[email removed] writes:
>
> My guess as to the effective TL of Terra during the Long Night is 9, since
> this is the lowest that supports jumptech. This is a fall of 4 units from
> the C level they had at the end of the wars. Imagine the depression that can
> make a TL go down 4 units. It is like going from today to before the Wright
> brothers.
I never did take Maths to really advanced levels, so I might be wrong, but
isn't C supposed to represent decimal 12? And if so, from C (12) to 9 is
a fall of 3 units.
Next, I've seen several references here to present day Earth being TL 8.
Has anyone succeeded in building a grav vehicle, even a simple air/raft?
Has anyone yet got a working fusion power plant? If the answers to those
questions are both "no", then on what grounds can present day Earth be
awarded a TL rating of 8?
Finally, a fall of 3 levels from TL 7 to TL 4 is not the same as a fall of
3 levels from TL C to TL 9, any more than it is the same as a fall from
TL 4 to TL 1. Going from TL C to TL 9, you don't lose any really big
abilities, you just can't do things as well. A TL 9 society can still
build starships, just not very good ones. On the other hand, the drop of
3 levels from TL 9 to TL 6 would mean you lose all space travel. The drop
from TL 7 to TL 4 also means you lose all space travel and almost all air
travel, as well as all computers.
- --
"Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott
Adrian Hurt | JANET: [email removed]
UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: [email removed]