Peter Metcalfe:
>A continent spanning empire based on simple mind control does not
>imply higher culture whether you mean advanced technology or
>higher social sophistication (which would be contradiction in terms!).
>So what if the Elves mourn for the House of Errinoru?
Interesting, but I wonder if this is the best way to consider elven culture. Given the strong link with nature, there is no reason why the culture should be less sophisiticated then the complex ecology it represents. Arguably it's a culture that has been evolved rather than one designed by the elves, but the same could be said of RW cultures.
Also, if this is so, then the complexity of the culture should remain fairly high except in times of eclogical collapse. The fall of Errinoru wouldn't necessarily mean a drop in sophistication, just the transformation of the society to a basis less easily understood by humans. This doesn't help much for the wider argument, and I'm not sure I like some of the implications, but it strikes me as interesting.
On the wider issue of sophistication increasing over time in Glorantha, I've always assumed this to be so. Clearly it is true of Chaos. Compare the brute force of the initial chaos incursion with the simple deceit of Nysalor and the complex deceptions of the Lunar Empire. Chaos keeps on trying it on, and each time it gets more subtle about it.
In other areas it's a little more difficult to prove. I wonder if Complexity Theory "works" in Glorantha. Basically Complexity is a mathematical study about the way interacting units can spontaneously self-organise on a scale not apparent to any of the individual units. The idea goes a long way to explaning a wide range of RW phenomena from the pattern of spots on a leopard's pelt to the way in which soceities evolve laws and customs. Since the basis is purely mathematical, I'd expect it to work in Glorantha in much the same way that I'd expect simple addition to work there. If it does, I would also expect the overall level of cultural sophistication to increase over time.
Just a weird thought for the week...
Nick Fortune nick_at_nymar.demon.co.uk ===========================================================================+++ Sense Of Humour Down For Maintainence +++ Witticism Unavailable +++
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