barrington interview

Gerry Quinn · 09 Oct 2014, 14:09 · from 2014-October.txt.gz

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From: gerry at bindweed.com (Gerry Quinn)
Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 15:09:12 +0100
Subject: (urth) barrington interview
In-Reply-To: <0DA454A32913114C9CC19BB781FB907D011FA5 at ETSUMB2.etsu.edu>
References: <BLU175-W2054A50C3862ED3733A642CFA30 at phx.gbl>
	<0DA454A32913114C9CC19BB781FB907D011FA5 at ETSUMB2.etsu.edu>
Message-ID: <54369708.5010904 at bindweed.com>


On 08/10/2014 16:07, Norwood, Frederick Hudson wrote:
> Actually, crows can do simple math.  If four hunters enter a house and three come out, the crow can do enough math to avoid the house.  Four hunters in, four come out, the crow flies to the house.  Twenty hunters in, nineteen out, the crow flies to the house.  The crow can see the difference between three and four but not between nineteen and twenty.
>
> I do not believe there is an alien race for which four (the concept, not the symbol) is less than three.

I think Wolfe would largely agree.  His humanoid aliens - and robots - 
seem to be mostly different to humans, but capable of mutual 
understanding.  Loyal To The group Of Seventeen is an attack on the idea 
that our minds are constructed by our language.

- Gerry Quinn

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