Should research questions be allowed?

Question

Proposal: Worldbuilding

neilfein's answer to another question here got me thinking. He brought up several points about what he has called "Research Questions". (Neil, correct me if I'm wrong or misinterpreting anything about what you said.)

In short a research question is one where the asker is trying to get information so they can build their world better, as opposed to questions about the worldbuilding process itself.

Some examples of research questions from the current list:

• What are the hottest and coldest temperatures that can still support human life?
• Under what social and technological conditions would space piracy be practical?
• Is it physically plausible for twin planets to form in orbit around each other (e.g., if the Moon were the size of the Earth)? Do we know of any yet?

Some examples of non-research questions from the current list:

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of common map projections for doing world design?
• What needs to be taken into account to ensure a created magic system is balanced, believable and yet simple enough to not be a burden?
• What would be a practical way for a creator to keep track of generations in a fictional world population?

In the page on the writer's stack exchange that Neil's answer refers to, there's a very salient point that says:

Our primary goal is to be an expert community of writers, not an expert community of anything and everything a writer could write about.

Were we to follow the example of the writing stack exchange, we should ban research questions like this.

But I don't think this is going to be so simple. I think there are pros and cons to each side, and honestly, I think picking the wrong choice could ruin the site (and especially if we pick wrong, and are never willing to reconsider).

So I want to bring this specific point up for discussion. How do we feel about allowing research questions?

Answer 1

Wait a minute! I thought that research questions were the main reason why this SE group exists! After all world building is 95% research and 5% everything else. Actually, I'm deeply disturbed even by the idea that this kind of stuff should be moved elsewhere.

Besides, almost no answer here will be definitive. Unlike say biology.SE, there're additional avenues to visit, different what-if scenarios to explore. "Dune" fremens were able to overcome issues related to lack of water and heat. It's something that perfectly suits this group but totally off topic on biology.SE.

Answer 2

In my opinion research questions are appropriate moreover absolutely welcomed. The goal here is to gain information about topics covered by different areas of expertise to create believable and coherent worlds. There are lots of different forums of worldbuilding to speak about the process or share ideas. This could be a Q&A site, and when we talk about world, we talk about every aspect of it, like geology, medicine, astronomy, social issues, etc. So questions about these are valid. Experts of different fields could answer questions quickly, which could need several days to understand for an author by researching. And even if this is a community of creative writers, everyone could have some kind of knowledge, which is worth to share. For example as an IT expert I could answer the questions: Is hacking an alien computer system plausible? (Yes, within several months, if not years).

Answer 3

I think your three examples of "research questions" fall into three different categories and should be dealt with differently:

• What are the hottest and coldest temperatures that can still support human life?

This is a question that can have a definitive, scientific answer in the Biology.SE, and the answer should probably be asked (or at least migrated) there. This sort of question should NOT be asked on Worldbuilding.SE.

• Under what social and technological conditions would space piracy be practical?

This question has a very diverse set of answers, but is definitely answerable as a part of worldbuilding. Its primary answers will be grounded in fictional precedent, not in scientific research. This sort of question SHOULD be asked on Worldbuilding.SE.

• Is it physically plausible for twin planets to form in orbit around each other (e.g., if the Moon were the size of the Earth)? Do we know of any yet?

Similar to the previous question, it doesn't have a definitive scientific answer; but although this is a question that could be conceivably answered by speculators on the Astronomy.SE, the answer could potentially require more attention to fictional precedent than a science answer site could provide. This sort of question SHOULD be asked on Worldbuilding.SE, though it should be clarified to learn whether they want to know from a fictional or scientific perspective, and moved if the latter is true.