First Exodus theory revised

Gerry Quinn · 11 Feb 2011, 03:18 · from 2011-February.txt.gz

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From: gerryq at indigo.ie (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 03:18:04 -0000
Subject: (urth) First Exodus theory revised
References: <748945.97512.qm at web161818.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>	<4D548E81.7090602 at gmail.com><8FF1E2264741495A927DB86865858E56@jill>
	<4D5499C6.7070409 at gmail.com>
Message-ID: <E1124EF3F70D46429D69D797ED39A538@jill>

From: "Ant?nio Pedro Marques" <entonio at gmail.com>
> Gerry Quinn wrote:
> > From: "Ant?nio Pedro Marques" <entonio at gmail.com>

> >> I should again point out that regardless of Pas having been scanned
> >> from Typhon, all he is is a computer program. Pas is Typhon's tool and
> >> in all likelihood Typhon doesn't care one bit about Pas as long as Pas
> >> fulfills his role. He should care more about his heir(s), who is/are
> >> (a) real person(s). So Pas is there to serve Silk, not the opposite,
> >> and Silk is either a true heir or a tenant (for Typhon, not Pas).
>
> > Computer programs are real people in this story (and in most of Wolfe's
> > work).

> Not really. Robots are people, and you could *argue* that means the 
> software running them is people. But all over, 'real people' don't 
> consider robots 'real people'. Silk does because he's Silk. Typhon 
> doesn't.

I don't agree with you there.  Most people in Viron seem to consider both 
the gods and the chems real people.  Taluses probably less so, I suppose. 
Black mechanics may disagree, but they are few and are breaking the law.

Pas is the god of the chems.

I don't recall Typhon himself expressing any views on robots. In fact he 
treated some people (such as Piaton) as robots.  Maybe he treated almost 
everyone as robots, in fact - consider the whole possession technology for 
controlling them!  Mamelta tells us how everyone was wired up in a sort of 
always-on internet, with Typhon's family wandering through their heads. 
That is before some of them were forced abourd the Whorl and given brain 
operations.

- Gerry Quinn

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