{ "export": { "source": "https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/whorl/1402", "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": "whorl", "thread": { "id": 1402, "subject": "the problem with de-evolution", "messages": 4, "voices": 4, "first": "2001-04-25T10:12:21+00:00", "last": "2001-04-25T16:00:49+00:00" }, "messages": [ { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "maa32", "address": "maa32 at dana.ucc.nau.edu" }, "date": "2001-04-25T10:12:21+00:00", "subject": "(whorl) the problem with de-evolution", "in_reply_to": null, "reply_link": null, "blocks": [ { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "If the inhumi all refuse to feast on human blood since they become \"good\" from \ngood humans, then their offspring would return to mindless animals. There is \nnothing to prevent the mindless animals that are the children of good inhumi \nfrom sucking off of the people, especially with a colony of humans on Green. \nThey would have no scruples, then their children would be intelligent. It \nwould just be a threat to humans with alternating generations of inhumi. I \ndon't like this golden rule idea.\n\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Dan'l Danehy-Oakes", "address": "ddanehy at siebel.com" }, "date": "2001-04-25T11:03:44+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) the problem with de-evolution", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "If the inhumi all refuse to feast on human blood since they become\n\"good\" from good humans, " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "A debatable premiss, but consider the result as if it were a given." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "then their offspring would return to mindless animals. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Correct so far." }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "There is nothing to prevent the mindless animals that are the children\nof good inhumi from sucking off of the people, " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Also correct. But Horn does not say the secret will make the inhumi\nnon-dangerous, only that it will make them no more dangerous than\ncrocodiles. " }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "They would have no scruples, then their children would be intelligent." }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "Intelligent, yes, but (_ex hypothesi_) benevolent. So you would have\nthe \"alternating generations\" situation you suggest, but the threat \nwould be greatly reduced, as the dangerous inhumi would be the mindless\nanimals.\n\n(As a side note, how many people are _actually_ attacked by alligators \nand the like in a given year? I presume that proper precautions could \nmake the threat from non-sentient inhumi no greater than that from \ncrocodilians.)\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Kevin J. Maroney", "address": "kmaroney at ungames.com" }, "date": "2001-04-25T14:51:46+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) the problem with de-evolution", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "At 11:03 AM 4/25/01 -0700, Blattid wrote:\n(As a side note, how many people are _actually_ attacked by alligators \nand the like in a given year? I presume that proper precautions could \nmake the threat from non-sentient inhumi no greater than that from \ncrocodilians.)" }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "My understanding is that the number of human attacks from crocodilians is\nvery low. They're much like wolves that way--feared as human predators all\nout of proportion to the actual danger they present. Which isn't to say\nthat they can't sometimes be very dangerous, indeed. " }, { "kind": "sig", "depth": 0, "text": "Wombat, a.k.a. Kevin Maroney kmaroney at ungames.com\nKitchen Staff Supervisor, New York Review of Science Fiction\nhttp://www.nyrsf.com\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] }, { "message_id": "", "from": { "name": "Michael Straight", "address": "straight at email.unc.edu" }, "date": "2001-04-25T16:00:49+00:00", "subject": "RE: (whorl) the problem with de-evolution", "in_reply_to": "", "reply_link": "subject", "blocks": [ { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "On Wed, 25 Apr 2001, Kevin J. Maroney wrote:\nAt 11:03 AM 4/25/01 -0700, Blattid wrote:" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 2, "text": "(As a side note, how many people are _actually_ attacked by alligators \nand the like in a given year? I presume that proper precautions could \nmake the threat from non-sentient inhumi no greater than that from \ncrocodilians.)" }, { "kind": "quote", "depth": 1, "text": "My understanding is that the number of human attacks from crocodilians is\nvery low. They're much like wolves that way--feared as human predators all\nout of proportion to the actual danger they present. Which isn't to say\nthat they can't sometimes be very dangerous, indeed. " }, { "kind": "text", "depth": 0, "text": "So how many people are _actually_ attacked by inhumi in a given year (not\ncounting weddings)? Of those, how many suffer any permanent harm?\n\n-Rostrum\n\n\n*This is WHORL, for discussion of Gene Wolfe's Book of the Long Sun." } ] } ] }