Prior Race On Blue And Green

Chris · 17 Dec 2007, 19:14 · from 2007-December.txt.gz

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From: rasputin_ at hotmail.com (Chris)
Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 19:14:04 +0000
Subject: (urth) Prior Race On Blue And Green
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> Maybe it's not that important for an understanding of the novel as you say, but neither are the discussions regarding the geography of Urth at Severian's time or if the geologic evidence fits the descriptions. Maybe we should stop discussing those too?
> 
> Pedro

Maybe so, actually. A serious case could be made for it. In the end the penchant for "trivia" and puzzle-solving is inherent to this list, though, and while the answers to those types of questions are not particularly important they can still be mildly interesting.

The odd thing about the Blue = Urth hypothesis that makes it akin to a Templar conspiracy theory - well, there are a few odd things about it - is, first of all, that it is sometimes put forward as an interpretive key to understanding *everything*. The hypothesis, at least the way it's often presented, requires a massive reinterpretation not only of the Long Sun/Short Sun books but also of BotNS, and this in itself gives one pause because we know to a reasonable degree of certainty that Wolfe did not have Long Sun/Short Sun written or even thought-of when he was writing BotNS.

Another odd feature of the Blue = Urth theory is that its proponents often put it forward as unfalsifiable; there is no piece of evidence that could possibly disprove it. And any piece of evidence that seems to go against it is reinterpreted in a light that is at least compatible with the theory or possibly even evidence for its truth. The twists and leaps of logic required are often brilliant in their own right - but then again so are some of the ones used to justify Templar conspiracy theories.
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