interview questions

Lee Berman · 03 Jan 2011, 11:35 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 06:35:04 -0500
Subject: (urth) interview questions
Message-ID: <SNT123-W157BFA133FE62DF6B114D2CF070 at phx.gbl>

>Tony Ellis: What we have is prima facie evidence that a known abo, VRT, was so
>much worse at handwriting than everyone else that he was beaten for it
>by his teachers.If, as you argue, Veil's Hypothesis was true, then
>everyone would have had the same bad handwriting.

That would only be true if it were impossible for abos to improve their tool-using
skills with time. If Veil's hypothesis were true, abos have learned to do all sorts
of complex things, including flying spaceships from St. Anne to Ste. Croix and back.

Anyway, can we really trust any of the stories of VRT? He is a being compelled by 
evolution to disguise his true identity at all costs. A false story about his childhood 
seems perfectly in line with this. VRT is a "half-abo". What does this mean? That abos can
mimic humans down to their chromosomes and allow interbreeding? Perhaps. But it might
mean something more sinister. Perhaps he is an abo who has not been in human form for
very long and has not developed tool-use very well yet. He seems to get better even within
the timeframe of the story.

There is mention of an unexplained device of cruel hooks and clamps which always puzzled 
me in this story. In Long and Short of It, Borski suggests an interesting solution.  At 
one point, Marsch comments that his young companion is uncircumcised (suggesting that 
Marsch is). So, the device might be an an example of the extreme lengths VRT is willing 
to take to perfect his imitation of Dr. Marsch. (anyone have a better explanation for this
device?)

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