enter if you dare (i'm kidding we're 80% approachable)

[theroadwarrior]

Who: Crew and visitors for the Starstruck!
Broadcast: None!
Action: The SS Starstruck
When: March! And, y'know, until the next mingle too.


[EVERYONE GET IN HERE AND MINGLE AND STUFF OKAY.]

Comments

[theirinurpants]

You mean like the things we talk to each other on? That gives me a headache after a while. It's so bright. I can't imagine reading long stories on it.

[resnipstance]

Well, they're communicators, but the principle is the same I guess! Anyway, they don't have to be bright! You just need to change the settings! Most datapads have a function to turn off the backlight.

[theirinurpants]

I'd probably break it.

Anyway, why stop using books? What was wrong with them in the first place?

[ Help a poor medieval boy out, Ahsoka. ]

[resnipstance]

You mean, apart from the massive waste of resources it takes to make them, the biodegradable nature of the product which ensures that they break and tear and disintegrate easily and then need to be constantly reprinted, and also the trouble involved with printing enough copies to distribute any one book among an entire galaxy, meaning not everyone can access them...?

[theirinurpants]

Um... what?

[ Was that even the common speech? ]

[resnipstance]

...

[Okay. Smaller words then.]

Let me rephrase. Books are made out of paper, right? And paper comes from trees. And trees come from planets. And most forested planets need trees for life there to survive.

So when the population on your planet is small and you haven't gotten off-world yet, cutting down a few trees for a few books isn't much of a problem. But what do you think happens when the population of your planet is hundreds of billions, and you're part of an inter-galactic network of planets that are also home to similar population numbers.

Either you have a situation where it's impossible for books to be generally accessible to everyone, or you cut down trees faster than you can regrow them. Some planet, somewhere, is going to suffer for it.

[theirinurpants]

[ He has to take all that in. It's not that he doesn't understand it - he does, in theory. Alistair isn't stupid, by any means, he's just not used to looking at bigger pictures like that. Especially pictures that are that big. ]

I suppose that makes sense. But that assumes you have the ability to use something else, I guess. In my world, we don't. We have to write on - cloth, or paper, or maybe chisel it in stone in a pinch.

[resnipstance]

[God that's like practically prehistoric as far as Ahsoka is concerned.]

Right. And that's probably fine for you guys. For now, anyway.

Historical research tells us that most pre-tech civilizations mostly survived in balance with their planet's ecosystem without doing too much damage because any time the population got too big, something would happen to reduce the population back down to manageable numbers. Usually plague or famine.

Almost universally, when civilizations find ways to beat those things, populations soar dramatically. Which means so does the demand for resources. And if the demand outstrips the rate of renewal...

[Ahsoka leaves it hanging. She's sure Alistair can follow the thought along to the logical conclusion.]

[theirinurpants]

So, uh, curing disease, defeating the Blight - that would be a bad thing?

[ Ahsoka plz. ]

[resnipstance]

No-- that's not what I said.

Curing disease is fine. Not making sure that alternate resources are developed before population growth outstrips your natural planetary resources is the problem.

[theirinurpants]

Okay, but... how do you know when you need to do that?

[resnipstance]

... You'll know.

Anyway, it can't hurt anyone if you start working on it early.

[theirinurpants]

No, I suppose it - can't.

[ He says that thoughtfully. He might act like he's dumb as a pile of bricks, but he's not, and he's keenly aware of the fact that when - if - he ever gets home, he'll have a country to run. And while he may not think much of himself or his own abilities, he's going to do the best he can. Ahsoka has, all unknowingly, given him quite a lot to think about. ]

I might have to start keeping notes on some of this stuff.

[resnipstance]

Good idea! Then you can take it back home with you.

[theirinurpants]

Not that I think Thedas is in any danger of becoming overpopulated any time soon. But resources? Those are important. [ And making sure everyone has enough. ]

[resnipstance]

Exactly! You can never go wrong with planning for the future.

[theirinurpants]

And I suppose I can't start too soon, learning what I'll need to know.

[resnipstance]

What do you need to know?

[theirinurpants]

Everything you'd need to run a country.

[resnipstance]

Oh! ... Are you a politician ...?

[He doesn't really seem like the type...]

[theirinurpants]

[ The most unlikely guy for the job, it's true. ]

A king. Or so they were telling me before I landed here.

[resnipstance]

... Why do you sound so surprised?

[theirinurpants]

Well, it wasn't supposed to happen.

i'm sorry this is sO OLD

[resnipstance]

What do you mean? Were you a long way away in the ascension line...?

No worries!

[theirinurpants]

Well, I'm a bastard, so yeah.