Chapter Break Filler - Round 2

[Jitter]

Thanks phocena!

Grade E Cat, I’m glad I managed to get it through. Besides the obvious (?) theme of there’s always something kids (or youth) don’t want to learn, although it may be different for different situations (and people), I was trying to show how knowledge slides away. Like, Lalli didn’t know the Earth is round (although Mikkel still did).

Once the survivors lose English completely, so so much is lost. Even if they later learn to decipher it like our archaeologists decipher e.g. Babylonian, the chances of creating a scientific community that can build on our modern science are low (not to mention the way so much is in electronic form only and will be destroyed over a few decades of no power.)

Now I’ve made myself sad, although I tried to make the story somewhat uplifting even though the theme is depressing.

[midwestmutt]

Church, state, and TV.
My foundations of learning.
Explains a lot, eh?

[thegreyarea]

Wow, that's an unexpected take on Learning, Jitter! I really like it
We all experienced it, I believe, questioning, at some point, which use some of that knowledge pushed upon us could possibly have. Sometimes it didn't, but even then it's down there, providing a kind of common ground to build, or not, different things.

Now I’ve made myself sad, although I tried to make the story somewhat uplifting even though the theme is depressing.

Now, don't be sad. Some knowledge would surely be lost*, but other things would be learned back, like boats construction, farming, using plants and, in this case, magic!
And also some (particularly the Swedes and Danes, but also Icelanders) still use old technologies, so it's supposed that they keep and teach then to the following generations.

Magic, alone, opens a whole Universe (or several Universes?) of new and exciting knowledge (that eventually may be combined with the ancient technologies), opening great opportunities for anyone that wants to... write fanfics!

* Unless the government (or someone else), decided to create and maintain a kind of Library to archive the "ancient" knowledge, a bit like Asimov's Foundation**. In the future, when the danger from trolls and beasts are under control and wider areas are recovered, all that information could return to current use.

** That also had it's own agenda, but that's another story... or another fanfic!)

[Alkia]

wow, Jitter, I'm really impressed by how you told that entire story just using dialogue!! I love the multi-generational timespan as well.

Once the survivors lose English completely, so so much is lost. Even if they later learn to decipher it like our archaeologists decipher e.g. Babylonian, the chances of creating a scientific community that can build on our modern science are low (not to mention the way so much is in electronic form only and will be destroyed over a few decades of no power.)

unless they discover a *insert Scandinavian language*-English dictionary somewhere! a gift of foresight from the ancients 
It really would be sad about the Internet and all electronic information, though

Like Grey said though, magic is a new and valuable knowledge! who needs digital info when you can summon luontos and make runes xD

[Róisín]

I have always liked the idea of fusing magic and tech/science. Might make for an interesting culture!

[Mirasol]

I have a holiday coming up but am not going anywhere (national band contest was cancelled due to Covid-19).  I have some projects to work on, but I hope to spend some quality time with the Reaction Hoard. We have had so many splendid faces all throughout Adv. II.

Please do! I love scrolling through all those pictures!


(I mean, only if you want to and have the time to of course...)

Also Jitter, your take on "learning" is really interesting! Who knows what of the knowledge from the past will be usefull in the future. Makes me rethink not wanting to do homework right now... Plus your characterization of Aksel is hilarious. :'D

midwestmutt, your Haikus get better (and funnier) every day!

unless they discover a *insert Scandinavian language*-English dictionary somewhere! a gift of foresight from the ancients 
It really would be sad about the Internet and all electronic information, though

Like Grey said though, magic is a new and valuable knowledge! who needs digital info when you can summon luontos and make runes xD

Yes, if the internet and/or tech broke down, so much would be lost! especially with the current trend to digitalize everything. In the end, physical copies do have a higher chance of surviving an apocalypse.

But yay for more fanfiction-ideas! I agree, mixing tech/science and magic always makes for very interesting stories.

[Jitter]

No, that’s what I mean by deciphering. If any books have been preserved at all (i.e. not talking about a thousand years or so) there definitely will be dictionaries and books for learning English. In all of these countries study of English is widespread and important. But having to learn it from books only with no one with proficiency to train with, it won’t become fluent. And any case no dictionary contains terminology for all sciences - in fact, Finnish fir example doesn’t have all terminology for all sciences.

But then, I also tried to show how the world is widening again for them too. Sigurd is impressed about his dad having been outside of Dalsnes and thinks everyone has always spoken Norwegian, while Asbjørn has gone to an Academy. They are rebuilding! And yes, I think English has survived to am extent until Y91, in Denmark and Sweden at least.

And Alkia, thank you! I tried to write description first, I was particularly inspired by the picture where Berit is teaching Aksel to shoot. But I didn’t get it to work. Luckily the “circle of life” theme helped me along to consider various learning situations between generations of Eides.

[Crumpite]

To those worried about information loss due to a systematic  cyber crash:
There is one of those multi-gazillianares out in California that is archiving actual physical books in safe vaults, just in case !

Thanks for all the wonderful content here, keeping me interested ! 😀

[wavewright62]

I love it!  I agree with Jitter that Aksel is likely to be in his early 20s at most.  Marine biology is a solid choice.  (once I made a story where Ingrid had protested Norway's whaling practices pre-Rash)

I recently read one of the later Pern books, going through the "prequel" times around Landing, where the specialisms many of the colonists had were negated once the power and gear ran out.  Specifically, advanced microsurgery skills could not be used without the sutures, molecular biology could not be accomplished once the sequencers ran out of consumables.  It was a known effect, since they'd gone to that planet specifically to establish an agrarian society, but the scientists still felt the loss and redundancy of their knowledge keenly.

[Róisín]

Crumpite, I am so, so glad to hear that! I have a fairly good archive of books myself, and people who know how to access them if something happens to me. Mine includes a lot of science texts, also a lot of practical how-to books covering everything from building to how to make and maintain tools. And a lot of stuff about agriculture, cookery and food. Also a few language and literary things, astronomy, maths, biology and botany. Lots of that, because I am a retired field botanist and botany lecturer.

I guess you might call me a prepper, but I am the kind of prepper who gets my communities involved in what I am doing, plants community gardens, starts produce shares and farmers markets and street libraries and verge gardens, and teaches practical survival skills. My communities are the better for it, and it has helped my small town to do as well as is possible through the Covid19 emergency.

[phocena]

Ooh... In addition of all the books on practical topics such as math and chemistry, books from literature would be huge. Would they be mass printing books from the silent world for people to enjoy? To the general public, the silent world is often reduced a terrifying place full of monsters, so to read a book and be reminded that they were people just like us would be so humanizing, and also exciting! And maybe dangerous in the eyes of the government - I wonder what the religious leaders of the community would think of people reading stories written by heathens.

[Keep Looking]

Chapter Break Filler
'Circle of Life'

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Prompt 9: Child

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Today's prompt of Child is brought to us by Alkia!

Spoiler: show

Thanks very much to Alkia for today's piece, and if any of you are inspired by this prompt, feel free to post what you've made down below!

[Jitter]

Mirasol and Alkia, thank you for your wonderful art. I especially like the Reynirs in both! He’s clearly very photogenic draw-o-genic? And little Lalli’s little lynx

And Midwestmutt, a solid stream of haiku! Keep it coming!

I have a bit of a tingle in the muses about Discoveries, would you guys mind terribly I add something on it later?

[GaelleDragons]

Alkia, these are adorable! Little Emil looks just as epic as his little poodle 

[Mirasol]

Ooh... In addition of all the books on practical topics such as math and chemistry, books from literature would be huge. Would they be mass printing books from the silent world for people to enjoy? To the general public, the silent world is often reduced a terrifying place full of monsters, so to read a book and be reminded that they were people just like us would be so humanizing, and also exciting! And maybe dangerous in the eyes of the government - I wonder what the religious leaders of the community would think of people reading stories written by heathens.

I´d expect Sweden and especially Denmark to be very interested in that. While I don´t think they´d have the recources to mass-print them, maybe there would be public readings of old-world-literature, a bit like going to a theater in our world. That would reach a lot of people and would be super exiting, as you just said!  A story begins to form in my head right now...

Alkia, your kid-youngsters are adorable! And Emil looks so heroic, I can´t even :'D I feel very tempted right now to draw more kid-art, I might do that later today. (If you start noticing a pattern with the content I posted on this thread so far, so did I just now. I just really enjoy drawing kids)

And thanks Jitter! Reynir is indeed very draw-o-genic, I find myself doodeling him everywhere. Must be the hair...
I wouldn´t mind at all if you added something to Discoveries later, please do so!