter, or to be informed myself: if what you do is right, that I may do the same; if it is not, then that I may dissuade you.
This makes me think of A Canticle For Liebowitz as well, where the monastic Catholicism practiced by most of the prominent characters is as fully developed, carefully considered, and central to the events of the story as the technological details would be in a Jules Verne.
The world of Terra Ignota has no *explicitly socially permitted* or *legally recognized* gender. (In the UFA, anyway, which nearly all of the characters treat as being synonymous with "the world".) That doesn't prevent it from having gender.
I feel like we may need a better name for the thing you're calling "Socratic argument", given that "intelligent, rational, knowledgeable, wise hero trounces an array of interlocutors who might as well be named Simplicio" is in fact famously how Socrates tends to be portrayed in our sources. I am tempted to suggested "Humean argument", given that the participants in Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion are much better matched with each other. Though that term has other problems.
Nitpicky but I don’t think there has been rich and poor in every society, I think in many hunter gatherer societies (though certainly not all) everyone was pretty much about equally rich/poor/whatever you wanna that lifestyle. I don’t think it’s bad writing to make, say, a future world that is more like this.
Have long wanted a word for this cluster of ideas/goals-of-a-fiction, thanks!
Thing this reminded me of, which shares some elements probably: On /r/WhoWouldWin, the *conceit* is basically "powerscaling Goku vs Superman battles". But the *actually interesting* posts (in my humble opinion, although they also seem to get more upvotes???) are more systematic/broad/lateral-thinking-required/thought-experiment-y than Superman vs Goku. Ones like "what if a rare Pokemon Go pokemon spawned in the White House? What would the Secret Service do?" or "300 million grizzly bears spawn at random points in the US. Could USAmericans survive? How?"
Okay, it's *relatively* more broad/systematic/etc., but I think the overall point stands.
Fun fact, the full, original quote for the "I am human; nothing human is alien to me" is:
MENEDEMUS
Have you so much leisure, Chremes, from your own affairs, that you can attend to those of others-those which don't concern you?
CHREMES
*I am a man, and nothing that concerns a man do I deem a matter of indifference to me.* Suppose that I wish either to advise you in this matter, or to be informed myself: if what you do is right, that I may do the same; if it is not, then that I may dissuade you.
https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0115%3Aact%3D1%3Ascene%3D1#note7
That is - it is entirely reasonable to read it as "I'm huge, unrepentant gossip, so spill up the beans!"
Put it next to "who watches the watchmen?" in the annals of Latin quotes which are much less profound in their original context.
This makes me think of A Canticle For Liebowitz as well, where the monastic Catholicism practiced by most of the prominent characters is as fully developed, carefully considered, and central to the events of the story as the technological details would be in a Jules Verne.
The world of Terra Ignota has no *explicitly socially permitted* or *legally recognized* gender. (In the UFA, anyway, which nearly all of the characters treat as being synonymous with "the world".) That doesn't prevent it from having gender.
I feel like we may need a better name for the thing you're calling "Socratic argument", given that "intelligent, rational, knowledgeable, wise hero trounces an array of interlocutors who might as well be named Simplicio" is in fact famously how Socrates tends to be portrayed in our sources. I am tempted to suggested "Humean argument", given that the participants in Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion are much better matched with each other. Though that term has other problems.
Nitpicky but I don’t think there has been rich and poor in every society, I think in many hunter gatherer societies (though certainly not all) everyone was pretty much about equally rich/poor/whatever you wanna that lifestyle. I don’t think it’s bad writing to make, say, a future world that is more like this.
Have long wanted a word for this cluster of ideas/goals-of-a-fiction, thanks!
Thing this reminded me of, which shares some elements probably: On /r/WhoWouldWin, the *conceit* is basically "powerscaling Goku vs Superman battles". But the *actually interesting* posts (in my humble opinion, although they also seem to get more upvotes???) are more systematic/broad/lateral-thinking-required/thought-experiment-y than Superman vs Goku. Ones like "what if a rare Pokemon Go pokemon spawned in the White House? What would the Secret Service do?" or "300 million grizzly bears spawn at random points in the US. Could USAmericans survive? How?"
Okay, it's *relatively* more broad/systematic/etc., but I think the overall point stands.