# Or, Digital Symnoetics The best virtual habitats combine proper scale, consistent design style, and suggest worlds outside of the given scene. A common misconception when designing worlds is that you need to design a complete backstory and history before a single scene. This is only partially correct. Humans are amnesia driven creatures. Our heuristics fill in the gaps of our memory using our imagination. This should be leveraged when building scenes (as opposed to worlds). The scene itself should feel embodied, when the user allows their attention to occupy the entire space, it should be smooth, consistent, and pleasurable. Think of the space as an exoskeleton for the occupant - and ask yourself, is this a good *body*? This is the primary concern. Then, you allow the users imagination to fill in the gaps of the world. Perhaps there is a newspaper article suggesting newfound peace between China and Australia. That's all it suggests, but now the user can infer a massive amount of information. If the scene *feels* sci-fi (no need to rub their face in it), then they know that the Architect is suggesting that, in this future world, Australia and China have some reason for conflict. They also know that Australia and China are powerful enough in the future to actually pose a threat to one another. They can infer that something happened between now and this future wherein Australia had cause to significantly develop themselves as a military power. Then they ask questions - some of which should be answered by the world (but not all). Why did nobody step in to help Australia beat China? Is the USA still around? At this point, the user might look for a map. Its up to you if you want them to find one.