Bit of sci-fi World building.

[NuclearFairy]

The setting would be sci-fi, set in an at population capacity place.

Basically everyone makes a mandatory sperm or egg donation when they hit their peak physical maturity. Those that want kids go on a waiting list. How many kids they've raised/are raising would put them on different priority lists. Those that want to be a surrogate but don't want to raise kids go onto a different availability list.

Defective cells are eliminated at collection. When someone dies their sample is then matched up with the most compatible match available.

If someone were to die before they leave a donation behind them their parents will be matched up once again to produce a full blooded sibling. A sample will only be discarded when all children produced by the sample have given their own donation, and the sample must've been used at least once.

I don't know what sort of story could be built around this, I just thought it was a bit of an interesting idea and maybe someone could run with it.

 

[AlinaX]

You might enjoy my Sex Booth series for a rather bland utopian vision.

 

[Rob_Royale]

It sounds very emotionless. The trick here would be putting emotion into it.
Maybe a couple in love continue to produce defective embryos. Something as simple as a genetic disposition to heart disease. So the controlling regime suggests sterilization of the male (as its his chromosomes at fault) and she take a new lover or lovers. She's getting into her late thirties and the biological clock is ticking.

What will the couple do? You could make it a standard cuckold story or perhaps an adventure where they go to great lengths to cleanse his DNA of the genetic anomaly. Using a machine created by a near-mad scientist, they try to fix the issue. The sperm is extracted from the man (very fleshlight-ish) and the sample is placed into a machine which correct the issue, and then the machine implants his cleansed sperm (very phallically) inside the woman.

What could go wrong, right?

 

[StillStunned]

It's the kind of worldbuilding that should probably not make it onto the page. Sorry, but unless it's a significant part of the plot, it would be very difficult to make it interesting for the reader.

(I say this having ploughed through several of Robert A. Heinlein's more uninteresting sociological explorations masquerading as sci-fi adventure novels.)

 

[NuclearFairy]

It's the kind of worldbuilding that should probably not make it onto the page. Sorry, but unless it's a significant part of the plot, it would be very difficult to make it interesting for the reader.

(I say this having ploughed through several of Robert A. Heinlein's more uninteresting sociological explorations masquerading as sci-fi adventure novels.)

Most of my world building doesn't make it onto the page.

Sometimes it leads to me forgetting what my readers know and so leads to my SO asking confused questions. XD

 

[StillStunned]

I did that in "The Rivals". I edited out a line in Chapter 3 that meant the climax in Chapter 5 felt like a deus ex machina.

 

[NuclearFairy]

It can be tricky sometimes, knowing what to put in the story and what to leave behind the scenes.

 

[Rob_Royale]

It can be tricky sometimes, knowing what to put in the story and what to leave behind the scenes.

Very true. You weave just enough into the story to set the scene, but not enough to bog down the story.

 

[LupusDei]

Okay, so it's a space station. Huge, tens of millions of souls, AI-s not counted. The population is fixed at replacement, or that's what everyone's being told, but the section 5 of the outer quarters haven't ever been repaired after the meteor storm twenty years ago. Dad is an immigrant, an engineer of rare specialty, mom is local, and basically housewife doing a keep busy make work work at half occupation. Daughter is still in education but is receiving perks above her status from the System for unexplainable reasons... actually being groomed by a Powerful Evil Man, but yet to comprehend the implications.

 

[Carnevil9]

......I don't know what sort of story could be built around this, I just thought it was a bit of an interesting idea and maybe someone could run with it.

Stories like this generally focus on some young rebel who sees the flaws in the system that nobody else sees. And then goes about fighting it. (Logan's Run, Harrison Bergeron, etc.)

 

[Britva415]

Basically everyone makes a mandatory sperm or egg donation when they hit their peak physical maturity.

Why?

When someone dies their sample is then matched up with the most compatible match available.

Why?

If someone were to die before they leave a donation behind them their parents will be matched up once again to produce a full blooded sibling. A sample will only be discarded when all children produced by the sample have given their own donation, and the sample must've been used at least once.

Why?

There seem to be a lot of unstated assumptions here, which aren’t coming across. Does this society somehow promise or expect or value that each living person should contribute to the future’s genetic diversity? Is this “parenthood-for-everyone” concept supposed to prevent people from jumping the line and conceiving illicitly by ensuring that their gametes are guaranteed to yield spawn at some point?

What is the storytelling potential here which is absent from a story with a less complicated scheme to limit the reproduction rate? (I assume that that is what the goal is, since the population is at capacity, but it’s not even really clear to me that that is what the scheme you describe would achieve.)

What would the conflict be, in a story in this setting?

I don’t know if you already have that part figured out or not. But it would come before world-building.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Why?

To get the fittest donations.

Why?
Why?

Replacement.

There seem to be a lot of unstated assumptions here, which aren’t coming across. Does this society somehow promise or expect or value that each living person should contribute to the future’s genetic diversity? Is this “parenthood-for-everyone” concept supposed to prevent people from jumping the line and conceiving illicitly by ensuring that their gametes are guaranteed to yield spawn at some point?

Pretty much to keep genetic diversity going without having to worry about whole sections of the population simply not wanting to reproduce.

What is the storytelling potential here which is absent from a story with a less complicated scheme to limit the reproduction rate? (I assume that that is what the goal is, since the population is at capacity, but it’s not even really clear to me that that is what the scheme you describe would achieve.)

What would the conflict be, in a story in this setting?

I don’t know if you already have that part figured out or not. But it would come before world-building.

That is the question. Sometimes I get little bits of ideas for a world that doesn't fit into any of the stories currently floating around in my head, and I can't see how to spring a story off of it.

With this one I decided to drop it into this forum and see if it sparked an idea for someone.

 

[Britva415]

To get the fittest donations.

Replacement.

Pretty much to keep genetic diversity going without having to worry about whole sections of the population simply not wanting to reproduce.

That is the question. Sometimes I get little bits of ideas for a world that doesn't fit into any of the stories currently floating around in my head, and I can't see how to spring a story off of it.

With this one I decided to drop it into this forum and see if it sparked an idea for someone.

Ah, I see - so everyone doesn’t get to reproduce. Or even fuck, from the sound of it - all conception is happening in a government lab and being implanted in surrogates?

Well there you have it - the conflict is between the authorities and people who just want to play - or conceive on their own.

I imagine there would be a pretty vigorous Resistance Movement in such a world. Maybe they ritualize sex or operate clandestine love spas or something

 

[NuclearFairy]

Ah, I see - so everyone doesn’t get to reproduce. Or even fuck, from the sound of it - all conception is happening in a government lab and being implanted in surrogates?

Supposedly everyone gets to reproduce. Raising kids on the other hand...

As for the fucking, well if there's some super sci-fi birth-control with 100% effectiveness then fucking might still happen.

Well there you have it - the conflict is between the authorities and people who just want to play - or conceive on their own.

I imagine there would be a pretty vigorous Resistance Movement in such a world. Maybe they ritualize sex or operate clandestine love spas or something

That's more than possible.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Perhaps a non-erotic tale is a woman or a family learning that the birth control isn’t 100% effective, ‘merely’ 99.993% (or some other such number, scaled to population), and their trials and tribulations dealing with their experience upsetting the societal-expectation apple cart.

A nasty, evil variant would follow the same tale, but include the rebels trying to break the current system by mucking up the birth control. Sociopathy at a minimum.

On a different note, the potential of 100% (real or advertised) birth control might make this place a hedonistic vacation destination - ‘the Land of Infinite Fucks’, or free-use, C/NC, or taboo of whichever flavor tickles your gherkin. (Jerking your pickle? Whichever.)

If cloning, biological replicants, or similar tech is also available, the conflict to fill life support capacity with desired replicas vs worker bees vs tourists could get ‘interesting’

 

[AlinaX]

I like @LupusDei’s suggestion of a space station but how about a generational spaceship on a long voyage to a new home. Population size is strictly controlled for resources, and for those who live and work in the outer part of the spaceship the cosmic radiation means life is relatively short.

Children are raised in the heavily shielded interior. Eggs & sperm are harvested on reaching adulthood, after which men are given vasectomies. One in five women are selected to be breeders / nurses / hydroponic farmers and they live their lives in the interior, averaging about ten children each at a rate of one child every fifteen months.

There is no easy way to move between interior and exterior. The spaceship is like a cigar in a tube, with both rotating at different speeds to maintain standard gravity.

Childhood sweethearts, Eric and Irene, are separated when Irene is selected for a life in the interior. They talk every night. Irene encourages Eric to tell her every detail of his life, even the details of who he has fucked and how. Irene’s vicarious enjoyment of this lets Eric enjoy what would otherwise be meaningless sex.

 

[LupusDei]

I like @LupusDei’s suggestion of a space station but how about a generational spaceship on a long voyage to a new home. Population size is strictly controlled for resources, and for those who live and work in the outer part of the spaceship the cosmic radiation means life is relatively short.

Children are raised in the heavily shielded interior. Eggs & sperm are harvested on reaching adulthood, after which men are given vasectomies. One in five women are selected to be breeders / nurses / hydroponic farmers and they live their lives in the interior, averaging about ten children each at a rate of one child every fifteen months.

There is no easy way to move between interior and exterior. The spaceship is like a cigar in a tube, with both rotating at different speeds to maintain standard gravity.

Childhood sweethearts, Eric and Irene, are separated when Irene is selected for a life in the interior. They talk every night. Irene encourages Eric to tell her every detail of his life, even the details of who he has fucked and how. Irene’s vicarious enjoyment of this lets Eric enjoy what would otherwise be meaningless sex.

Were imagined broadly the same setting, only I didn't state a purpose for the station-ship to exist.

The geography...

The inner core is relatively small, albeit potentially quite long O-Neils cylinder, with a simulated outdoors environment on the inner surface, illuminated by a linear sun along the axis of rotation (note, microgravity region exist in the air mass near it, giving options if some quite extreme pastime attractions like flap-wing flying, potentially observable from the surface just a few to dozen kilometers away. Only seriously privileged live there in private mansions extending underground, but otherwise it is dedicated to recreational activities and "wildlife" preserve. Where you go on vacation once in a long while. You can go truly naked there, unlike outer quarters.

Undercore is the body of the cylinder, that's where all the centralized services and institutions are dwelling, including all the reproductive systems, it is quite thick and very indoors all throughout. Note, as lower-out you go, rotational gravity increases.

Water core engulfs the cylinder, giving it the radiation protection it needs to be the ark ship it is.

Outer core is industrial and farming areas, it spins with different, slower rate than the inner core, most of it is heavily automated and autonomous, but need maintenance and oversight.

Finally there's outer quarters, satelite towns mounted by a half dozen or so on separate ring arms that rotate slower still. Each pod broadly offers most necessary services locally, along with local shielding, with isn't near as bulky or protective as the core. Bulk of population lives there, moderately exposed to interstellar background radiation and thus need to wear a second skin, a protective layer sprinkled right on the body. That need periodicall replacement, with is quite involved operation as it is chemically dissolved, the skin is nurtured and then the new one is sprayed on robotically, a whole-day spa assignment. While most opt for simpler cheaper and more durable plain or slightly patterned models, the upper class and fancier types make them a fashion statement, including the "obscene" transparent models. Only in the inner core true nudity is seen as healthy and it bears a taboo nature not unlike modern society, but having your second skin exposed is not a big deal anywhere, and thus gender segregation in outer areas is minimal if any (note also the near-perfect birth control imposed on those areas). However there's an undercurrent that associate nudity with privilege.

Traveling, you can easily go from pod to pod on the same ring of outer quarters along the perimeter rings. You can go "up" the ring leg to the outer core, but you will end up in synchronization halfway circling it, not necessarily very near a place you want to visit. Different rings rotate at slightly different speeds off-phase to avoid resonance effects that could stress the structure. Thus, going to another ring is all the way up, then down that ring's arm, or alternatively, take a dingy and fly over along the outside, faster, but not cheap.

Outer to inner core, you will need to enter inner core along one of the ends, front or aft. Not necessarily a very long travel, but involved, what with all the security checks, quarantine and dust deactivation...

 

[Statius]

Someone asked 'where is the emotion?'. I think leaving it cold and clinical, as the situation would be for those involved, would be the right way to go, at least for the narration. Maybe internal turmoil for an MC, but that would be it. Could almost go 1984 with it. Either way it would a take a far better writer than I to pull a story like this off. Interesting idea though Nuclear!

 

[LupusDei]

I like @LupusDei’s suggestion of a space station but how about a generational spaceship on a long voyage to a new home. Population size is strictly controlled for resources, and for those who live and work in the outer part of the spaceship the cosmic radiation means life is relatively short.

Children are raised in the heavily shielded interior. Eggs & sperm are harvested on reaching adulthood, after which men are given vasectomies. One in five women are selected to be breeders / nurses / hydroponic farmers and they live their lives in the interior, averaging about ten children each at a rate of one child every fifteen months.

There is no easy way to move between interior and exterior. The spaceship is like a cigar in a tube, with both rotating at different speeds to maintain standard gravity.

Childhood sweethearts, Eric and Irene, are separated when Irene is selected for a life in the interior. They talk every night. Irene encourages Eric to tell her every detail of his life, even the details of who he has fucked and how. Irene’s vicarious enjoyment of this lets Eric enjoy what would otherwise be meaningless sex.

Were imagined broadly the same setting, only I didn't state a purpose for the station-ship to exist.

The geography... as it might or not be...

The inner core is relatively small, albeit potentially quite long O-Neils cylinder, with a simulated outdoors environment on the inner surface, illuminated by a linear sun along the axis of rotation (note, microgravity region exist in the air mass near it, giving options if some quite extreme pastime attractions like flap-wing flying, potentially observable from the surface just a few to dozen kilometers away. Only seriously privileged live there in private mansions extending underground, but otherwise it is dedicated to recreational activities and "wildlife" preserve. Where you go on vacation once in a long while. You can go truly naked there, unlike outer quarters.

Undercore is the body of the cylinder, that's where all the centralized services and institutions are dwelling, including all the reproductive systems, it is quite thick and very indoors all throughout. Note, as lower-out you go, rotational gravity increases.

Water core engulfs the cylinder, giving it the radiation protection it needs to be the ark ship it is.

Outer core is industrial and farming areas, it spins with different, slower rate than the inner core, most of it is heavily automated and autonomous, but need maintenance and oversight.

Finally there's outer quarters, satelite towns mounted by a half dozen or so on separate ring arms that rotate slower still. Each pod broadly offers most necessary services locally, along with local shielding, with isn't near as bulky or protective as the core. Bulk of population lives there, moderately exposed to interstellar background radiation and thus need to wear a second skin, a protective layer sprinkled right on the body. That need periodicall replacement, with is quite involved operation as it is chemically dissolved, the skin is nurtured and then the new one is sprayed on robotically, a whole-day spa assignment. While most opt for simpler cheaper and more durable plain or slightly patterned models, the upper class and fancier types make them a fashion statement, including the "obscene" transparent models. Only in the inner core true nudity is seen as healthy and it bears a taboo nature not unlike modern society, but having your second skin exposed is not a big deal anywhere, and thus gender segregation in outer areas is minimal if any (note also the near-perfect birth control imposed on those areas). However there's an undercurrent that associate nudity with privilege.

Traveling, you can easily go from pod to pod on the same ring of outer quarters along the perimeter rings. The distance may be substantial, but it's tube-train so it is relatively fast. You can go "up" the ring leg to the outer core, but you will end up in synchronization hallways circling it in microgravity, not necessarily very near a place you want to visit right away. Different rings rotate at slightly different speeds off-phase to avoid resistance effects that could stress the structure. Thus, going to another ring is all the way up, into the outer core, along it, out again, then down that ring's arm, or alternatively, take a dingy and fly over along the outside, faster, but not cheap.

Outer to inner core, you will need to enter inner core along one of the ends, front or aft. Not necessarily a very long travel, but involved, what with all the security checks, quarantine and dust deactivation...

 

[LupusDei]

The geography... as it might or not be...

Note that this architecture implies the ship is spending most time coasting without noticeable acceleration/braking. If it isn't an orbital platform built in place, it had, and will have to undergo significant maneuvers eventually. That's when you rather are in a pod that can swing whole on the perimeter ring, not in the core where you suddenly walk on walls unless a inner local module can rotate 90° too. Anyway, your inner core cylinder becomes a colossal skyscraper with wide central atrium when the engines work at full speed. I doubt anything would stop rotating though, stopping and spinning it all up again would be too much energy and risk.

(Actually, the optimal travel profile for manned flight would be ~1g acceleration to midway, then flip and brake at same the rest of the path, automatically providing constant inertial gravity pointing towards the thrusters end uniformly throughout the structure, but that requires enough fuel for constant trust for the duration... that's likely measured in centuries... not easily to supply. So a coasting ship makes sense, albeit it will be very slow

 

[AlinaX]

I love the details of your vision. I really enjoy thinking through spaceship designs.

I think if you have an O’Neill cylinder, the diameter will be large enough that gravity variation with depth is not significant.

Also, the more complex the geometry of the ship, the harder it is to accelerate, not just from a fuel perspective but also from a design strength aspect. Especially if you’re talking 1g, i.e., standard Earth gravity, because then you’re arguing the spaceship should be able to stand on its base on the surface of the Earth.

Honestly, even 0.1g when sustained will give you decent performance, and you could even design landscapes resilient to such small axial accelerations.

 

[EbersMoll]

I love the details of your vision. I really enjoy thinking through spaceship designs.

I think if you have an O’Neill cylinder, the diameter will be large enough that gravity variation with depth is not significant.

Also, the more complex the geometry of the ship, the harder it is to accelerate, not just from a fuel perspective but also from a design strength aspect. Especially if you’re talking 1g, i.e., standard Earth gravity, because then you’re arguing the spaceship should be able to stand on its base on the surface of the Earth.

Honestly, even 0.1g when sustained will give you decent performance, and you could even design landscapes resilient to such small axial accelerations.

As a rule of thumb, an acceleration of 0.1g will get you to 0.1C in about one year.

 

[UsuallyPresent]

Happily, there are differences between 'standing' and 'dangling' on the Earth.

Compression vs tension have radically different design requirements - so if your primary thrust comes from pushing at the back (compression) or pulling from the front (tension) you can have significantly different designs.

Now, a rocket or other mass-throwing force provider is harder to do safely from the front of the object, lots of wasted energy is needed to get the nasty energetic 'exhaust' away from your living space, but scifi has speculated plenty of other potential options from Alcubierre bubbles to inertial control to all sorts of other weirdness. Figure what you want to show and make the science fit the fiction, in service of a good story.

 

[AlinaX]

If you have a compact design, then yes, but as soon as you talk about multiple wheels/cylinders, then you have to consider how the thrust is transferred.

But you’re right that overthinking the engineering can get in the way of the story. It’s only sci-fi nerds like me that will get distracted by the physics.

 

[Carnevil9]

.... Compression vs tension have radically different design requirements.....

I'm not sure I agree. Most engineering materials (steel, aluminum, etc) have pretty much the same strength in tension as in compression. That's why in a truss, tension members and compression members look exactly the same.