[Data-modeling] Multiple Fictional Universes

[Jeff Prucher]

I just had a thought.  We're using "universe" to mean two different things
here.  The first, and what the type "fictional universe" is currently used
for, refers to the entirety of the milieu of a work or series, which can
include multiple alternate worlds.  The other sense refers to a single
space-time continuum, any number of which might be used in a series.  So my
question is: why not just consider these other continua as Fictional
Settings?  That is, the Star Trek Universe includes as a setting the Mirror
Universe; the DC Comics Multiverse has Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Three
etc. as settings, and so on.

Jeff

> -----Original Message-----
> From: data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com 
> [mailto:data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com] On Behalf Of 
> Gordon Mackenzie
> Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2008 10:19 AM
> To: Freebase data modeling mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Data-modeling] Multiple Fictional Universes
> 
> Here's my initial stab at it with a small spork and plastic knife:
> 
> http://sandbox.freebase.com/type/schema/fictional_universe/fic
> tional_universe
> 
> ~ Gordon
> 
> <<< gordon at metaweb.com >>>
> 
> 
> 
> On Nov 7, 2008, at 8:43 PM, Tadhg O'Higgins wrote:
> 
> > Reaction was generally positive to my suggestion for parent 
> and child 
> > universes for the Fictional Universe type, but I don't think we 
> > managed to solve some of the problems, particularly the 
> issue of where 
> > the "Mirror, Mirror" universe would go. One of the problems arising 
> > out of this would be the necessity of creating a multiverse 
> > parent-universe topic to hold the original the "Mirror, Mirror" 
> > universe, which seems rather heavier than is friendly.
> >
> > My revised suggestion here is to add a "Sibling Universe" 
> property as 
> > well as "Parent Universe" and "Sub-universe". This would 
> let users add 
> > the "Mirror, Mirror" universe as a sibling of the main line, rather 
> > than having to create a parent and then add it as a child. 
> This would 
> > also let users see prominent alternate universes such as 
> this one on 
> > the topic page for the main universe, rather than having to 
> go to its 
> > parent.
> >
> > Thoughts?
> >
> > Tadhg
> >
> >> How should we treat fictional universes within other fictional 
> >> universes? Or "alternate universes" within, e.g., the Star Trek 
> >> universe?
> >>
> >> My initial thought is to have "Parent Universe" and "Sub-universes"
> >> properties, but I'm not sure they cover all the cases. In 
> addition, 
> >> we might run into the problem of having to use the Star 
> Trek universe 
> >> as a hold-all, containing both the "main" Star Trek 
> universe (which 
> >> most people will want to see data about when they arrive 
> at the page) 
> >> and also the minor alternate universes (e.g. from 
> >> <http://www.freebase.com/view/guid/
> >> 9202a8c04000641f800000000021eea5>) as
> >> separate topics connected as sub-universes.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts on how these relationships should be handled?
> >>
> >> Tadhg
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