AaronFW wrote:What if the editor(s) of these Fantasy stories is of the opinion that modern readers would expect hay bales in the hayloft and
leaving hay bales out would make the story seem unrealistic. (For an example of this type of thing, here is an article and podcast about doctors using stethoscopes because modern media still portrays doctors always having stethoscopes and people have come to always expect them. The podcast is basically identical to the article; so choose your favorite medium and enjoy:
https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-stethoscope/)
Just to point out that (according to Wikipedia) while up-to-date cardiology may have largely outgrown its use for the stethoscope, for primary care, pediatrics, and physical therapy - which taken together well outnumber cardiology - the stethoscope is still very much in use and probably will be for some time to come, so the idea that the stethoscope is outmoded and may be regarded wholesale as an anachronism is patently incorrect. My own GP uses one to check my lungs and bowels, and it's not for lack of adequate technology, nor do I believe the frankly reckless assertion that he doesn't really know how to use it and simply does so because it makes me "feel reassured". It certainly does not. I think it's just one more pain in the ass.
I never really noticed before, but I'll be seeing the cardiologist today, and I'll make note if he wears one over his neck. If he does, I'll ask him about it and see if he squirms.
This is exactly what I mean by the need for precision in writing: not so much a need for fact-based presentation in storytelling or stagecraft, which of course has some leeway which is part of the art, but the need to apply due precision in language itself (I am in no way suggesting stilted delivery or high vocabulary, here; stilted writing's
my gig, and I think we can all agree that one is plenty enough!
) and, where called for, to likewise apply precision in the matter of day-to-day facts or errors such as the putative "anachronism" of stethoscopes. That sort of blithely careless writing is very much a disservice to the reader, and carried far enough could possibly be dangerous. The counterargument that it's merely entertainment, or that it's always the reader's responsibility to run a fact check on every writer's vanity project, are fatuous assertions in light of the fact that the credulous abound, and it will always be so. As I said earlier, the writer has responsibilities. Without them all we have is spewing that is basically of the same dirty cloth as propaganda.
Anyway, I haven't read the rest of this thread yet because this jumped out at me and I just couldn't ignore the urge to scratch that itch but good. And now, on to the rest...
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician