(urth) What's So Great About Ushas

[O'Donnell, Tim (BOSI)]

Hi Paul,

The point that I took from this discussion, and I think it is valid, is that the Hieros have the ability to perceive more of
the universe than humans; they experience time differently.  So when someone talks about knowledge, I take it to refer to this aspect of their
knowing and not their ability to produce technology, etc. (which is where the similarity with Baldanders comes in).

So, while the Hieros are still making guesses on the outcome of their actions (who isn't [apart from God] in a quantum universe?) they do have the 
advantage of having more knowledge of the outcome of events.  And so, their moral code differs from the humans who are bound to A->B linear time.  
This seems a reasonable argument to me.

Tim

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Message: 7
Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:17:23 -0400
From: "Paul B" <pb.stuff at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: (urth) What's So Great About Ushas
To: "The Urth Mailing List" <urth at lists.urth.net>
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	<3e1fa2e90807141017o3d51d1f2o5822ad1ba5d40de2 at mail.gmail.com>
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I see we haven't moved much farther.

Firstly, I would suggest that you stop calling the Hierogrammates "angels".
They are created by humans (Hieros), and you have yet to provide convincing
evidence of their ties to anything godly.   Superior knowledge alone is
certainly no such evidence (see Baldanders).

Secondly, denying their godliness doesn't make one a "secular humanist".  It
makes one a skeptical reader who doesn't add what he pleases to the text.

Finally, you seem to insist that knowledge and morality are proportional.
God knows all, the Hierogrammates know less, the average Urthlings don't
know very much, and an arctother knows even less than that.  This you insist
makes the Urthlings unable to morally judge the Hierogrammates, just as the
arctother can't judge the Urthlings.

Even the Hierogrammates, however, are still making probabilistic guesses, as
Roy's UotNS quote proves handily.  Your system of "morality" thus suggests
that whoever can make the most informed guess in a closed system is the
moral superior and not to be challenged.

Now again consider Baldanders, likely the most knowledgeable, and
incidentally one of the more immoral, human characters on Urth.  I presume
you'll balk at the idea that he's the superior moral agent on all of Urth,
but I'll look forward to your explanation why this isn't the case given the
morality you advocate.

Paul
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