Fairy Tale logic

Daniel Fusch · 02 Nov 1999, 01:53 · from urth-v0028.mbox · original

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From: "Daniel Fusch" <dfusch at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: (urth) Fairy Tale logic
Date: Mon, 01 Nov 1999 17:53:11 PST
Message-ID: <urth-v0028-0329 at digest.urth.net>
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OK, Jim,

I have to disagree with this:

(snip)
"The idea of verifying facts about
the world through controlled repetition seems alien to just about everyone
with the _possible_ exception of Fr Inire, and he's a bug-eyed space
monster . . ."

The Scientific Method has NOT disappeared from Urth; it is simply that=20
organized (academic) sciene has disappeared. And of course the good old=20
"manifest destiny conquer the stars" drive toward technological achievement=20
seems to be missing--that's Vodalus' complaint, after all.

What we see in Urth are the solitary scientists, the lone natural=20
philosophers who experiment privately, without involving themselves with=20
agencies or universities. Baldanders is one example--he is obviously a=20
tinkerer, an experimenter--of the darkest kind. He performs experiments on=20
his captives in order to gain scientific knowledge.

Another rather sinister scientist appears near the end of The Citadel of th=
e=20
Autarch, while Severian is a captive of Vodalus.' Severian meets a man who=20
hypothesizes that organic material exists to feed light, and he tests his=20
hypotheses (or so Severian suspects) by repeatedly burning human children.

Further, we might argue that the Scientific Method was well-known, at least=
,=20
in Typhon's time. The Typhon/Piaton project was attempted after much=20
experimentation.

Nor is classification or biology absent--it is simply that Severian does no=
t=20
know much about classification. But remember the Botanic Gardens. The=20
curators there had the plants well classified, I would say.

Anyway, I submit to you that the Scientific Method is still very present in=20
the world of Urth. The thing that is missing is an organized group of=20
scientists. There are no grants, there are no associations, and there=20
doesn't seem to be much teamwork (with the possible exception of the=20
botanists). Instead you have scattered, isolated scientists pursuing their=20
separate paths.

That's all I had to say--

Daniel

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