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I don't disagree. I'd go with a "does a usual person consider it food" test. The spell is a good example of inherent ambiguity. "Food", "creature", "poisoned", and "diseased" are highly dependent on the caster to provide meaning. Chickens and cows are creatures, not food -- until they are...

A lot of plant food (plants as food, not food for plants) is alive when eaten. Poisonous berries, anyone? Also, a fertilized but undeveloped chicken egg. TomB

Yeah. It has one of the standout emotional science fiction moments for me: At the ending, when he tells Nebogipfel to "go" (on ahead without him). Other works with standout moments were "The Dispossed", by Le Guin, (when he has his breakthrough), "Diaspora", by Egan, at the very end, and...

Should we count works such as Le Morte d'Arthur (Sir Thomas Malory), Beowulf, or any number of Greek plays? TomB

Nod. But, strictly, The Dispossessed, uses science to create a canvas, then tells a story which is not really sciency. (Apologies .. this is a bit of a ramble.) That being said, I struggle to find a true science fiction story. Solaris and Roadside Park stand out. Maybe some of Clarke, but...

Hmm, doesn't that give us a large part of the original Star Wars movie? Sneak onto the Death Star to rescue the princess? Maybe that would work as a dark side analogue, but that feels too meta to me. TomB

Yeah. The episode failed to present how ludicrous the situation appeared to the captain. And to give the captain enough bluster and arrogance to make it believable that he would want to go to the dock to be on hand when the simpleton fools were apprehended. I think the scene can be made...

Isn’t the problem here “pseudo-jargon”? In professional fields, jargon is precisely defined. Local variations are discussed and resolved early in discussions, and professionals recognize sub-field specific practices as a professional requirement. I think with table-top RPGs we haven't yet...

This is true, but from the perspective of what can companies do, it might be debated. If an economic actor thinks they can make more from an input, they will outbid another thinks they who would make less. There seem to be instabilities that drive maximizing behaviors. TomB

Using the example of the car spokes, is it really a mistake? The image seems to work even with incorrect spoke details. I’m thinking technical inaccuracy doesn’t matter as much as whether our perceptions accept an image; or whether an image is evocative. We are not counting ships in an aerial...

Although, isn't that the case with a lot of art? In particular, painters seems to do a lot of providing just enough form and just enough detail and relying on our perception and our brains to fill in the rest. TomB

Current evidence is that the rate of expansion is increasing. I’m intrigued by two follow up questions: For a time-like curve that is continued indefinitely in to the past and future, for every other such curve, is there always at least one light-like path from a point of the first curve to a...

You might not be able to visit an entire single bubble. Non-observable regions are not reachable, if expansion continues at at least the same rate, since the distance to a non-observable region gets bigger faster than it can be traversed. TomB

I think the consensus would be be that the question is a-scientific. Absent data via a test / experiment that can be repeated, there is no science to be done. There is somewhat a basis for the universe being larger than we can observe, and that the parts that we cannot observe are about the...

Consequently, if we did receive evidence of intelligent life. Evidence, not scientific or cultural information, just the most basic proof of existence, other than challenging philosophical ideas, what would be the practical difference? Having evidence would seem to be profound, but is it? We...

Heh, you are correct. I was thinking afterwards, what practically would be resolved by the answer. There might be dragons off the edges of the map. I can’t get there anyways. TomB

I think their point was that the probability of alien life cannot be stated with any certainty. We are speculating in the absence of meaningful data. Edit: Also, I’m not sure that “Most folks would agree …”. But even if they did, does it matter? “Most folks” can be rather misinformed on a...

Eh, I suggest calling it a win and stepping away. The topic is way too politics adjacent for such speculation to turn out well. TomB

Eh, heavy armor is restrictive in the sense that it leads to overheating. Not represented in the game, but a big problem in real life. Heavy armor is restrictive in the sense that certain athletic actions (e.g., jumping) simply cannot be done as well, because of added mass. Heavy armor is...

Yeah. I wonder how to match up "Player Sheet" to "Time Played". Also, there are different ways characters might be used which would impact the analysis: What characters are NPCs? How many are for one-shot sessions, or for organized play, or for campaigns? How many are for beginner players...