What makes up a conworld?

[Veris]

I wanna create a list of subjects pertinent to conworlds. An exhaustive list, which is why I ask your aid (I won't be able to be exhaustive, myself). We don't have to limit ourselves to widely-applicable subjects; specific subjects are okay, so long as someone other than yourself alone would likely explore the subject as well. Thus "Fashion" is okay, even though some conpeoples won't have such a concept, but "Tailwear" (the manner in which some sort of conpeoples which have tails decorate said appendage) is too specific. I myself will use "sentients" in place of "conpeoples," because it is easier to write over and over again.

Da List
Agriculture: The things sentients raise and farm and the methods and tools they use therefor.
Architecture: The style and design of building sentients engage in.
Art: And it's many, many permutations.
Astronomy: The nature of the universe outside a conworld and its sentients study thereof.
Biology: The way life works in a conworld and sentients study thereof.
Birth: The manner in which sentients treat birth, including any rites/rituals/etc.
Botany: The cataloguing of plant life in a conworld.
Chemistry: The sorts of chemicals in a conworld and its sentients understanding thereof.
Construction: The manner in which sentients construct buildings.
Cosmology: The fundamental makeup of the universe in which a conworld exists.
Cuisine: What sentients prepare to eat and how they prepare it.
Culture: As in conculture.
Death: How sentients deal with death, whether their own or that of other creatures.
Economy: (comma) stupid!
Fashion: The styles of dress that sentients develop.
Games: The games sentients have devised.
Geography: The look of the present landmasses in a conworld, as well as the artificial things (cities, etc.) on them.
Geology: How landmasses form and change in a conworld.
Government: How sentients organize themselves. Includes subsets such as Law, Crime, etc.
History: Large-scale and small.
Industry: The ways in which sentients mass-produce things.
Infrastructure: The manner in which sentients get resources to and waste away from masses of themselves.
Language: As in conlangs.
Literature: The things sentients write, including all styles they've formulated (poetry, novel, etc.).
Logistics: The manner in which goods are gotten from where they originate to where they're desired.
Marraige: The customs sentients form around pairing and mating.
Mathematics: How sentients deal with numbers.
Medicine: The ways sentients understand and treat ailments.
Metallurgy: The things sentients make out of metals and the methods they use therefor.
Meteorology: The nature of a conworlds atmosphere and sentients study thereof.
Minerology: The minerals (including precious gems) of a conworld and the things sentients do with them.
Music: The music sentients play and the instruments they use therefor.
People: Famous and influential sentients.
Philosophy: And its various permutations.
Physics: The fundamental forces of a conworld and sentients study thereof.
Politics: *shudders*
Psychology: The study of the mental phenomenon of individual sentients.
Religion: Dun-dun-DUUUN!
Science: Though several specific sciences are named in this list, sentients treatment of science in general.
Sociology: The gestalt mental phenomenon of groups of sentients.
Sports: The physical games sentients engage in.
Technology: Like Science above, the general subject of study for sentients.
Textiles: The cloth things sentients create, how they create them and who uses them and for what.
Transportation: The means and methods of conveyance sentients have developed.
War: Huh! Good God, ya'll!
Writing: How and what sentients choose to record in writing.
Zoology: The cataloguing of organic life in a conworld.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot. Oh, and each one goes both ways; in-world and out-world. What I mean is, by "Biology," for example, I mean both the Biology of your conworld from your perspective and from your conpeoples perspective.

[Ainuke]

This is just what I've been looking for.

[Vaiseia]

Magic?

[xinda]

If you want it.

[zelos]

When I read Science then sociology I thought it said for a moment "Scientology" XD

[Veris]

Hmm. I think I'm going about this the wrong way. See, I wanted to make this list for my own purposes, to try and stab at my conning systematically, instead of randomly like I normally do. The idea is to take any one of the elements on the list and think about it for each conpeoples and conworld of mine. But I'm not sure that's the best way to go about it. Perhaps I should start from nothing; imagine an empty universe, and how I might categorize it as it came into being. Such a list of points of interest to a conner might look like this...

Das Listszen Zwei
Inorganic Catalogue: A list of all non-organic things in a conworld. From elementary particles up to every specific kind of metal.
Inorganic Superstructure: A list of the grandest-scale organization of inorganic things. For example, in the real world, our inorganic superstructure is that of planets circling stars, grouped into galaxies which themselves form galactic clusters. In my own Bluestar, it's of continents floating in a particle sea around a central "sun" like light source.
Inorganic Substructure: A detailing of the individual constituent parts that make up the superstructure; what's a "planet?" What's a "star?" What are their surface features, makeup, and so forth.
Organic Catalogue: A list of all organic life in a conworld. From bacterium to human-like creatures to gods (even if they aren't, strictly speaking, "organic").
Organic Biostructure: How does organic life actually work? Do creatures eat? Get energy from sunlight? Need energy at all? etc.
Organic Sociostructure: How do organic lifeforms organize themselves? Cultures, religions, politics, tradition, art forms, etc.

Starting from this, and sub-dividing as needed, seems more useful than the previous list. Though that list certainly has its uses. That list is more of a checklist, I think -- once you've got a conworld, go through that list and you just might come across something and go, "Oh jeeze, I never thought of that! How do my people deal with mathematics?" or something. This new list is a list to be starting from, to generate from; "Okay, what's all the stuff that makes up my universe? How is it organized? How are its organized parts further organized? What about life forms? etc."

[Tanni]

Hmm. I think I'm going about this the wrong way. See, I wanted to make this list for my own purposes, to try and stab at my conning systematically, instead of randomly like I normally do. The idea is to take any one of the elements on the list and think about it for each conpeoples and conworld of mine. But I'm not sure that's the best way to go about it. Perhaps I should start from nothing; imagine an empty universe, and how I might categorize it as it came into being. Such a list of points of interest to a conner might look like this...

The systematic approach is not always the best one, especially if things get really complex. There are even randomized algorithms.

''... imagine an empty universe, and how I might categorize it as it came into being.'' Megalomaniac, eh? You have a strange desire to categorize, maybe this already counts as a mental disorder?

Starting from this, and sub-dividing as needed, seems more useful than the previous list. Though that list certainly has its uses. That list is more of a checklist, I think -- once you've got a conworld, go through that list and you just might come across something and go, "Oh jeeze, I never thought of that! How do my people deal with mathematics?" or something. This new list is a list to be starting from, to generate from; "Okay, what's all the stuff that makes up my universe? How is it organized? How are its organized parts further organized? What about life forms? etc."

Laplace's demon?

Even if it's your (con)people, do you think that there's only one answer to this? Even in normal life, different people have varying attitudes to one and the same thing. Most likely, at least if it should be realistic, all possibilities will be taken, sooner or later, even if there is some external force for a certain attitude. If you grant your conpeople free will, then questions like ''How do my people deal with mathematics?'' are quite pointless. And if you don't, what's the point in making up your own universe?

[eldin raigmore]

Google (and other search engines) around for various near-synonymous search terms.
http://www.writing-world.com/sf/world.shtml is possibly not the best, certainly not the only. But I think it's almost certainly good -- better, probably, than what you've got so far -- and probably good enough.

[Tyhoeciyh]

Wow! Above all else, a list like this is needed; should be stickied.

I love to see people add to this!