{
  "export": {
    "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/2069",
    "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": 2069,
    "subject": "1-2-3-for-me",
    "messages": 1,
    "voices": 1,
    "first": "2000-01-12T21:54:06+00:00",
    "last": "2000-01-12T21:54:06+00:00"
  },
  "messages": [
    {
      "message_id": "<urth-v0028-0686@digest.urth.net>",
      "from": {
        "name": "Nicholas Gevers",
        "address": "vermoulian at yahoo.com"
      },
      "date": "2000-01-12T21:54:06+00:00",
      "subject": "(urth) 1-2-3-for-me",
      "in_reply_to": null,
      "reply_link": null,
      "blocks": [
        {
          "kind": "text",
          "depth": 0,
          "text": "Pertaining to the comments by Alex and Jonathan:\nI agree with Alex that ST has a theme of societal\ncollapse, which, BTW, may explain certain omissions\nfrom the collection, of stories that didn't fit the\ntheme. I think that ST also presents Wolfe's solution\nto the problem, but will refrain from mentioning it\nfurther, as I need it to remain original for my\nFOUNDATION review of ST.\n\nFWIW, Jonathan, I reached my conclusions about 1-2-3\nbefore reading \"And When They Appear\". That the humans\nare always under some sort of bot supervision I infer\nfrom \"you could see a lot more stars than the machines\never show you\". And wherever the campfire is (it's not\non Earth, or Jak wouldn't call Earth \"the old one\"),\nit is located in an artificially primitive\nenvironment. So: the old human society collapsed, for\nreasons of which the humans of Jak's time seem\nignorant; they are kept in ignorance by bots and\nmachines about the number of the stars; my conclusion:\nthe machines desire that humans not show hubris\n(conquer the stars) or despair in consequence of that\ndenial of pride (take euthanasic drugs). So humans are\nkept primitive, existing generally in the sort of\nheedless innocence shown by Jo An. And it may be that\nthe bots let her keep the phone so that just such a\ncautionary tale as Jak tells could be formulated.\n\nI think the fall of the one ancient culture is\nintended by Wolfe to be representative of the fall of\nthe rest.\n\nIN GREEN'S JUNGLES is scheduled for August 2000\nrelease (read late July).\n\nNick."
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}