Cognitive Convenience

 I saw this post the other day, and figured it needs some unpacking.


It's a really interesting idea, and it's something that I've described in the form of an "accepted shorthand". If a story is set in the current world, an author doesn't need to provide all the necessary information because the reader can be assumed to know the basic context for the narrative... they know that gravity works and how it generally affects things, but they don't need to know the scientific reasons why... they know that money can be used to buy things, but don't need a degree in finance.

Cognitive convenience is actually pretty cool because it lets people generally get on board with things quickly, and then focus on the differences that might actually be pertinent to the story. Much the same applies to RPG sessions. If we can use some short-hands by saying... it's just like this movie, or it's like that TV series, but with a bit of that thrown in... then we get everyone into a space of shared imagination that has a common grounding. We've got various elements of the session (Players/Rules/GM) all working together on a certain feature of the imagined world and we don't have an added layers of creative tension struggling between them in ways that cause unwanted friction outside the intended tensions of play. 

I don't care if there are potatoes on Middle Earth, unless the presence of potatoes on Middle Earth is a fundamental aspect of the story. I don't care if they're actually a type of yam, and the hobbits just call them potatoes. Just get it over and done with, and move on with the story.

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