Maps That Changed History
Similar applies to our mental models (maps).
Society
Just Do It
Almost anything you will do with enough effort will sooner or later bring fulfillment. Minimal interest into the task or topic at the start is usually enouhg.
America’s History
Very short version after Europeans.
Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’
Even nowadays any gold coin has no useful value for day to day stuff. “functionally no one used gold in any amount in every-day transactions in the ancient or medieval Mediterranean (or most other places!), because a gold coin at… Read More »Collections: Coinage and the Tyranny of Fantasy ‘Gold’
Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part III: Paying For It
Most of economy is like this nowadays. “We’re used to the monetized form of this system, where the state pays those non-subsistence laborers, who can then buy their subsistence needs from the broader civilian economy (the loop then generally being… Read More »Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part III: Paying For It
How China Works
Probably not how you think.
Georgij Žukov – Maršal, ktorý zlomil Hitlerovi väz
Dnes je V-E Day, čo je spôsob, akým frajeri z novín v štyridsiatych rokoch zobrali výraz „Victory in Europe Day“ (Deň víťazstva v Európe) a spravili z neho niečo, čo znie ako akcia, ktorú zorganizovala nejaká nemocnica na zvýšenie povedomia… Read More »Georgij Žukov – Maršal, ktorý zlomil Hitlerovi väz
Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part IIb: Officials, Contractors and Professionals
Bureaucracy makes sure stuff people don’t want to do happens. “Now you can see that each of these systems relies – at least for the peasants – on compulsion. The peasants do not get anything for their service – they… Read More »Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part IIb: Officials, Contractors and Professionals
Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part IIa: Mobilization without Administration
There was no local police in the past. “MMORPGs and fantasy worlds alike love their ‘local village guards,’ but these societies cannot afford many full-time soldiers and the ones they can afford tend to be guarding things like castles and… Read More »Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part IIa: Mobilization without Administration