Fictional culture and technology

[Ghostman]

While technology may have a hand in helping dispel belief in a myth for some, for many no amount of mumbo jumbo("proof") will change their mind(I liken this to political divisions.)

You make a point, but I think most people will at least start to doubt their beliefs if presented with credible arguments and evidence.

Rather than a matter of technology, I think the haunted forest example is more a matter of education. Karro, if you want to try and determine a 'realistic' level of superstition in an area, it may be useful to consider the following questions:

• What kind of education is available for the upper classes? How common is it for an upper-class person to have received such education? How much resources are they able/willing to expend on education?
• What kind of education, if any, is available to the lower classes? How many people of lower classes have received any education at all?
• Are there prevailing attitudes or prejudices against teachers?
• Who provides the education? Is it controlled by clergy, some political faction, local aristocracy, state, or can anyone become a teacher?
• Are there many charlatans posing as teachers?
• Is there enough interaction between the lower and upper classes to allow for the latter's presumably higher education to influence the beliefs of the former, or will social stratification hinder this?
• Does the area contain any institutions or organizations that promote learning? (Think along the lines of Plato's academy, the early universities, or even just a library made available for local scholars.)
• How well connected is the area with the rest of the world? Can scholars engage in correspondence with colleagues abroad? Are there political/scholastic/religious reasons to disregard foreign ideas and knowledge?