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At first I was going to ask if a miniature person could live out of a 3x3(bodylength) cabin but I thought about a more pressing question: Would a tiny person need their own house if they lived in a giant(normal to normal sized folks) house?

For reference the person/character in question is 6 inches tall(and not positively or negatively effected by Square-Cube Law) , male, and around 30. He is of average health. The 'giant' house is not abandoned and is of acceptable living condition(Not dilapidated,not extremly unkept, heating/cooing is present, etc) and has resources like food, water, and medicine in relative abundance. Whether or not the resident(s) of the house know he is there and if they do, how much they care I have not fully figure that out, so factor scenarios of the homeowner knowing and not knowing.

So would a little cabin or house(maybe dollhouse) be needed or could he eek out a decent living without one?

L.Dutch
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Conan Highwoods
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    What do you mean with whether the house would be "needed"? As you've said he has everything he needs to survive, but a place one's own scale may be more comfortable (I wouldn't want to live in an airplane hangar). – KeizerHarm Nov 10 '23 at 17:04
  • @KeizerHarm I figured you could go without one, but at smaller scales, you still might need one for whatever reason. – Conan Highwoods Nov 10 '23 at 17:12
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    VTC:Not About Worldbuilding. This is asking if a person could live in a barn or warehouse without building out an actual housing unit. That makes it 100% a choice of the character and questions of this type are prohibited in the [help/on-topic]. From the worldbuilder's perspective, this is a storybuilding problem. The answer is "sure, if you decide the character wants to." – JBH Nov 10 '23 at 17:50
  • IDK what you are on about. No, this is not a question about if someone could live in a warehouse or barn(?) without a housing unit, but if a tiny person needs a house within a house. I am not getting how you think this question is not allowed here, but whatever. @JBH – Conan Highwoods Nov 10 '23 at 19:03
  • You might want to take a look at this question to have a glimpse of how people of wildly varied size can change furniture setup. And this is also my answer to your question . – Tortliena - inactive Nov 10 '23 at 19:20
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    @ConanHighwoods What I'm on about is that you're asking a question about a character choice, which is off-topic. From the [help/on-topic], "If ... you aren’t sure what a character (be it an individual or organization) should do, that is out of scope for the site." There isn't a worldbuilding question here (a question that's independent of the story and character choices). So why the warehouse/barn comment? I have a friend who lives in a pole barn. It's only a matter of scale. Human-barn/liliputian-house. Would they need to build something in? Only if they chose to do so. – JBH Nov 10 '23 at 21:46
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    And just to make sure you get it. Why do you think that the size of a person would dictate on a systemic level that they must have a defined enclosure? It's like asking whether or not humans could live their lives under the open sky. Of course they can... if they choose to do so. There's nothing about being human (or liliputian) that forces the issue unless you, the worldbuilder, sets a rule to make it so. So, the choice is entirely yours. What's keeping you from making it? – JBH Nov 10 '23 at 21:49
  • @JBH You're forgetting that the question focuses on "living decently". There are concrete social criterias to fulfill, and in the case of someone with an handicap (here size), it can very quickly become an unviable one. However, You can certainly ask for more details : It's essential we know how much help they can get from the giant residents and their awareness of the small ones (if you don't know yet @ Conan, just try one for this question :)!). This can set the line between "just" lacking autonomy and living in a deadly place. It could also use a more detailed definition of "decent". – Tortliena - inactive Nov 10 '23 at 23:58
  • @JBH This is quite a narrow viewpoint. There are all sorts of things that might be an issue for a small-scale human, and would inform the worldbuilding. Maybe they have issues with air currents, surface tension of water, spider webs, safety from insects and pests, etc. I haven't researched answers to any of that, but it's a good overall question. – K. Morgan Nov 11 '23 at 00:05
  • @K.Morgan Good points, but it seems to me up to the OP to point those issues out. As long as there is no frame of reference here, we're all like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know.. – Joachim Nov 11 '23 at 17:54
  • I did give context, it is on you guys to figure out what issues he would most likely face, otherwise me asking would be pointless, and this would be more of a guide for this type of thing rater than a question. @Joachim – Conan Highwoods Nov 11 '23 at 18:40
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    Nothing is "on us guys", because you come here for help, and we don't have any obligations towards you. Your reasoning doesn't make sense, either, and, furthermore, you decided to ask your question on this site, which happens to have rules for asking questions (that you by now should have some experience with). If you can't help us help you, you're really better off elsewhere (like Quora or Reddit). – Joachim Nov 11 '23 at 18:46
  • @ConanHighwoods That's part of the research we can't make for you. If you don't know your goals, this should be the first thing to look for. To know more exactly what is "decent" or not. Look at what you want and don't want to tell, what is important to live from your own life (should be easy), or check other sources to be more rigorous (e.g. : Governement pages, here French one) – Tortliena - inactive Nov 11 '23 at 21:44
  • Yes, it is on you to help me, not fully me, in theory. I gave you needed details, I am not gonna answer my own question though. I sense you do not want me to ask questions here, no clue why. My query is within the rules. Bot? @Joachim – Conan Highwoods Nov 11 '23 at 22:48
  • @ConanHighwoods I'm very tempted to downvote your question because you make it like it is normal for unpaid volunteers to bring you a service like if you spent money for it. Very tempted, but that's not what downvoting means. Do know however that questions lacking details or research efforts tend to be legitimately closed or downvoted respectively. Your question could have been better received if you ponder why 3 or more people criticized your query (ponder with their help!) instead of throwing the responsability of every understanding issues to the readers. – Tortliena - inactive Nov 12 '23 at 22:52
  • What I said is true, it is on other users to answer, not OP. Sure, OP gives helpful info to make it easier, but the task of answering is not on OP ultimately regardless of monetary transaction or not. That is the point of the site, and SE in general. I gave enough info for most users to understand. Not need to write an essay to you guys. Honestly, some of your guys continuous hostile behavior towards decent question make me think of bot, hmm.... @Tortliena – Conan Highwoods Nov 13 '23 at 12:29
  • That's getting outside this post, so let's discuss about this in chat instead : here – Tortliena - inactive Nov 13 '23 at 13:19

3 Answers3

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Assuming that both the miniature person and all other occupants are intelligent and careful, the answer is "not necessarily." But "a decent living" is a value judgement, and there are plenty of reasons to have distinct quarters.

  • Safety.
    The miniature person would be at risk of being stepped upon, etc. All this can be avoided if people think and look before they act, but they would have to be attentive all the time. Much easier if the miniature person had a designated safe space.
    This could be a corner of a room, a cleared bookshelf, or whatever, but a clear border to this safe space would be helpful. So not just "you stay on the left of this line of chalk, I stay on the right."
  • Sanitation.
    The miniature person would have trouble with normal toilets, sinks, showers, etc. Getting a working miniature bathroom and kitchen would be problematic, a normal dollhouse just won't do. Pet supplies would be humiliating. So a custom solution is required. Chamberpots, changed regularly?
  • Comfort.
    Normal houses and their furniture are sized to adult humams. Even children have challenges, which require special chairs, etc. And a toddler is usually not required to switch the light on, adults do that.
    The miniature person would like a place where he or she can control the light, say with blinds over the window and appropriate light switches. Plus chairs and tables of the usual size, beds with suitable mattresses and blankets, and so on.
    Also a place to store miniature things, from little dinnerware to clothes.

Make a decision to fit your story (we can't help you with that part), but you can show the consequences. Say the miniature person is almost squashed. "Sorry, I thought you were still in your room, you left the light on" or just "sorry, I didn't see you ..."

o.m.
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I suggest you read Mary Norton's "The Borrowers" books. There is also a Studio Ghibli film based on the same book. In both of these, the various families of miniature people live within a full size house, using gaps under the floors or within walls for a personal space that is defensible, and to their scale. The Terry Pratchett "Nome Trilogy" has a similar set-up.

Gulliver in Brobdingnag had a doll's house to live in, though that was not quite the same thing, as he was kept as a pet/toy.

I don't know of a story with little people that does not have them living in nooks and crannies that suit their scale. It seems reasonable to many authors. All fiction, but that's the best you are going to get. I imagine we could live in a much larger house without rooms our size, so all depends on what you mean by 'need'.

Real example: The people who live in Zhongdong Village in China (Middle Cave Village) live in a large cave. They have built small houses within the cave. There are others.

Richard Kirk
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  • There is more than one adaptation of the Borrowers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Norton_(writer)#Film,_TV_and_theatrical_adaptations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borrowers#Adaptations – M. A. Golding Nov 11 '23 at 01:42
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Part of (yet a good addition to) the answer, that Liliputian has to stay away from CATS. He/she will need a well sheltered place if the home owners own a cat as well.

Christmas Snow
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