From:	"S.F. Eley" <sfeley@******.DIGEX.NET>
Subject:	Rationalizing Dead Zones: Round 1
Date:	Fri, 25 Jun 1993 14:19:21 -0400

>
> But that's the problem that I have. I have not seen a rational justification of
> these 'dead zones'. If there is such a justification, then I would love to see
> it. I myself have not been able to come up with one so I will not use the idea
> of dead zones and will continue to point out the flaws in them.
>


(NOTE: I'm making this up as I sit here so if it's inconsistent or stupid,
please correct me w/out flaming.)

Alright. Let's take on the idea of dynamic reality here. Magic already
incorporates this (see Crowley's definition of magick) so it's got at least
SOME justification in a Shadowrun universe.

Quantum theory states that the observer is vital to whatever process is being
observed. If something happens in another room, and you don't have any way
of verifying to anyone that it happened, then as far as reality is concerned
it didn't quite happen. The most that can be said is that it MAYBE happened.
Until it's observed, it's only a probability wave, with several options open
simultaneously.

The Greeks made many astounding scientific and technological advances, which
then became real to them, but as far as they were concerned today's reality
(or the Shadowrun reality) is a "probability wave." You couldn't use Greek
concepts and theory to prove television. To them, TV or tri-vid was
impossible. And it remained impossible until the "discovery" of the CRT by
Young, the applications of radio waves by Marconi, et al. Pirsig mentions
this in the first few chapters of _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_:
there's no point in debating whether, say, the inverse-square law of gravity
even EXISTED before it was "discovered" and observed. The very act of
Newton's deriving it might have made it reality.

How does this relate? Well, let's say the Dead Zones are catchholds on an
earlier or alternate "reality." That before man learned to harness electric
forces, the electron didn't EXIST and electricity was impossible. When it
manifested in nature, it did so because of Greek elemental theory, animistic
theory, or simply because "that's nature." The unexplained happens all the
time. But if it isn't explained or studied, it doesn't have to follow rules.

Thus, tech doesn't work in the Dead Zones because the laws and principles
that enable it don't exist there. You can say it's a throwback to an earlier
age of our Earth, or an intrusion from an alternate "reality" where it might
be 2050 but things didn't advance -- it works the same either way. Things DO
work the way they should in the natural world, because the natural world has
always been observed. It's been "real" for all of mankind's history. And
things DO work the way the ancient Greeks would expect them to, because those
principles and ideas HAVE been discovered in the Dead Zone and are "real."

Obvious question: Why the ancient Greeks? Well, that era in history was
a time of many scientific advances being made in a very compressed span of
time. (Compared to the tens of thousands of years of primitivism before it.)
It was, in a sense, a technological "singularity" which changed man's society
and understanding of reality thoroughly, and almost overnight. Perhaps the
suddenness and severity of the Greek reality change left it as a "marker."
By the time of Shadowrun, there have been several more singularities, of which
the largest by far, of course, was the Awakening. The Awakening was such a
quick and massive reality change that it might possibly have left tears in the
local fabric of reality itself due to the magic involved. These holes would
be wide open for another singularity to interact with them, and impinge its
own reality -- and apparently the most appropriate one for the purpose is the
Golden Age of Greece. Why not? If the Earth really IS using these to heal
Herself, as the writer of the article suggested, then She could easily provide
the energetic stress needed to explain the reality breakdown.


That's my theory. Adapt it or argue with it as you please; I'd be
interested to hear other thoughts. It doesn't necessarily explain EVERTHING-
for instance, if Awakening-style magic wasn't a part of Greek reality, why
does it work in a Dead Zone?--but at least it's something to work off of.
Inconsistencies could be explained by tweaking the theory. (E.g., magic works
because the Awakening is directly responsible for the Dead Zones and can
substitute some of its own reality.)

Also note that this gives an opportunity to play even further with the Dead
Zone concept. What about a reality where magic didn't work either? Or where
technology was pre-Greek and animistic? Or a future reality, where things
that are impossible now could be proven to work? (That would require a lot
of development and maybe a few relics.) The possibilities are many --
probably too many for a good Shadowrun campaign. I like the Dead Zones idea,
and doubt that I'll mess around with it much.

But if you want to, there's your rationalization.

_TNX._