Lamarck, Wolfe and Exultants

David Stockhoff · 06 Aug 2010, 01:53 · from 2010-August.txt.gz

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From: dstockhoff at verizon.net (David Stockhoff)
Date: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:53:04 -0400
Subject: (urth) Lamarck, Wolfe and Exultants
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTinb5NwzA0t7QAG68MdFn=2XaYxL01t4MRd3hMQs at mail.gmail.com>
References: <0A589998-8CB7-4024-A68A-F47FFB410726 at liftingfaces.com>	<AANLkTinR5XkCAe5qOnY+ynt4=BCFfqEcWUPMwt4fUZer at mail.gmail.com>	<44A14617-AF21-4283-AB52-E601EF5057E4 at liftingfaces.com>
	<AANLkTinb5NwzA0t7QAG68MdFn=2XaYxL01t4MRd3hMQs at mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <4C5B6B00.3030509 at verizon.net>

This is what I thought, and it's a strong argument. But there's an 
equally strong argument that the exultants were modified.

Both together make more sense than either alone.

Jack Smith wrote:
> I believe there are a number of references to Severian being tall, 
>  and he's around 6' and his mother is probably an exultant.  I think 
> Urth's common folk are shorter than people today.  But you only have 
> to go back two hundred years or so to have average heights 6 or 8 
> inches less than today.  This is mostly due to better nutrition.  On 
> Urth with its dying sun and spent resources, we would expect nutrition 
> levels to be worse and people to be shorter.
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Ryan Dunn <ryan at liftingfaces.com 
> <mailto:ryan at liftingfaces.com>> wrote:
>
>     Does this mean that common folk should be notably shorter then?
>     Severian's height, were he on our planet, in most Western
>     cultures, wouldn't raise an eyebrow high enough to stir thoughts
>     of exulted blood.
>
>     I know his high cheekbones also indicates he may be some sort of
>     Urthian bastard royalty, but I still wonder about the size of non
>     exultant people of the Commonwealth.
>
>     ...ryan
>
>     On Aug 5, 2010, at 6:22 AM, Jack Smith <jack.smith.1946 at gmail.com
>     <mailto:jack.smith.1946 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     > Exultants could result from Darwinian evolution alone, without
>     any genetic engineering.   According to Wolfe, Severian is about
>     6' or 6'1", and Thecla is a head taller (around 7' or 7'1").  Male
>     exultants seem to be about 7'6" to 8'.    Such heights are
>     uncommon for us, but still within the range of the possible.  The
>     tallest NBA player is 7'6" and the tallest WNBA player is 7'2".
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>
> -- 
> Best wishes,
> Jack
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