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Warhammer Fantasy: Divided Loyalties - an Advisor's Quest

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pucflek said:
Another reason to be disappointed in no Treemen in Laurelorn. You can just see one reshaping the forest paths for young couples smh :V
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I have a feeling that Cadaeth can do that, and I did have the crack idea of Mathilde hiring Cadaeth to make sure that Panoramia and Mathilde would have an ideal date in the forest...
 
Aule said:
I'm fairly sure that the scientific consensus is "no, it is not". A motor response is not an emotion.
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Which dives you deep into the rather existential debate of where one draws the line, and whether there's even a line to be drawn at all that isn't based on pure anthropocentrism. We like to think that we're more than a sum of autonomic responses to external stimuli, but a worrying amount of research would beg to differ.
 
Codex said:
I have a feeling that Cadaeth can do that, and I did have the crack idea of Mathilde hiring Cadaeth to make sure that Panoramia and Mathilde would have an ideal date in the forest...
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I think involving Cadeath in their relationship is something that should be discussed with Pan first.

Not that I'm necessarily against it, you understand... :V
 
NSMS said:
I think involving Cadeath in their relationship is something that should be discussed with Pan first.

Not that I'm necessarily against it, you understand... :V
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I wasn't implying that. I was implying that Cadaeth would be wingwomaning the situation. What's a little terraforming between friends eh?
 
Boney said:
Which dives you deep into the rather existential debate of where one draws the line, and whether there's even a line to be drawn at all that isn't based on pure anthropocentrism. We like to think that we're more than a sum of autonomic responses to external stimuli, but a worrying amount of research would beg to differ.
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Humans think they're special! What a shocking revelation! :V
 
Boney said:
Which dives you deep into the rather existential debate of where one draws the line, and whether there's even a line to be drawn at all that isn't based on pure anthropocentrism. We like to think that we're more than a sum of autonomic responses to external stimuli, but a worrying amount of research would beg to differ.
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That's fair, but I think defining an emotion as a mental state, i.e. something that happens in a mind and separate from purely motor responses to external stimuli is some of the least controversial in that debate. Even when sci-fi authors start considering at which point robots can feel emotions, they typically don't start at toaster level.
 
I do have to wonder when Panoramia is going to take her Magister exams though. Last social update she expressed her worries and concerns over how much she's delayed it and that she's running out of excuses now that her Patriarch observed and endorsed her work. I would assume it's sometime soon. I'd like for Mathilde to at least stick by her side while she takes the test or after depending on how long it takes. She's more than capable of the rank of Magister, but with her mom being in the commitee, it's guaranteed to be an emotionally taxing experience.
 
Codex said:
I have a feeling that Cadaeth can do that, and I did have the crack idea of Mathilde hiring Cadaeth to make sure that Panoramia and Mathilde would have an ideal date in the forest...
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I am just immensely amused by the idea of a 20 metre tall collosus thats older than empire with a moss beard spending the time its not tending to the forest and various critters by planning the most scenic route through local forest sites :V

Cadaeth sadly lacks that air, she makes it sound more raunchy smh.

Boney said:
The plight of the lornalim is based on the unfortunate jarrah, which is a eucalyptus tree that was and still is in pretty significant danger since its wood is very valuable and so is the bauxite that it likes to grow atop.
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I googled for a bit and there are actually fair few mushrooms that are capable of accumulating and synthesing silver and even gold, thought only in absolutely miniscule quantities. Not sure how much prodding they needed from scientist to do so but they exist.

A plant actually drawing gold and silver from the soil is also a thing, with scientists working on it reporting success sometime in 2013.

So while it certainly wouldn't draw up enough to form uh, actual boulders in rootwork, it is actually pretty close to reality, with the major difference being simple scale :V.

Also, can Spites be reasoned with? Could Mathilde theoretically try to entreaty some? I suppose that would be a moot point, they are probably not very useful and are already bound to Laurelorn anyway. I just find Mathilde rolling around with a swarm of them like a treeman hilarious.
 
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Codex said:
Also, is it just me or does Boney have a tendency to mention lunch in every date Mathilde goes on with Panoramia? I think they've gone eating in every single one of them. It's certainly realistic, but I find it somewhat amusing.
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If it lasts a significant portion of the day, it makes sense to include a meal. Mat and Pan seem to prefer long dates.

NSMS said:
Humans think they're special! What a shocking revelation! :V
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Well, we kind of are.
 
Boney said:
Panoramia geeking out about something and Panoramia as a blazing pylon of magical power activate two entirely separate sets of neurons for Mathilde.
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I'm ashamed it took me this long to make this joke, but checking the tags of the quest puts me in the right track.

Panoramia sure puts the pan in Pansexual for Mathilde eh?

Thank you thank you. More jokes coming at you live.
 
pucflek said:
Also, can Spites be reasoned with? Could Mathilde theoretically try to entreaty some? I suppose that would be a moot point, they are probably not very useful and are already bound to Laurelorn anyway. I just find Mathilde rolling around with a swarm of them like a treeman hilarious.
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It was brought up a few updates ago, when we figured out that the enemy army was forest spirits, as only they would trust wild spites to scout, as opposed to the Grey Lords to bound them along with the other spirits of Laurelorn. I think we can deduce from that that yes they can be reasoned with, but they are not very trustworthy if you want them to actually do work for you.
 
Codex said:
I do have to wonder when Panoramia is going to take her Magister exams though. Last social update she expressed her worries and concerns over how much she's delayed it and that she's running out of excuses now that her Patriarch observed and endorsed her work. I would assume it's sometime soon. I'd like for Mathilde to at least stick by her side while she takes the test or after depending on how long it takes. She's more than capable of the rank of Magister, but with her mom being in the commitee, it's guaranteed to be an emotionally taxing experience.
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StormySky said:
And eggplants are... well, their name used to actually make sense, instead of being tacked onto giant purple blobs.
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"Panoramia, if in the course of your Magister's exam you turn yourself into a sapient eggplant know that you will still have my love. Also I could be kinda into it."

"You're not helping Mathilde."
 
Aule said:
That's fair, but I think defining an emotion as a mental state, i.e. something that happens in a mind and separate from purely motor responses to external stimuli is some of the least controversial in that debate. Even when sci-fi authors start considering at which point robots can feel emotions, they typically don't start at toaster level.
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I don't see what science fiction has to do with it. Plants exist, and we're still figuring out the many ways in which they act and communicate and remember. You can bypass the whole debate by setting the bar for emotions so high that most animals can't clear it, but personally I'd see that much wiggle room in what those words actually mean as indicative of fundamental flaws in our vocabulary here. It makes me wonder if the concepts of emotions and intelligence and sentience and sapience are actually built on anything concrete, or if they've been built to exclude vast swathes of lifeforms to let us sleep at night when an entire biosphere suffers for our convenience.

...but that is extremely far afield from the actual point that's being discussed. If anyone doesn't like to think of plants as having feelings, just say to yourself that magic did it.

pucflek said:
Also, can Spites be reasoned with? Could Mathilde theoretically try to entreaty some? I suppose that would be a moot point, they are probably not very useful and are already bound to Laurelorn anyway. I just find Mathilde rolling around with a swarm of them like a treeman hilarious.
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In the same way that a cat can be reasoned with.
 
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Boney said:
...but that is extremely far afield from the actual point that's being discussed. If anyone doesn't like to think of plants as having feelings, just say to yourself that magic did it.
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I admire your general restraint and capability to reason things out such that you can make sense of things in an internally constructive way, because I can tell you if I was in your position I would just say "It's magic I don't have to explain shit" and call it a day.
 
Boney said:
Which dives you deep into the rather existential debate of where one draws the line, and whether there's even a line to be drawn at all that isn't based on pure anthropocentrism. We like to think that we're more than a sum of autonomic responses to external stimuli, but a worrying amount of research would beg to differ.
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Thoughts are a usefully distinct category from reflex twitches, despite their both running on nerves.

Animals are a usefully distinct category from inanimate objects, despite their both running on physics.

Day is a usefully distinct lighting category from night, despite the existence of twilight.

Nobody says: "There's no Agreed Exact Dividing Light Level, so daylight and night aren't meaningfully distinct lighting categories."

So I'd be skeptical of anyone saying: "There's no Agreed Exact Dividing Sophistication Level, so plant responses aren't meaningfully distinct from human emotions."

Are they part of a shared overall continuum? Sure. But not meaningfully distinct categories? Nah.
 
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