Re: CHAT: Which world? Which culture?

Harald Stoiber wrote:
 But what will fill the lexicon if I do not
> know what would be relevant to be talked about? This, in turn, will
> depend on cultural issues... hm.
>
> I have a pretty satisfying grammar now. Next, I need words for my
> lexicon. But such a quest depends on a sufficiently clear image
> (opposed to my currently quite fuzzy one) of the underlying culture.
I suppose the main thing to figure out is the technological level.
Neolithic, nomadic (hard for us to visualize); ceramic, copper, bronze, iron
ages? World religions?? medieval? scientific, industrial revolution?? Steam
power? electricity? etc. etc.

For a sort of 18-19th C level, consult old dictionaries from areas just
recently "discovered".  Indonesian languages, for ex., have a multitude of
words for carrying things-- on the back, on the shoulder, hanging from the
hand, in both hands in front of you, on the hip, on a shoulder pole (by one
person vs. two)

My first vision of the Kash world (which hasn't changed) put them at about
1930s level *here*, but with some bells and whistles, like computers.  Also
low population/low birth rate, deliberately slow and carefully considered
technological change (do we really need plastic bottles in lieu of re-usable
glass ones?), depleted petroleum reserves, thus rather slow travel (but
still ample electricity generated by more advanced solar/wind/tidal); the
dying remnants of an old royalty/aristocracy/commoners class system and so
forth. The fact that they're telepathic has to make a big difference too,
though I've not quite figured that out.....

Years ago, when Tom Snyder was still doing his late-night interviews, one of
his frequent guests was a "futurist" who once said, in effect, "I suppose
when we contact other civilizations comparable to our own, we'll find that
people there also get up in the morning, take the bus to work, etc.
etc....".  That guides my thinking...

In a private msg. once, Pablo Flores (in Argentina) mentioned sitting at his
computer, looking out the window and seeing a horse-drawn wagon go by....he
described his own country as "shabby first-world" :-)))  or perhaps :-(((
Anyhow, that struck me as a very apt term for Cindu.

> Have a good time with your (more or less) secret vice,
> :-)))
Truly!!!