H'mmm

Lee Berman · 18 Nov 2011, 16:53 · from 2011-November.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:53:23 -0500
Subject: (urth) H'mmm
Message-ID: <SNT123-W9AC78A3A6102ADFD75174CFC40 at phx.gbl>

>Antonio Pedro Marques: > The problem is that you can do without the science and you can do 
> without the tale but you can't do without both at the same time. Are 
> 500-pound theories to be hung on nothing?

>David Stockhoff: Let me put it another way. Science rests on evidence. Evidence can be 
>faked. Science can be faked. That's why it's called science fiction.
>Look! A ray gun!

I'd like to put it in another way still: This is not the real world we are discussing. This
is a world created entirely by Gene Wolfe. Gene Wolfe is devoutly Catholic and deeply immersed
in ancient mythology.

If Marc's theory relies on a shared (with Wolfe) knowledge and understanding of the eucharist
that is not "nothing". That is SOMETHING. Something very important, actually. Same goes for 
James' theory and his understanding of the Trinity and other theories based on mythological
knowledge. 

In a work of fiction, the reality of the author's mind is as important as a grasp of atoms and 
DNA in the real world for understanding how the pieces fit together.

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