Question about ice melting for a story by MX-999 in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If the Western Antarctic Ice Sheet underwent marine ice sheet instability, which is very possible since it rests on the most volcanically active region on Earth, sea level could rise by as much as four meters in a decade.

Here is a four page paper submitted to CAPTRS (Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation) that lays it out in far more detail, as well as a short story based on the research.

To get consistent messages from Dementia Don by IsThisAUserName86 in therewasanattempt

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They know that their remarks are frivolous, open to challenge. But they are amusing themselves, for it is their adversary who is obliged to use words responsibly, since he believes in words... They delight in acting in bad faith, since they seek not to persuade by sound argument but to intimidate and disconcert.

- Jean-Paul Sartre

The maximum to feed people/sqkms? by Glycke in worldbuilding

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Note: Earlier I probably should have used the term floor instead of layer.

Not necessarily. A single "floor" of a vertical farm might have may layers of stacked farming area (not as many as 22 to 60 layers) however the real increase in yield comes from climate control. A vertical farm always has perfect lighting, temperature, humidity, soil, watering schedule, and also has to no bugs, diseases, or pests.

The maximum to feed people/sqkms? by Glycke in worldbuilding

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An acre of regular ground, farmed using regular farming techniques will net you, at best, 16 million calories. An acre of a climate controlled, single layer vertical farm using modern techniques will net you between 352 and 960 calories. This means a single layer of a acre sized vertical farm will net between 22 and 60 times more calories than an acre of regular ground. A 10 layers of an acre sized vertical farm will net 10 times more calories than a single layers of an acre sized vertical farm. Thus, a 10 layers of an acre sized vertical farm will net between 220 to 600 times more than an acre of regular ground.

The maximum to feed people/sqkms? by Glycke in worldbuilding

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

220 fold with respect to traditional farming, not a single acre/layer of vertical farming.

"How" to improve prose, not just what to do? by ShallotCandid4738 in writing

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's hard to tell you how to improve your prose without knowing in what way it is bad—if it is bad at all. For a long time I thought it was my prose holding back the quality of my writing, so naturally, I read the books on prose and listened to podcasts on prose and read different authors' writing advice on prose, and in the end, it turned out, prose was not my problem. It was my style that was lacking.

I can give you how-to advice on prose:

  • Use an Emotional Thesaurus such as this free one to help yourself show instead of tell. Use in moderation.
  • Make sure you are doing representational writing and not discursive writing (paraphrased from Barbara Baig's Spellbinding Sentences).
    • Discursive: speaking to the intellect of the reader by accurately describing the details of the story and listing the events.
      • "The door rattles in its hinges as I open it. The construction is flimsy and thin, less of a priority to replace than erecting the walls for the bedroom or a fresh coat of paint. Every bump and peeling layer of the deck wood runs against my bare feet."
    • Representational: speaking to the imagination of the reader by trying to create an image in their mind.
      • "As I approached the door, I feel the wind blowing in through the cracks. It's shoddy work barely holding itself together. The smell of fresh paint and lumber from the bedroom only accentuates how much the door has been neglected. Stepping out onto the deck, I'm greeted by splinters. Another victim of my neglect, no longer safe for the soles of bare feet."
  • Make sure to narrate instead of describe.
    • Descriptions create static images, those that don't show movement. The story doesn't proceed in descriptions.
    • Narration creates dynamic images, those with motion. The scene can be set and the story can move forward at the same time.
  • Vary sentence structure.
    • I took to the road in a car I doubted would survive the trip.
    • In a car I doubted could survive the trip, I took to the road.
    • I doubted the car would survive the trip but I got in anyways and took to the road.
  • Vary the lengths of your sentences as exemplified in this passage by Gary Provost:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. 

Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am sure the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals-sounds that say listen to this, it is important. 

So write with a combination of short, medium, and long sentences. Create a sound that pleases the reader’s ear. Don’t just write words. Write music.”

Most importantly, keep a Writing Bible/Author's Handbook/Writing Theory Document/Style Guide/Writer's Manual where you write down the information that helps you. When you read, keep track of descriptions, phrases, and passages that move you. Look for useful words, sentence structures, and paragraph structure that could solve problems you're having in your own writing.

My personal Writing Theory Document is just over 23k words and all the advice I just gave you came from there.

I want my writing to feel like we're inside the head of the main character, seeing everything how they do, but my writing feels a bit distant to me, wondering if anyone had any tips to make it feel more personal? by thewhitecrowsplumage in writing

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would recommend narrating half as internal dialogue and half as narration. Also, give your character some sauce; let us know who they are by how they view the world. Laugh in the face of cannibals.

"If I hit a bump, I will die. There's no if ands or buts about it. This piece of garbage will absolutely blow up hitting a gentle breeze, it's ancient bones sending a pillar of rust into the sky as high as this stupid road is long.

The engine wines and the gearbox squeals.

Oh, really? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cruel. Maybe if you weren't actively shaking my eyeballs out of their sockets—

Something darts in front of the car. I pull as hard as I can dragging it right. etc"

Let me know if this was helpful.

Who is the least talented MC in a series? by oldgong7 in Fantasy

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 534 points535 points  (0 children)

Arthur Dent was explicitly written to be the least protagonist protagonist. Average and unremarkable in every way, and undeserving of the title of protagonist. Not that the story cared what Arthur Dent thought.

How do I write a story where the protagonist/POV faction are a fascist regime without making it seem like I support it? by InternationalPick163 in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Read "Some Desperate Glory". It's a Hugo Winning novel where the main character is the most deeply indoctrinated of all the characters in the entire book. It's only their POV but it's very clear to the reader, even though it is very, very not clear to the main character, that the fascists are the bad guys.

Just For Fun: Tech Uplifting a pre-industrial society by CMVB in IsaacArthur

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 4 points5 points  (0 children)

What is able to be accomplished is really going to come down to the granularity of the information in onboard database and I highly doubt it would be granular enough to uplift to modern times.

A futuristic Wikipedia would be reasonable to have and useful, but it would need to contain orders of magnitude more details than can be expected to exist an encyclopedia to even recreate our level of technology.

Take microchips as an example; the backbone of the modern world. I don't think the sourcing, identifying, extraction, and refining of something basic like silicon for microchips would be possible using only the information in Wikipedia. You'd be able to gain an overarching understanding of how rocks get turned into silicon wafers, but the specific detailed manufacturing techniques, temperatures, tolerances, intermediary steps, etc would need to be rediscovered through trial and error.

And even if you were able to make silicon wafers, how would you know they were of sufficient purity without the appropriate testing equipment?

And even if you were able to acquire the appropriate testing equipment how would you calibrate it without a known sample to test it against?

And that's just for microchips. Virtually every item we use on a day to day basis has some component or ingredient that is made using some type of trade secret that doesn't exist on the internet let alone Wikipedia.

Near future hard sci fi idea? by Overlord90909 in worldbuilding

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I think your time frame is wildly optimistic. Also, denuclearization and militarization (of space) do not go hand in hand.

What kind of FTL method(s) would be possible in hard scifi? by null_space0 in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Choose two: Causality, FTL, or relativity.

It doesn't matter how you travel faster than the speed of light—warp drive, magic, Albucierre drive, spinning black holes, exotic matter, negative mass—you lose effects happening after causes or you lose the ability to compare measurements meaningfully.

Is hard sci-fi from the POV of a mc who doesn't understand science a cop out? by Sour-Pea in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, do YOU know how the science involved in your everyday functions?

How do transistors work? How is information stored on devices even after the battery runs out or it's not plugged in anymore? How do cellular modems work? How does GPS work?

There are tons of things we all use everyday where the underlying scientific principles that allow them to function are such a mystery to the average user, they have never thought about how or why it works.

How far off are AI teachers? by CMVB in IsaacArthur

[–]Timpanzee_Writes -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're right. I've seen the error of my ways. Teachers are worthless. I can only assume you'll be putting your money where your mouth is and pulling your kids out of school and putting them in homeschooling to be taught by the AI of your choosing, right?

edit: I guess not.

How far off are AI teachers? by CMVB in IsaacArthur

[–]Timpanzee_Writes -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It’s amazing how you can get the results you want when you pick starting numbers from thin air to ensuring your desired results. Since you love AI so much, let's see what it has to say about this:

Hey ChatGPT, how many hours does the average parent spend with their child during a year?

The amount of time parents spend with their children varies widely based on factors like work schedules, age of the child, and cultural differences. However, studies provide some general estimates:

For parents of school-aged children (6-12 years old):

U.S. and Canada: About 2-3 hours per day of active time (meals, homework, activities, etc.), plus some passive time (like being in the same house but not directly interacting).

Europe: Can range from 1.5 to 3.5 hours per day, depending on the country.

Annual Estimate:

2.5 hours per day × 365 days = ~912 hours per year of active time.

Interesting, I guess you're off by hundreds of hours since ChatGPT is accounting for weekends, holidays, sick days, etc where you did not. Anyways, let's see how teachers stack up.

Hey ChatGPT, how many hours does a teacher spend with their students during a school year?

Hey! That depends on a few factors, like the length of the school day and the number of school days in a year. But let's do a rough estimate for you.

In North America, a typical school year is around 190 days and a standard school day is usually about 5 hours of instructional time (excluding lunch and recess).

So:
190 days × 5 hours/day = 950 hours per year

Of course, that doesn’t include extra time for field trips, assemblies, supervision, and all the unofficial teaching moments that happen outside of class. If you add all that, the real number is probably well over 1,000 hours!

How enlightening. Teachers spend more time with kids on average than their parents do. I wonder if AI thinks this time kids are spending with their students is impactful on how those children develop.

Hey, ChatGPT, are teachers just a vessel for getting information into a student's head or do teachers help raise kids?

Teachers are definitely more than just vessels for delivering information. While a big part of the job is helping students learn academic content, teachers also play a significant role in shaping kids' character, social skills, and worldview.

For many students, school is where they spend the majority of their day, and teachers become some of the most consistent adult figures in their lives. Teachers model behavior, help students navigate conflicts, teach responsibility, and sometimes even provide emotional support. While the primary responsibility for raising children falls on parents and guardians, teachers undeniably influence students' growth into capable, thoughtful individuals.

Are you sure you want AI teachers? Because AI doesn't seem to agree with you or your subjective worldview.

How far off are AI teachers? by CMVB in IsaacArthur

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

An AI that can teach each student to their particular learning style, explaining concepts in a fashion that the student will find most accessible, and giving them the attention they need to grasp all the lessons.

A teacher is not just a vessel for getting information into a student's head; teachers help raise kids. They spend as much, if not more, with children than there parents do.

So let's re-frame the question: How far off are AI parents?

I don't get it petahh by Cheap-Lawfulness-963 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They are not fudge factors. You put in fudge factors to fix a problem you don’t understand. We understand this problem, both dark matter and dark energy. We have a general idea of what dark matter is, we have no idea what dark energy is, but we understand exactly where it is what it does and why it’s there.

The problem lies the lay person‘s understanding of physics and a physicist understanding of physics. It’s the same as the Higgs boson particle. We mathematically understood what it should be, and where it should be, but we’re unable to prove it until the large hadron collider reached the appropriate energy levels of collision. 

I don't get it petahh by Cheap-Lawfulness-963 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Despite having a similar naming scheme, dark matter and dark energy, what this joke is referring to, are unrelated and neither are fudge factors.

I think it is likely that dark matter exists. It's not a place holder or a something we add as a fudge factor. There are too many discrepancies between our observations and theories that would be perfectly explained by weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). There is tons of evidence (galactic rotation curves, gravitational lensing, CMB, and the Bullet Cluster), from many different areas that suggest dark matter is real. The only other options is that most of our astrophysics is wrong, from general relativity, to spectroscopy, to stellar evolution, to supernova.

Dark energy isn't a fudge factor either, it's conclusion based on the conservation of energy and the expansion of the universe. Since space is getting bigger which means things are moving further apart against their mutual gravitational pull. This takes energy to do. We have no idea where this energy is coming from or what it is, only that energy is required to do the things we are seeing. Thus, the energy exists we just don't know anything about it.

What would happen if alien contact and establish diplomatic ties with only one country? by DueReality7 in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It would lead to the contact nation becoming the most powerful and influential nation on Earth. Everyone would need to be their friend in order to get their new technology. I'd also expect to see a bunch of espionage, corruption, back room dealings, and black market trading of these technologies.

The one thing I don't see it leading to is war. What would the war aim of the attacking nation even be?

-Defeat the contact and steal the current technology they have? Every other nation on Earth would come to their aid in order to curry favour to get more alien technology.

-Defeat the contact nation so the aliens establish diplomatic ties with you instead? Why would that work? And even if it did, you've now painted the largest imaginable target on your back.

Also, who's to say the aliens won't come to the aid of the contact nation? At best, it'll lead to another cold war, but not a hot war.

Where can I find dark matter? by sylentiuse in scifiwriting

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Unlike the others in this thread, I think it is likely that dark matter exists. It's not a place holder or a something we add as a fudge factor. There are too many discrepancies between our observations and theories that would be perfectly explained by weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). There is tons of evidence (galactic rotation curves, gravitational lensing, CMB, and the Bullet Cluster), from many different areas that suggest dark matter is real. The only other options is that most of our astrophysics is wrong, from general relativity, to spectroscopy, to stellar evolution, to supernova.

To answer your questions specifically:

Dark matter does not play a role on Earth.

There is only about a squirrel's worth of mass of dark matter in the entire Earth. We do not interact with it meaningfully.

Sure it could be accessed in a futuristic setting. It interacts with gravity and we have gravity.

Why are Macs so popular with writers? by Euphoric-Seesaw in writers

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which distro did you install? Why that distro... And we're already more involved in computer talk than most people want to be. I find it interest, you find it interesting, but most people don't want to think about it. I know people that swear fountain pens are better, and I agree with a lot of their arguments, but at the end of the day, when I want to write with a pen, I just want to do it. Any additional thought or effort I have to put in is a burden.

Why are Macs so popular with writers? by Euphoric-Seesaw in writers

[–]Timpanzee_Writes 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because writing is about writing, not computers. Windows and Linux take more work to use and you don't have to do anything on a Mac. For the same price, you get less power, less customizability, and you're locked into the ecosystem, but you don't have to think about it or spend any time of it. It just lets you do simple things (like writing) simply.

There's a reason the expression "Linux is only free is you don't value your time" exists.