Do Green Lanterns have to know how something works to create it?

I've seen Lanterns create more things than I can begin to count and pretty sure several of them were things they didn't know the mechanics of. And if some how they did know, I highly doubt they could've kept concentration on all of it the whole time they used the constructs.

Like when Hal made ear plugs that could hear thoughts! How could he have even begun to know how they'd actually operate? If that's even possible which, in comics, I'm sure it is but still.

So why is it sometimes Lanterns can literally create anything they can imagine without much thought of the complete scope of it and others they simply can't? Such as their inability to recreate some substances that are magic or special?

Do they have to know how things work to create them or don't they?
N either way then how exactly does it work? Does it even have to be something that is physically possible under normal conditions or do the rings power make them possible with sufficient will?

Originally posted by Entity
I've seen Lanterns create more things than I can begin to count and pretty sure several of them were things they didn't know the mechanics of. And if some how they did know, I highly doubt they could've kept concentration on all of it the whole time they used the constructs.

Like when Hal made ear plugs that could hear thoughts! How could he have even begun to know how they'd actually operate? If that's even possible which, in comics, I'm sure it is but still.

So why is it sometimes Lanterns can literally create anything they can imagine without much thought of the complete scope of it and others they simply can't? Such as their inability to recreate some substances that are magic or special?

Do they have to know how things work to create them or don't they?
N either way then how exactly does it work? Does it even have to be something that is physically possible under normal conditions or do the rings power make them possible with sufficient will?

They need to understand how it works on a basic level. Like "i need a space gun that shoots lazors when i pull the trigger", and the ring fills in the blanks. At least, that's how I've seen it generally portrayed.

Magic is iffy in general.

Will allows them to be more powerful, not necessarily more creative. Like, Hal killed a former guardian even though the ring explicitly was programmed not to be able to, but it was still just a giant energy blast.

So pretty much I can imagine it, the ring can do the math?

Originally posted by Entity
So pretty much I can imagine it, the ring can do the math?

Aside from imagining it, the constructs are quite taxing. They take alot out of a person. Like when Ollie tried on the ring, he created several arrows that he shot at Sinestro, he described how much the constructs, while simple, exhausted him beyond belief. When Kyle's ass showed up, he was all: "God dayum, son! Didn't know this shit was that hard, hur-dur!"

^^He didn't exactly say that, obviously. Haha, but I guess while able to create shit that works, I imagine the bigger it is, the harder it takes a toll on the body. In b4: "That's what she said."

Pre-Johns-age Lanterns typically had to know how a more advanced construct worked [on at least some level] before they could manifest it. For instance: before J'onn telepathically beamed the 'recipe' into his mind, Kyle was unable to create Kryptonite because he had no idea what it was made of. Etc.

Johns-age Lanterns, on the other hand, were able to whip up what could be considered 'abstract constructs' (such as planet-busting rifles), with a casual thought. As Pr said: it seemed like they merely had to imagine what they wanted, and as long as their Will was sufficient to power said wish, the ring filled in the rest--no matter how obscure the mechanics of it might be.

Some decent responses. Move it to the questions thread from here on out if you're still curious. Thanks.