Bear:
"Surely your radio would need some sort of translating device? Unless of course we all talk the same language in your world?"
I dunno, it can be rather nice to listen to the sounds of voices without the distraction of knowing what they're saying. Okay, I'll give you a button which gives you the option of translating (and a dial for selecting the language you want it to be translated into - interesting results to be achieved by holding it halfway between two langs) but it has to retain the original voice. This includes bird song.
2. The Ultimate, Uncontestable Catalogue of Guilt. A database of blame. Tells you just how guilty every individual, every family, every village, town, city, county, nation, continent, race and creed that ever existed is, who they are indebted to and in what proportions. Works by looking at the whole of human history in the highest resolution possible, breaking it all down into individual acts by individual people (each act must be verified, so this will require time travel - you can't rely on anecdotal evidence, memories, legend etc) and awarding points accordingly.
Every act of unpleasantness commited by an individual will be rated and added to that individual's guilt score, and tagged with the i.d. of the aggrieved person or persons. Extra points are added or deducted for extenuating circumstances, context, etc. A nation's net guilt is the sum of its citizens individual scores. More complex guilt relationships require more complicated analysis (eg Britain might have a bigger total guilt than Germany, but Germany's guilt debt to Britain might be greater than Britain's guilt debt to Germany). By recording the i.d., nationality, alliegences etc of all parties involved in the unpleasant act, these can be worked out. You can also work out a person's ancestral guilt, and whose descendants they should be most apologetic to. |
