{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/145",
    "note": "Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright in each message remains with the person who wrote it.  Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact.",
    "addresses": "obscured as 'user at host'"
  },
  "archive": "urth",
  "thread": {
    "id": 145,
    "subject": "What is the Law?",
    "messages": 2,
    "voices": 2,
    "first": "1997-08-10T21:38:00+00:00",
    "last": "1997-08-10T22:56:51+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0003-0221@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "m.driussi",
        "address": "m.driussi at genie.com"
      },
      "date": "1997-08-10T21:38:00+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) What is the Law?",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Reply:  Item #0239562 from URTH at LISTS.BEST.COM@INET01#\n\nalga,\n\nI understand what you are saying re: dietary taboos being\nmodifications rather than radical vegetarianism.  (And it is true, he\nnever says, \"Enjoy your meat while you can, 'cause next year you're\nall eating soy-kibble.\" <g>)  But just for fun, let me point out that\nthis assumption relies entirely upon the belief that the beastmen are\nmore (if not entirely) \"beast\" than \"human.\"  That is to say, their\nhabits are derived from biological hardware (\"animal\") rather than\ncultural software (\"human\").\n\nAfter all, the central tension in Dr. Moreau is the Law: Not to Eat\nMeat.  Not necessarily because Wells was a socialist vegetarian--but\nbecause the beastmen are evolving (or being evolved) and therefore do\nnot =need= to eat meat to survive; that is, the biological imperative\nhas been modified by \"civilization\" and it remains to be seen whether\nthe beastmen, collectively or individually, can resist the temptation\nto resort/relax into \"bestial\" behavior.\n\nAgain, in \"Tracking Song\" we aren't entirely sure what these tribes\nare--they ain't exactly entirely human, but they seem a bit more\nsophisticated (e.g., spoken language) than animals, unless this angle\nis total hallucination on the part of our Mr. Magoo/St. Francis.\n\nThe issue is further clouded by the ice age setting--in such harsh\nclimates, even omnivorous humans tend to derive a larger percentage\nof their calories from eating meat (i.e., tend towards carnivorous\ndiet), given the relative abscence of vegetable matter.  So even if\nthe tribes were 100% human, that is to say capable of surviving on a\nradically different diet, they would likely be following the strategies\nof arctic animals, yet they would also be guaranteed of being\nphysically able to make the dietary transition; but if they really are\nanimals, adapted/evolved to arctic conditions, and the arctic is going\nto be erased quite suddenly, there is a real threat of extinction.  (Well,\nmaybe not--going from harsh to mild only means that the polar fat layer\nis uncomfortable, but still . . . are there tropical penguins?  Colors\nlike a cockatoo, I suppose. <g>)\n\nSo what is the attitude of the sleighers towards the tribes?  Zoo\nkeepers?  Naturalists?  Bureaucrats of Indian Affairs?\nAnthropologists?\n\nRe: the blood sacrifices performed by Silk and Severian.  True and\ngood point.  But both of them learn to stop performing blood\nsacrifice--the Outsider tells Silk, and Severian disbands the guild.\n\n=mantis="
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0003-0225@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Jim Jordan",
        "address": "jbjordan at gnt.net"
      },
      "date": "1997-08-10T22:56:51+00:00",
      "subject": "Re: (urth) What is the Law?",
      "in_reply_to": "<urth-v0003-0221@digest.urth.net>",
      "reply_link": "subject",
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Mantis writes:"
        },
        {
          "kind": "quote",
          "depth": 1,
          "text": "After all, the central tension in Dr. Moreau is the Law: Not to Eat\nMeat.  Not necessarily because Wells was a socialist vegetarian--but\nbecause the beastmen are evolving (or being evolved) and therefore do\nnot =need= to eat meat to survive; that is, the biological imperative\nhas been modified by \"civilization\" and it remains to be seen whether\nthe beastmen, collectively or individually, can resist the temptation\nto resort/relax into \"bestial\" behavior."
        },
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "\tThe Law is also present in \"Tracking Song,\" but each group has its own\nlaws, law being indispensable to civilization. A more sophisticated\ntreatment. Also, we might make a list of these laws, and see if any or all\nof them are due to change with the coming of warmth - a transition from law\nto grace?\n\nNutria"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}