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In video games, characters can often aquire new skills, weapons, tools, etc. Usually one must achieve skills in a particular order. This is called a "tech tree". I am working on such a system, but not for a video game. I don't want to call it a tech tree, because search engines would have a hard time finding this particular thing in all the noise. I am looking for some plain spoken alternatives. (All my alternatives end up sounding pompous or outrageous, like translating tech tree into Latin, etc)

@Amy asked for more context. I should probably put that context up here in the main question too...

Carl Sagan once said, "If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe." For a long time I have been collecting books, papers, and sometimes artifacts, that would allow a person to follow the trail of some topic in the library all the way down to first principles. I am now looking into doing this digitally, and I have been stumped trying to name the project. I've always just called it my library, but that doesn't work well as a public name.

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  • What kind of topics are in the library? Technology? Science, Art? Everything?
    – Matthew Smith
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 21:31
  • @MatthewSmith Primarily science and technology. There are some books on philosophy, art, and even magic. The philosophy books center around the theory of knowledge. The art books are generally related to technique, or simply to document the changes in style. The magic books are there to illustrate how things can go wrong.
    – Craeft
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 15:31
  • Please be aware that requests for naming suggestions, especially in the computer domain, are off-topic on ELU.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 20, 2019 at 20:10
  • Does this sort of thing exist outside video games? If so, point us to some examples, or better yet look at what they're called. If not, then this becomes a case of "think up a name for something that doesn't have a name" which is opinion-based and off-topic.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Dec 15, 2021 at 21:25

4 Answers 4

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Forgive me if you've already thought of this, but is "hierarchy" an acceptable alternative here? More vague but much more commonly used/searched.

If you want something that means exactly the same thing, "skill tree" might be more intuitive than "tech tree"

Some context on what your specific use case would help people give more suitable answers.

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  • Carl Sagan once said, "If you want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the Universe." For a long time I have been collecting books, paper, and sometimes artifacts, that would allow a person to follow the trail of some topic in the library all the way down to some first principles. I am now looking into doing this digitally, and I have been stumped trying to name the website.
    – Craeft
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 21:12
  • @Craeft - What's wrong with "Universe"? Or "Apple Pie"??
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Dec 19, 2019 at 22:12
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What does tracing a phenomenon down to first principles look like? A binary decision tree? Likely not. If I hold an arrowhead in my hand (an artifact as you say), do I follow an inquisitive path regarding the history of stone tools, the idea of human culture and social cooperation, the relationship of humankind to a changing environment and climate? Or possibly I am interested in the geologic principles behind the raw materials of early hominid tools. The 'hierarchy' of your system sounds to me more as a web of connections, a NEXUS of ideas. In education, the "layering" of ideas or skills is often termed SCAFFOLDING. It evokes an ability to "climb" between the layers of knowledge at ones own pace.

From Merriam Webster: scaffolding

  1. A framework serving as a supporting structure, base, or outline for something (as a literary work or a part of an organism)

2 Evidence or explanatory matter tending to confirm, validate, or bolster something (as an argument)

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The way you describe it, it seems like the opposite of a tech-tree, since you're working your way back... so

  • Tech Roots
  • Learning Lineage
  • STEM Roots
  • STEM Seeds
  • STEM Sources
  • Seeds of Knowledge
  • Truth Tubers
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Revisiting 11 months later... how about

Epistemology Tree?

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