Plausible?

[AnyaKimlin]

Is it plausible for a character who has been brought up in a palace, has never seen a lighthouse or been in a boat to not really know they are there to warn of rocks?

 

[zmunkz]

Absolutely.

 

[Zebra Wizard]

depends what type of education they had and the level of intelligence this character has? Even today there are no doubt many people who do know that is their actual purpose.

 

[Ragandar]

Easily, I would say. Back in the day, there probably plenty of landlocked countries where a sheltered prince or princess easily could have had no knowledge of the ocean at all, other than it being a very large body of water. Although it would depend on the setting as well. It's a lot less likely to be possible in modern settings, because of basic education, I would say.

Actually, even with basic education it would be possible. Two years ago I met a girl who had grown up in a huge city. She had never seen a duck before. That was so odd to me. Granted, she still knew what a duck was, she just had never seen one. It's not quite the same. Given the education of the royal, however, they could easily never have been told of a lighthouse and thus have no concept of such a building.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

depends what type of education they had and the level of intelligence this character has? Even today there are no doubt many people who do know that is their actual purpose.

He's ridiculously intelligent but his education is what he's wanted to learn and what he's interested in.

 

[RX-79G]

There's nothing about a lighthouse that makes in intrinsically obvious that it is a warning, aside from supposing that the light is likely connected to the ground somehow.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

There's nothing about a lighthouse that makes in intrinsically obvious that it is a warning, aside from supposing that the light is likely connected to the ground somehow.

I want him to head towards it as a sign of life

 

[RX-79G]

Seems reasonable to me. It also seems reasonable that he would expect to have to stop at some point before he gets to the light, so doing it in the dark or fog would have to be done slowly and with great care. He's looking for landfall, after all.

 

[ErikB]

It's possible. Depends on how sheltered and how ept the character is.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Well it's now written and published so it'll have to do.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

Education and intelligence are very different things.