Comments on: World-Building in a Post-Geographic Age

By: Goblin Mercantile Exchange » Comedy in a Post-Geographical Age

Goblin Mercantile Exchange » Comedy in a Post-Geographical Age — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:14:50 +0000

[...] Comedy in a Post-Geographical Age Posted by Alan under Polis As a follow-up to my previous post about geographic ignorance, the comedy of Sasha Cohen’s character Borat thrive [...]

By: Network Geek

Network Geek — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:24:57 +0000

Well, yes, David, now that you mention it, we should know at least something about all those things to be good citizens. Oh, and also? We should actually VOTE. The voting turnout is horrendous in our amazingly democratic nation. As a country, we should be ashamed of ourselves.

Hav sounds absolutely fascinating… *sigh* I guess I’ll add it to my ever growing list of Things To Read.

By: David Moles

David Moles — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 09:38:25 +0000

The latest (and probably last) Emerald City has a review of Jan Morris' Hav, which -- being a fictional travelogue rather than a conventional novel -- sounds in some ways like an extreme example of the "surplus of geographical information" approach. It's at a bit of an angle, maybe, since it's an imaginary place embedded in the real world and real history, rather than an imaginary world and imaginary history, but it still strikes me as a useful counterexample. What would the opposite of Hav look like?

By: David Moles

David Moles — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 08:00:33 +0000

Hmm… how do you distinguish between “actual” geography and whatever… non-actual geography it is that makes them appear (to one another) to be separated?

As for the what we should know question: as good citizens, shouldn’t we also have a knowledge of, for instance, macroeconomics (monetary policy, tax policy, labor policy, immigration), petroleum geology (energy policy), physics (energy policy again), biology (health policy, science policy), nutrition, art history, psychology, demography, ethical philosophy, criminology, constitutional law?

By: Network Geek

Network Geek — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:47:44 +0000

Actually, I’d say that, yes, a knowlege of geography really is important to good citizenship. How can I be upset about deforrestation if I don’t know where the forrest is being destroyed? If we’re fighting in Iraq over oil, shouldn’t I know where that is and who their neighbors are and what other resources are, or are not, in that geographic area?

As to the original post… Well, I can easily imagine a world with a MMPORG “overlay” that invalidates actual, physical geography. A world where hated enemies, from technically foreign countries, are living geographically next door to each other and don’t even know it. And, I can see how that could be both commentary on current events and a compelling world design that drives a story.

By: David Moles

David Moles — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:48:29 +0000

On a side note: Sometimes I wonder, is knowledge of geography really that important to good citizenship, or do we just feel that way because we’ve got it? Might there not be other areas of public policy, equally as important, that we’re not only ignorant of, but totally blind to?

By: David Moles

David Moles — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 09:23:38 +0000

But, dammit, this leaves no room for me to get paid simply for writing imaginary gazetteers, not having to bother with all that annoying narrative and characterization!

I think plenty of geographically disinterested fiction is being written — largely, I suppose, by geographically disinterested writers — but perhaps that’s merely the lack of worldbuilding; it seems like you’re calling for something else, for a kind of worldbuilding that explicitly deals with geographically disinterested characters, and perhaps with geographically disinterested readers — for the irrepressible map-salters among us to try to see through the eyes of that great majority who never look at maps, salted or unsalted.

It also seems like there’s a distinction to be drawn between world-building considered as something that happens in the writer’s head, and world-building considered as an effect the text has on the reader. And another one between a lack of interest in geography on the grand scale and a lack of interest in the exotic (or merely complex) details right in front of you. Who cares less about the nuances of the world around them — someone who can find Afghanistan on the map but can’t tell you the color of the carpet in their own living room, or someone who doesn’t know Iran from Iraq but knows every cat and dog they see on their morning jog?

It also seems like maybe I should go get some lunch.