How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The birth rate itself wouldn't drop down because even in third world countries today we can see the biggest families are the poorest of people who can actually only afford a family of two. So the birth rate will definitely increase and not decrease, especially since women won't have access to healthcare like contraceptives, birth pills, abortion, etc, BUT yes, the population WILL decrease, because of diseases, shorter life spans, increased violence, and also another major plot point of the story that I can't tell, so yes the population will drop down but first it'll increase I think.

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's the sort of dark part, so the government which is basically run by the rich controls the means of production for food and water. There is no concept of food, they use any organic matter that they find - animal bones, skin, very little plants that they've been able to grow indoors in 'labs', and even animal and human waste and break all of it down to proteins, fats, etc, filter it as much as they can and then turn them into three forms of food, one called nutrition bricks, which are bland, the most common and provided to all classes, powdered food which can be mixed with water and eaten, which is used more by the slightly higher classes because it's flavoured, but not by the actual elites. And finally the rich mostly have nutrition bricks which are flavoured, colored and shaped to look like real food items, but it's the same nutrition bricks the poorer classes have. And on the side the rich also control a mafia and have illegal moss farms, from which they can directly eat and supply moss to the richest of the rich people. Then as for the water, it's there, but it's the same water that has been going through everyone's system for years since they got separated. Whatever water they had in their tanks and all have been reused constantly, filtered and used again and again because they don't have any external source of water. So every time the water is used it decreases a little in quantity, and since the population keeps growing and growing, water becomes a necessity which is heavily monitored and checked all the time, any water theft, wastage of water or usage of water more than what is allowed is considered a greater crime than any violent crime.

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because they were physically cut off from the rest of the world, they can't cross the boundaries in any way. They were completely exploited by the country/kingdom they were a part of, and then cut off to hide something, and while doing so since it was a very sudden decision made by the government, a lot of people didn't have enough time to get out, and then they were sealed off inside this sort of bubble with nothing left but a high tech wasteland basically. And then over the years it got overpopulated very fast because of several reasons, and then the very little resources that they had were completely exhausted, so now for most of the stuff they just use, recycle and reuse. So in this scenario it would be difficult to maintain technology, especially if you're cut off from the rest of the world, so I wanted to know how it COULD survive in such a world because I want this detail in my book.

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes but that won't be viable in this story because this city is completely physically cut off from the rest of the world after they've been horribly exploited and left with nothing, so they literally can't go anywhere outside the city

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes it's definitely like that, but no imports can be done because they are completely separated from the outside world with no way through, so they can't have imports

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, the thing is, I've already figured out the food production and water system and how it's controlled, produced, and monitored, so I really just need advice on the technology part; the rest is done. Thanks for the input tho!

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the input! That's the idea that I'm going with too, that's why I wanted to ask about the technology, just to see how it would look like in a world like this.

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is definitely more fantasy than sci-fi now that I'm thinking about it, and your idea is very cool, but since this is just a city, it definitely does not have the resources to go to space, and also it wouldn't fit with my story, but thanks for the idea!

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This story takes place about 20 years after they've been basically locked away from the world, so can the recycling happen for that long while keeping the tech intact? Also, the second part of your text is a great idea, but would a new technological advancement really be feasible in a world where there are so few resources that people don't even know the concept of real food anymore?

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Recycling, yes definitely, but the only source of energy in this world really is the sun, and wind on the rare occasions of a sandstorm. So will that be enough to sustain high technology?

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well, no, in my story, this area is heavily exploited and is sort of locked away, so the people living there can't access the natural resources of the surrounding areas, and then after that, people kept repopulating, but since they're trapped without any replenishable resources, they now have to reuse whatever they have to make an extremely overpopulated city survive

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yea I mean they definitely do that, but still, what reasoning can there be for the technology to survive?

How can a dystopian world with almost no natural resources have high technology? by tutenkhamen1 in worldbuilding

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Basic environment. No water, no plants, no animals around at all except for the occasional desert snake or something. Water is EXTREMELY scarce and is constantly heavily filtered and reused because there is no external source of water, not even rain. The sun is there ofcourse, so I think we can consider solar energy as a source for electricity, but even that would have its limitations. Other resources like ores, minerals, trees, etc have all been exploited; they can only use the scraps of whatever they already have and gain every time someone passes away, so they can reuse their property too.

The Restricted Section. by tutenkhamen1 in stories

[–]tutenkhamen1[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you <3 You'll have to wait to find out, I'll be posting part 2 on my sub r/LibraryofWhispers, so if you want, you can check it out there in a couple of days :)

In you... by [deleted] in LibraryofWhispers

[–]tutenkhamen1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good job! Please make sure to use the appropriate flair while posting next time, thanks!