The green man is a fake

Lee Berman · 17 Jan 2011, 13:21 · from 2011-January.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2011 08:21:04 -0500
Subject: (urth) The green man is a fake
Message-ID: <SNT123-W20344D66F1500A75A367F0CFF40 at phx.gbl>

>Jeff Wilson: They [teeth] function, but they have marginal impact on selection at best. 
>particular features don't have to be advantageous , only that the overall incremental 
>change is positive.

This makes sense using an ideal version of natural selection. In practice, there seems to
be a maintenance factor involved. Meaning that if an organism's structure is neutral in
regard to natural selection it will tend to accumulate negative mutations just in the
course of not being maintained. Thus cave fish lose their eyes to become 
non-functioning bumps of tissue; not because a working eye is selected against by pitch
dark but because deforming mutations are not selected against and pile up over the generations.
Perhaps the same for the human appendix, baby toe, etc. The green man's teeth should be
deformed.

>Jerry Friedman: Surely the green man would be an example of genetic engineering, not evolution.
>He says they've altered the algae, so why wouldn't they have altered themselves? It's possible that 
>in doing so, they preferred to keep their human shape, including teeth.

This seems to be the necessary argument to retain any legitimacy to the green man, bolstered by 
Severian's "stones to statues" argument. But it might be simpler and tie the story together if
he is a liar and not a legitimate end product of humanity.

>I can't put much stock in his saying "a great liar", since he has another reason 
>to say that, and I don't see why he'd give Severian even that much of a hint.

What other reason? Why would ANYONE say they were a liar? As we are at least partially aware, he
says he is a liar because Gene Wolfe makes him say so. It is Gene Wolfe giving us a hint, as a
good storyteller/puzzle maker must. The only people who say they are liars are..well....liars. 
Liars hoping that a bit of honesty will seduce a perceptive listener into believing the lie anyway 
(which is what has happened here).**

>And he doesn't say he lies all the time.

heh. That statement would create a logic paradox.  Think of all the logic puzzles involving liars and 
truth tellers...well, hopefully you know what I mean.

>However, I think you've raised a good possibility that he's a fake put in Severian's path by whoever 
>wants the New Sun.

Fair enough. I never mean for my theories to be any more than possible interpretations. But I'll suggest 
that the "whoever" doesn't have to be quite such a mystery. There is another character who seems to have 
access to the Corridors of Time.  She also has an association with green algae. What is the source of the 
undine? Perhaps you'll find the source of the green man in the same place. If one can pinch off "daughter-
brides"... BTW, in keeping with the androgynous, dionysian theme, the green man's voice is "saved from 
womanishness only by its depth".

More evidence that Abaia, et al. are surreptitiously pushing FOR the New Sun/Flood can be found when we 
first encounter undines, which is in Severian's Baldanders-induced dream: 

>"we are the brides of Abaia. The sweethearts and playthings...Here we feed, floating and growing until we 
>are great enough to mate with Abaia, who will one day devour the continents."

**as a bit of possibly helpful advice in dealing with human social interactions, whenever someone starts a 
sentence with the phrase, "To be honest..." or something like that, the person is sub-consciously 
acknowledging a general pattern of dishonesty in their communication. Liars use this phrase all the time.

It doesn't have to be completely malicious. Some people habitually lie in saying nice things they don't 
really mean and use "To be honest with you..." when making the rare critical statement.  Gene Wole is VERY 
aware of such interpersonal and self-deceptions in speech and uses them to great effect in his work.

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