Short Story 5: Mountains Like Mice and the purple dye

Marc Aramini · 30 Mar 2012, 00:17 · from 2012-March.txt.gz

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From: marcaramini at yahoo.com (Marc Aramini)
Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:17:50 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: (urth) Short Story 5: Mountains Like Mice and the purple dye
In-Reply-To: <1333046156.75124.YahooMailNeo at web121003.mail.ne1.yahoo.com>
Message-ID: <1333066670.35876.YahooMailClassic at web161806.mail.bf1.yahoo.com>

Yes, and KNOWING what the names actually mean instead of just having the scientific knowledge is key, so I think the totality of human knowledge is shown to be invaluable to survival.? The gyrda only have the things that are obviously practical (like biological engineering) but have forgotten the reason for their names and other things, so are no longer truly human.? 
?
I think your impressions are correct.

--- On Thu, 3/29/12, Craig Brewer <cnbrewer at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Craig Brewer <cnbrewer at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) Short Story 5: Mountains Like Mice and the purple dye
To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
Date: Thursday, March 29, 2012, 11:35 AM

That is pretty cool. It also connects the "experiment" to the prohibition against cheating. Having a good heart isn't just a kind of soul vs. technology thing. It's about using the technology/science in the correct manner. They want him to be honorable but they also want a real experiment. They reinforce one another.

But that brings me to the gyrda. Just not having a heart seems very...vague. It makes sense on a sentimental level, but what is it the gyrda were really missing? The Masters seem to have taught Dirk that they are "poor" and dirty, but that seems more to reflect their origins than their current state: after all, they still know enough about biochemistry to create the hamadrayad. They aren't simple savages. It also can't be just something against DNA modification or "mutant science" since the Masters are trying to create their own "new human." I feel like I'm missing something about the actual difference between the two groups. Is it that they're avoiding being part of a larger humanity?

I also like the touch that historical/legendary knowledge (i.e., using Livy to get out of constraints) is a different kind of science/technology. In other words, the liberal arts are useful, too. :) I assume that's part of what it means to "have a heart" in this world.

?
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