Techlevel

[kadani]

I wonder what level of technological development our culture has. Are we talking about nomads who live in stoneage conditions? About the Republic Is from Charles Stross's scifi Glasshouse? About a race of magical beings who never had any need for technology? Something else entirely?

I personally like modern tech and future tech and abhor anything related to magic and fantasy.

[Miatato]

I have had in the back of my mind for a long time now of secret minorities with their own customs and cultures, living among us (on a global scale), trying to elude detection while maintaining their own identities and habits. Or people who shuttle back and forth between this world and an alternate universe.

I may have to work on those descriptions a little bit.

[kadani]

I like the idea of secret minorities.

[Uh-Oh]

[alavda-isere]

[kadani]

I think such a secret minority exists in the form of the worshippers of Sabbatai Zevi are something like this. They pretend to the outside that they are Muslims but keep the Jewish rituals. If such a minority is not defined by race so much as by ideology, it could very well exist.

Just my 0·002 Kitivalha'ny

[Matthew Turnbull]

I always like low tech societies, because then we generally know what we're working with, whereas anything more complex than our own tech level requires thinking up things that we may not understand the workings of.

I like the secret minorities thing, and could totally see it happening, all people would have to do is not tell anyone what/who they are, like secretly being catholic in an athiest crowd or vice versa, sure sometimes you might slip up, but not enough for people to find you out.

Also, as per magic, most cultures believe in some form of magic, but I dunno about supposing that the magic is real.

[Miatato]

I think it is at least plausible that a group might pass under the radar, at least in a very diverse society, or in countries where there are somewhat remote places to settle. Perhaps the minority is known, but very obscure and very poorly documented, due to their reluctance to reveal anything, and maybe also due to a lack of recognition of their existence by government agencies, etc. Maybe they blend in when they live in majority communities, but when they meet privately or live in their own settlements, they dress and behave according to their own customs.

Regarding tech level, I love fantasy and magic, but part of the goal is to create a language usable and useful for us (and anyone else who takes an interest), so broadband is probably more useful than broadsword, at least at this stage.

[Zwangzug]

Maybe they are a diaspora? Some settle nearby others so they can keep track of them, waiting to find their lost homeland.

[PeteBleackley]

I have the idea of a secret subculture within a publicly-known minority.

Members of the subculture select potential recruits from within the community within which the subculture exists, and start teaching them the language, on the understanding that the language is a secret, and that its secrecy helps protect their community in some way. Once they have learnt enough of the language, they are taught (in the language) about the subculture, and initiated into it.

I got the idea from the legend of the statues of Durham Cathedral.