(urth) House Absolute

[Tim Walters]

>> What's the artistic point of the cliff scene, world-famous for its
>> evocation of deep time, if not to show that a gazillion years have
>> passed?
>
> To show that many, many human societies have arisen, fallen, and been
> trampled unto dust, and the dust piled upon dust until it has become
> fused into rock.

Well, yes, exactly. That takes a gazillion years, not 20,000, and is more
powerful for representing a gazillion years of human futility rather than
20,000.

I thought you (or somebody) was proposing that Typhon had artificially
created these cliffs, which completely vitiates this reading. Certainly
there's no natural process that can create such a cliff in 20,000 years.

>> What's the artistic point of mentioning the cooling of Urth's core, if
>> not
>> to show that a gazillion years have passed?
>
> To show the ironically ignorant nature of the far future civilization (
> paraphrasing "there is another word for it I can't recall, but lightning
> is what makes it go") who continue to be brought down by human hubris in
> their attempts to ascend to godlike heights of wisdom.

This might fly if there were textual evidence for it.

-- 
Tim Walters | http://doubtfulpalace.com