tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post1210117501260112471..comments2024-03-23T12:05:13.464-07:00Comments on Ideas: Economics in my FictionDavid Friedmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06543763515095867595noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-84482759184130940102012-02-01T23:46:21.071-08:002012-02-01T23:46:21.071-08:00I think it's interesting for people who've...I think it's interesting for people who've read the books to read some background discussion. I can't speak for people who haven't read them.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pooldepot.us/" rel="nofollow">Gunite Pool</a>Gunite Poolhttp://www.pooldepot.us/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-43600192279870058842012-02-01T15:05:55.985-08:002012-02-01T15:05:55.985-08:00Someone earlier said, "I'm a lot more int...Someone earlier said, "I'm a lot more interested in how your knowledge of physics influenced your portrayal of magic".<br /><br />I really, really enjoyed the type of magic you came up with for the Salamander universe and I also would love to hear you talk about your thoughts on the way magic works in Salamander.PoliteEdwardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-70252157419722091762012-02-01T13:35:44.710-08:002012-02-01T13:35:44.710-08:00My original idea for dealing with the water supply...My original idea for dealing with the water supply was some sort of poison. I abandoned it in part because I didn't find anything that looked particularly suitable for the purpose, but also because it didn't fit the feel of the story, in particular my protagonist's personality.<br /><br />Harald is a nice man. He is willing to kill enemies if he has to, but he would much rather capture them, or convert them into friends, or, as in the case of the king of Kaerlia, do both. His default attitude is to treat everyone as a friend, and one result is that he is very good at making friends with people, a useful talent in his situation. As Kiron comments in the partly written sequel, describing his time as a hostage in Haraldholt, "All the time I was there, they treated me as if I was a friend of one of their sons who happened to be visiting for a while."<br /><br />I should probably add that, after I finished the book, I concluded that my protagonist's personality was modeled on my father's.David Friedmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06543763515095867595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-35932738312361078262012-02-01T11:41:52.526-08:002012-02-01T11:41:52.526-08:00>A couple of dead animals might be a cheaper an...>A couple of dead animals might be a cheaper and more effective contaminant.<br /><br />Dead people even more so. Especially if you can find some that are good and rotten, so that they can't be fished out before they fall apart. Of course, this is only a variation on the Medieval tactic of throwing corpses into besieged cities to spread disease.William B Swifthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12662130505120242952noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-39527163753042019972012-02-01T10:10:11.383-08:002012-02-01T10:10:11.383-08:00Re salt and swimming pools.
Yes, I did the calcul...Re salt and swimming pools.<br /><br />Yes, I did the calculations at the time. <br /><br />wrt Sconzey's calculations. You may be thinking of a counterweighted trebuchet--the "monsters" that the Empire is using at another point in the story. This is a traction trebuchet--a much smaller machine, powered by humans pulling on ropes, not by a counterweight. <br /><br />On the other hand, I doubt the Prince's pool is anything close to olympic size.<br /><br />So far as the cost is concerned, the text mentions the existence of a convenient salt mine. I suspect that the cost of salt in the middle ages was largely transport cost.David Friedmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06543763515095867595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-58792472205994691632012-02-01T07:57:27.255-08:002012-02-01T07:57:27.255-08:00"I may be more interested in talking about my..."I may be more interested in talking about my books than other people are in hearing about them."<br /><br />Not being psychic, I cannot speak to precisely how interested you are in talking about your books. Nor, obviously, to any comparison of this unknown quantity with the known quantity of how much I want to hear about your books.<br /><br />I can, however, say that the amount of time you've already spent talking about your books does not, to me anyway, seem excessive. Indeed, it has not even completely satiated my own desire to learn about your thoughts on the subject.<br /><br />HTH. HAND.lelnethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08600824544185328505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-50269042934898048212012-02-01T07:01:44.088-08:002012-02-01T07:01:44.088-08:00A couple of dead animals might be a cheaper and mo...A couple of dead animals might be a cheaper and more effective contaminant.sconzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908181786934308463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-44908351366175007992012-02-01T07:00:14.706-08:002012-02-01T07:00:14.706-08:00Back of the envelope calculations: you'd have ...Back of the envelope calculations: you'd have to throw 1.07 metric tonnes of salt into an olympic swimming pool for the concentration of chlorine to rise above EPA-acceptable levels for drinking water of 250 ppm (by mass).<br /><br />1 trebuchet shot can lob about 140kg, so ten shots?<br /><br />The most expensive part is I guess getting hold of all that salt. It might be cheaper to hire some mercenaries and pay them with it...sconzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908181786934308463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-83681042727728631012012-02-01T06:29:12.347-08:002012-02-01T06:29:12.347-08:00In Harald, there was one bit of chemistry/physics ...In Harald, there was one bit of chemistry/physics which seemed a little off to me. There's a point where a huge swimming pool has been built as a water storage tank for an invading army, and some characters use a catapult to throw chunks of salt into it. Did you work out the proportions, there? It seemed intuitively to me like a pool big enough to provide water for an invading army would also be too big to entirely ruin with the amount of salt you could toss into it with a few catapult shots. But maybe my intuitions are wrong here.albatrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-2870796610443033082012-02-01T04:49:35.444-08:002012-02-01T04:49:35.444-08:00Speaking as someone who have not read either book,...Speaking as someone who have not read either book, I'd be happy to read more.<br /><br />If it's sufficiently interesting it might also be enough to motivate people to buy/download/read the books, which seems like a pretty good motivation.ASDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-11401441299459392752012-02-01T04:25:32.976-08:002012-02-01T04:25:32.976-08:00> Science fiction needs economists
Hey, I'...> Science fiction needs economists<br /><br />Hey, I'm working on the rewrite of my first novel as fast as I can!<br /><br />http://morlockpublishing.com/?page_id=5<br /><br />The Powers of the Earth: a novel about anarchocapitalism, economics, corporate finance, antigravity, lunar colonization, genetically modified dogs and AITJIChttp://tjic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-30236896908382506152012-02-01T03:39:05.532-08:002012-02-01T03:39:05.532-08:00On the subject of Salamander, I'm a lot more i...On the subject of Salamander, I'm a lot more interested in how your knowledge of physics influenced your portrayal of magicsconzeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908181786934308463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-1241951834711688172012-01-31T23:25:52.388-08:002012-01-31T23:25:52.388-08:00I think it's interesting for people who've...I think it's interesting for people who've read the books to read some background discussion. I can't speak for people who haven't read them.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15661031964537092605noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19727420.post-44658054298083006792012-01-31T21:34:23.205-08:002012-01-31T21:34:23.205-08:00I am definitely interested in hearing you expand u...I am definitely interested in hearing you expand upon Salamander.PoliteEdwardnoreply@blogger.com