# (no subject) *The Urth list — 5 messages, 5 voices, 26 Nov 2012* > 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. --- ### Lee Berman *26 Nov 2012, 15:20* > nate jarvis: I've been wondering if the inhumi's secret isn't that, if once given > consent to drink from a human, they then require consent to drink from > a human. It's the only thing I've thought of thus far that seems to > offer a practical threat to the inhumi if revealed In the Nick Gevers interview, Wolfe is asked, in complex fashion, about the secret of the Inhumi. Here is Wolfe's answer: > If human beings did not prey on one another, the inhumi could not prey on us. That's all. It isn't > complicated, and I thought that everyone would get it. Maybe the thought of human beings not preying > on their own kind is just too foreign. Wolfe's answer does not (to me) address nate's concern. Horn is clear that the secret of the Inhumi must be something which, if revealed, would threaten their entire race. I'm not sure if Wolfe is being deliberately unclear or whether he had forgotten this aspect of it with this answer. My own answer tries (weakly) to springboard from Wolfe's answer. Those humans who prey on other humans generally rely on stealth and deception. Especially if we buy into Daniel Petersen's ideas regarding Wolfe's libertarianism, humans who prey upon other humans are to be considered parasites. One way of being a parasite is to be a stowaway. Apologies for rehashing a previous discussion but I think that's the inhumi secret which, if revealed, would threaten their species. A parasitic species needs to be able to travel. Stuck in one place, they would quickly deplete their hosts and be left without food. The secret is that inhumi cannot, as they claim, fly through space. Given Wolfe's awareness of scientific detail, I don't think the impossibility of unassisted biological space travel is something that escapes his attention. So, the inhumi are, by nature, a species which specializes in imitating a host and getting rides to other planets on their spacecraft. We see this practice in two of the best known inhumi, Quetzal and Krait. If this secret was revealed, the awareness and precautions would end up restricting the Inhumi to Green and end their species existence or at least their ability to expand outward. --- ### Marc Aramini *26 Nov 2012, 15:34 · in reply to Lee Berman* the secret of the inhumi is that they are all that is left of humanity, a vestigial parasite that can no longer breed without a fresh infusion of human blood. For all intents and purposes, they are humans, and their little mating ritual where they pretend to be man and woman is just ontogeny recapitulating philogeny. --- On Mon, 11/26/12, Lee Berman wrote: > From: Lee Berman > Subject: (urth) (no subject) > To: "urth at urth.net" > Date: Monday, November 26, 2012, 7:20 AM > nate jarvis: I've been wondering if the inhumi's secret isn't that, if once given > consent to drink from a human, they then require consent to drink from > a human. It's the only thing I've thought of thus far that seems to > offer a practical threat to the inhumi if revealed In the Nick Gevers interview, Wolfe is asked, in complex fashion, about the secret of the Inhumi. Here is Wolfe's answer: > If human beings did not prey on one another, the inhumi could not prey on us. That's all. It isn't > complicated, and I thought that everyone would get it. Maybe the thought of human beings not preying > on their own kind is just too foreign. Wolfe's answer does not (to me) address nate's concern. Horn is clear that the secret of the Inhumi must be something which, if revealed, would threaten their entire race. I'm not sure if Wolfe is being deliberately unclear or whether he had forgotten this aspect of it with this answer. My own answer tries (weakly) to springboard from Wolfe's answer. Those humans who prey on other humans generally rely on stealth and deception. Especially if we buy into Daniel Petersen's ideas regarding Wolfe's libertarianism, humans who prey upon other humans are to be considered parasites. One way of being a parasite is to be a stowaway. Apologies for rehashing a previous discussion but I think that's the inhumi secret which, if revealed, would threaten their species. A parasitic species needs to be able to travel. Stuck in one place, they would quickly deplete their hosts and be left without food. The secret is that inhumi cannot, as they claim, fly through space. Given Wolfe's awareness of scientific detail, I don't think the impossibility of unassisted biological space travel is something that escapes his attention. So, the inhumi are, by nature, a species which specializes in imitating a host and getting rides to other planets on their spacecraft. We see this practice in two of the best known inhumi, Quetzal and Krait. If this secret was revealed, the awareness and precautions would end up restricting the Inhumi to Green and end their species existence or at least their ability to expand outward. ??? ???????? ?????? ??? ? --- ### Daniel Petersen *26 Nov 2012, 16:21 · in reply to Lee Berman* Especially if we buy into Daniel Petersen's ideas regarding Wolfe's libertarianism, humans who prey upon other humans are to be considered parasites. Forgive me for being pedantic and patronising, but I just want to make sure everyone understands I was talking about the concept of libertarian freewill in analytic philosophy. I was not at all referencing the political position known as Libertarian (as distinct from Republican, Democrat, etc.). Wolfe happens to be self-professedly the latter, but that's not immediately relevant to a philosophical discussion about freewill vs. determinism. (Is it?) -DOJP > On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:20 PM, Lee Berman wrote: > Especially if we buy into Daniel Petersen's ideas regarding > Wolfe's libertarianism, humans who prey upon other humans are to be > considered parasites. ``` Daniel Otto Jack Petersen ``` --- ### DAVID STOCKHOFF *27 Nov 2012, 20:31 · in reply to Marc Aramini* --- ### Sergei SOLOVIEV *27 Nov 2012, 20:35 · in reply to DAVID STOCKHOFF* The ritual occurs in the discussion with Juganu, in "Return to the Whorl" - Sergei > DAVID STOCKHOFF wrote: > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *From:* Marc Aramini > *To:* The Urth Mailing List > *Sent:* Monday, November 26, 2012 10:34 AM > *Subject:* Re: (urth) (no subject) > > the secret of the inhumi is that they are all that is left of > humanity, a vestigial parasite that can no longer breed without a > fresh infusion of human blood. > > For all intents and purposes, they are humans, and their little mating > ritual where they pretend to be man and woman is just ontogeny > recapitulating philogeny. > > > > Marc > > Where does this ritual occur in the text? > > Do you think Quetzal's remark about A-man and Wo-man going up the tree > and not coming down again is related to this ritual (aside from the > possibility that Urth is literally Green and that all inhumi are > descended from humans)? > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > _______________________________________________ ---