quote:
Originally posted by Windborne:
how much of my technology should a level 1 culture be able to understand? There should certainly be limits or we'll all simply raise the natives up to full player status in a few turns
In Asimov's first Foundation novel, the planets surrounding the Foundation are still using Imperial technology but haven't a clue as to how it works. Later, the Foundation introduces more technology, but in the guise of a religion, with the hierarchy of course all being unbelieving Foundationers. (That's Asimov the Agnostic for you!)
Anyway, my point is that low-tech populations can be taught to use very high-tech stuff. (Like, 4-year-olds who can operate PCs and camcorders [and shoot guns].) Really, if you think about it, how much science and technology does the average American, European, Japanese, etc. properly understand? Heck, I'm a physicist and one of the world's smartest people
and I don't understand most of it!