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Right. I posted something very similar not too far upthread, I think in reply to @clearstream. And the Decanter of Endless Water example that you mention is a notorious one. Likewise discussions of the economic impact of the Wall of Iron spell.

When I had plenty of spare time 30+ years ago, I spent a lot of time coming up with "realistic" patterns of social and intellectual development for my version of Greyhawk and its religions and wizard guilds, based on my own knowledge of the history of philosophy and theology (which was and is...

As best I can tell, @Hussar is relying on widespread consensus that RuneQuest, Rolemaster, Chivalry & Sorcery, HERO, GURPS and the like are simulationist RPGs. They all have quite a bit in common, which mostly reflects how they react against D&D: *Their rules for PC build tend to produce PCs...

The technique that I use is conversation with the players. As I posted upthread, this technique is probably not as readily available in games that are focused on solving the mystery or otherwise beating the scenario. EDITed to reply to this: I don't see the need for subtext here. Why not just...

Yes. That was the premise of my reply to @Don Durito that you subsequently responded to. The point I then made was that So I don't know why you are posting as if you disagree with me, when you seem to be just repeating the point I already made.

Only one creates a fiction where no explanation is possible. Playing my MHRP Fantasy game, it is not possible for the characters to learn how dragons fly, because there is no explanation. Playing a regular MHRPG game, it is not possible for the characters to learn how "unstable molecules"...

Referring to @AlViking's link: 'Warp drives' may actually be possible someday, new study suggests: In 1994, Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre published a groundbreaking paper that laid out how a real-life warp drive could work. This exciting development came with a major caveat, however: The...

Because one is inherent - it's a necessary consequence of (i) breaking known physical law in the imagined world while (ii) maintaining features whose explanation is known physical law. The only solution is to deliberately not attend to aspects of the fiction that will manifest the contradiction...

If the speed of light in a vacuum is constant in all frames, then acceleration to or beyond light speed is impossible. At least, that's my understanding of special relativity. But in Star Trek, acceleration to and beyond the speed of light is possible, hence some premise of special relativity...

There were no problems in my MHRP/Cortex+ Fantasy game. The players interacted with the runes, and the process of play led us to answers. But what answers are going to be offered in the case of Star Trek and special relativity? This is why I don't see any resemblance. There is no contradiction...

It seems to me that there are (at least) 3 ways of thinking about an episode of RPGing, or an approach to RPGing, as simulationist: (1) The participants rely (and are able to rely) upon the mechanical system, without needing to inject their own concerns or judgemental opinions, to learn what...

I don't follow. When attention is paid in the play of the game to the runes, the reasons for their creation emerge. As the anecdote illustrated, that took place in a way different from the GM making an authorial decision or the GM reporting an earlier authorial decision. Attending to the...

Because we don't know how would the disproof has been rendered? To put it another way, what - in the universe of Star Trek - is the false premise, or error of method, in the special relativity thought experiments? Eg is the speed of light in a vacuum not constant? But then what does it mean to...

Well, it would be weird for characters to demonstrate, via the special relativity thought experiments, that it is impossible for your vessel to accelerate to light speed, while at the same time being on a vessel that (everyone authoring the fiction agrees) has accelerated to, and beyond, light...

I don't know what you mean by "secondary source" here. Do you mean the accounts of historians? Or do you mean contemporaneous documents? I'm not a trained historian, but the people/colleagues I know who do historical work rely on the latter - they visit archives etc. For instance, I've never...

I also don't see how "D&D General" = trad gamers/trad gaming. I have played D&D quite a bit, and am likely to play it again before I die. I use RPGing books that have "D&D" on the cover (eg my beloved World of Greyhawk folio and maps; modules like T1 with classic NPCs like Lareth the Beautiful...

Given that systems of law in which precedent is authoritative have devices for departing from, and/or overturning, precedents that are (i) obviously wrong, and/or (ii) no longer workable, it would be odd to adopt a more rigid approach in a hobby activity.

You can explain why you don't like something without saying that it is wrong. I don't tell you that you're wrong, do I? Perhaps also not telling people that what they're doing is wrong?

I was talking about the sort of RPGing that I experience. Even when I've played in "trad" games, the experience has been as I described. Sometimes that can cause power-struggle issues with a "trad" GM.

Generally, at least where knowledge is concerned, expertise can be judged against an external standard (even expertise in a skill - eg an expert pianist - can probably be judged against an external standard, but I put that case to one side in this post). The fact that an author has authority...