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Yes. A play with a deus ex machina or two dropping in to make an appearance.…
30 Apr 2015, 13:44
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I think that preacher knew what he was doing Marc. Rick noted that the main point of the sermons was to "Vote Republican". Reinterpreting the "Camel through the eye of a needle" …
27 Apr 2015, 17:53
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Sure, of course. Makes sense. Not to be argumentative, but as you note, these were "exceptions" for the poor. Meaning the general rule was that sacrificing a portion of your weal…
27 Apr 2015, 17:08
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Given the desert environment they lived in, bathing was probably a less frequent occasion than for people living in areas with higher rainfall (and thus fresh water reserves). P…
27 Apr 2015, 16:47
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Thanks for that confirming info. I find the proscription against polygamy to be the most anthropological/sociologically profound difference between Christianity and its predecess…
27 Apr 2015, 16:18
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I won't take it as argument but as a point of discussion. It wasn't the main point of my post, so I didn't elaborate. But in fairness I didn't just say "Judaism", I said: By whi…
24 Apr 2015, 18:20
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Nah, he'd just make copies. …
17 Apr 2015, 14:51
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Yes. Gj?ll is also the name of the rock to which the monstrous Norse wolf, Fenrir is chained. Not a reference that can be ignored when it comes to this particular author. Fu…
22 Oct 2014, 18:55
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"Tzadkiel compares Severian, as a human, to a pawn. I take the chessboard to be the symbol for time. Humans (normally) like a pawn on a chessboard, can only move forward and one sp…
17 Oct 2014, 15:56
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Okay, yes agreed on that. Worth noting that Tzadkiel is a plural being with multiple iterations. But we know (I think) that the tinker bell version is cut off and does not shar…
17 Oct 2014, 15:38
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I am thinking of the Biblical passage in which "a cherubim" is set to guard the Garden of Eden. An illogical linguistic construction, where a singular article is paired with a plu…
17 Oct 2014, 15:26
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Apologies for the misidentification. Saying that art can go beyond history is one thing. But what I quoted was the statement: Quite a different statement to say that art is a su…
17 Oct 2014, 12:12
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Agreed. Severian chooses to take seven steps backward (upstream to the past) on Brook Madregot. But the brook does not have any branchings in this direction implying that there a…
17 Oct 2014, 12:00
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That is, indeed an assumption which is made. Why is it made? Because that's all we have to work with right now. Scientist don't just want to stop doing physics, so they make that …
15 Oct 2014, 18:16
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To quote Gene Wolfe, No, No, NO! (sorry if I got that wrong Marc. :- )). Stating that alogical, amathematical zones exist in the universe would be just as unsupportable as those…
15 Oct 2014, 18:06
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I am hoping my last post clarified two points that Antonio has mentioned, one more logic based and one more science based. 1. "Math is universal" is a disguised version of the …
15 Oct 2014, 17:52
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Robert Pirkoka: An infinitely large area, yes? Yes! Magic! That which cannot be explained by math or science, yes? Merryn and the Cumaean discuss the issue quite well, I thin…
15 Oct 2014, 17:33
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Reminds me....I am just now watching the TV show Fringe on DVD. I assume someone noticed this previously. But in Season 4, the weird, brilliant book dealer expresses his worship…
14 Oct 2014, 18:53
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Perhaps true. But all those observations were made from earth or nearby and relayed to earth. Furthermore all the data was collected by human-constructed machines. Then all the d…
14 Oct 2014, 18:50
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Interesting point. I do get the sense that most productive scientists are too busy with their work here to worry or claim their work is applicable on the other side of the univer…
14 Oct 2014, 18:28
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Sigh, okay, I'll bite the bait one more time. Who told you this? To be a credible source for making such a statement wouldn't this person have to have been to every corner of the…
14 Oct 2014, 11:59
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Heh. I've seen the unpredictability of sub-atomic physics as an argument for free will. I don't think our behavior choices boil down to that level (biochemistry seems sufficient) …
12 Oct 2014, 12:25
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It was an attempt to connect the discussion to Gene Wolfe's work, as some had requested. Apologies if it offended you in reverse. How could I defensibly say there ARE such things…
12 Oct 2014, 11:52
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Of course, because I am human and have human limitations :- ). This sort of makes the point I was trying to make. I must think in terms of space and time. How could I coherently…
11 Oct 2014, 13:21
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I wonder if this might boil down to the mind-body debate. When I think of the concept of math being done or even contemplated, I think of it as being done by others whom I perceiv…
11 Oct 2014, 13:12
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Fair enough. But you probably know where this is going. It remains true that for places/times in the universe where the concept of sets does not apply (during the Big Bang? sub-…
10 Oct 2014, 16:30
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I disagree. Free Will, like shame, doubt (Tree Of Knowledge), procreation and death (Tree of Life) is a purely human curse/blessing. We are who we from eating fruit from one …
10 Oct 2014, 14:45
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"Is suggesting a car can't spontaneously become a nuclear fusion device an example of "Genetic Fallacy"?" I truly don't understand the difference. A gasoline power car cannot tur…
10 Oct 2014, 13:51
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A nice summation of my point. Math requires numbers. Numbers describe the universe in terms of discrete, countable units. I find it quite possible that there are places/times in…
10 Oct 2014, 13:09
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I could generally, theoretically agree with this, though in the real world, I question the idea of "pure reason". How can a human mind possibly reason if it had been deprived of …
09 Oct 2014, 13:40
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I was thinking these exact same thoughts, Gerry. I'll guess that Wolfe might also put Michael Andre-Driussi on his "mostly gets it" list. As "Mantis" he contributed quite a bit …
09 Oct 2014, 13:37
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I see. This is a quite a departure from what I thought you were saying. Within this framework, I find math to be far less universal than I previously thought you were claiming. …
09 Oct 2014, 11:44
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Apologies. I didn't mean to imply any particular person in this discussion is speaking entirely from emotional motivation. I disagree. I find ample evidence to the contrary in hi…
08 Oct 2014, 15:03
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By Genetic Fallacy I assume you mean this: My objection to the assumption that math is universally applicable is because math originates from the mind of one species on one plane…
08 Oct 2014, 14:57
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Thanks, Antonio. I think you explained my thinking better than I could. I was going to try responding to Dan'l with possible examples of dark matter or sub-quarkian physics or…
08 Oct 2014, 02:19
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Same here. It's the reason I try to assign names to quotes in my posts. Not a red herring; and don't think I didn't notice how you cleverly focused on the alien's 12 fingers and …
07 Oct 2014, 22:25
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Let's pretend Gene Wolfe follows this List. Why do you think he continues to not chime in and tell you that you are right and others are wrong? What is his motivation? It is pr…
07 Oct 2014, 14:07
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I'd add to that the paradox of Free Will. How can an all-powerful, all-knowing Creator construct every molecule of a human being and claim to not know what that human being will …
07 Oct 2014, 13:58
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Marc, I'm sure there are many examples upon which WE can agree are a misreading of fiction by someone else. But the assessment of error remains our opinion not scientific fact.…
07 Oct 2014, 13:28
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Thanks Rick. I agree and I suspect most here agree. I think our discussions are skewed toward the more difficult puzzles and away from the superficially enjoyable aspects of Wolf…
07 Oct 2014, 04:02
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For me this is a dodging of the essential question here. Which is: Who is right? In another interview, Wolfe said something about all the crazy theorists of his work but that …
06 Oct 2014, 11:18
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That sounds reasonable on the surface. But consider the real world results. We have a few published analysts and many on this board who are more than careful, and often excruci…
06 Oct 2014, 02:15
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I agree. Thanks for posting that, Marc. Ouch. That's borderline catty, Marc! ;- ) Exactly. Wolfe isn't making fun of those who try to understand his symbolism; only those who g…
05 Oct 2014, 13:08
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I would mention that the pagan gods of earth are actually of the MOST natural origin; things such as earth and sky and ocean and weather. More advanced religions serve a function …
05 Oct 2014, 12:27
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I disagree. For me, what is being missed is that the incest taboo applies to human beings. But for the pagan gods, incest was the norm and sexual activity outside the family, (wi…
02 Oct 2014, 12:37
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Good detective work on St. Gildas, Marc. I hadn't heard that before and given the werewolf angle it seems impossible that it could be an unintentional inclusion by Wolfe. I like i…
23 Sep 2014, 19:40
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Urgh. I hope that isn't true. If so, it would have Wolfe predicating a really major theme in his work on his audience knowing that he considers Typhon and Typhoeus to be different…
22 Sep 2014, 14:10
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I would agree. Still I think what I said previously holds: Wolfe does not want these "angels" and their form and organization to have a clear, explicit description in our mind…
22 Sep 2014, 13:21
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Agreed, this is a possibility. I agree there is a mixed message sense on this issue. On the one hand, Wolfe seems to make clear in his writing and in interviews that he considers…
22 Sep 2014, 12:51
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It is Mark. Though I will disagree with one of your interpretations from it. I disagree that Wolfe is truly distinguishing these two. I think, by mentioning Typhon Seth from Eg…
19 Sep 2014, 03:27
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