What's So Great About Ushas?

thalassocrat at nym.hush.com · 10 Jun 2008, 09:23 · from 2008-June.txt.gz

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From: thalassocrat at nym.hush.com (thalassocrat at nym.hush.com)
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:23:59 +1000
Subject: (urth) What's So Great About Ushas?
Message-ID: <20080610092400.E20DE11803C at mailserver5.hushmail.com>

On Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:04:50 +1000 "Roy C. Lackey" 
<rclackey at stic.net> wrote:
>
>Maybe I didn't convey the sense of it clearly enough. In context,
>it is
>apparent that something unusual had happened to the sun *before*
>the
>astronomers made there predictions as to what the effects of the
>change
>would be, a change that they didn't think would be noticed in a
>human
>lifetime. Here is the quote.
>
>"It was a period of great confusion as well. My astronomers had
>told me that
>this sun's activity would decay slowly. Far too slowly, in fact,
>for the
>change to be noticeable in a human lifetime. They were wrong. The
>heat of
>the world declined by nearly two parts in a thousand over a few
>years, then
>stabilized. Crops failed, and there were famines and riots. I
>should have
>left then." (SWORD, XXV)

But I don't think this absolutely supports your position.

For example: maybe the astronomers knew about a black hole lurking 
in the sun's heart from way back. Whatever effect it was having, 
they expected it not to change noticeably in the near term, but for 
some reason they were wrong. That seems consistent with what Typhon 
says.

Or: they don't know about the black hole, but one day their 
sensitive instruments detect an anomaly in the sun's output, too 
small to be noticed without the instruments, but significant enough 
to send them scurrying for an explanation. They come up with one, 
but it's wrong. That seems consistent also.

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