(urth) Lamarck, Wolfe and Exultants

[Jeff Wilson]

On 8/4/2010 11:52 PM, Ryan Dunn wrote:
> Wolfe is quoted as thus...
>
> "I didn't know that anybody was working in the Lamarckian area, today to be honest with you. I think somebody should be because I have never been convinced that Lamarck was wrong."
>
> Lamarckism states that acquired traits are inherited.

Yes, but "Lamarckism" is not a product of Lamarck himself. Inheritance 
of acquired characteristics is an ancient idea in one form or another, 
and Darwin allowed something like it in his idea that somatic tissues 
generated heritable "gemmules" in response to the development or disuse 
of various organs.

Wikipedia says Lamark's contributions were that inheritance of new 
traits is facilitated by an alchemical process that creates new 
complexity, and that existing traits could be adapted to the 
environment. This might be what Wolfe means when the BOTNS says that the 
continents shape new peoples into the form of the old.

> Are exultants a product of Lamarckism? It could explain the lingering height as a physical character trait, and might take less time than Darwinian theology to see an affect.

Exultant height seems to be a mixture of effects. Exultants' bastards 
are commonly believed to be taller than the common folk, which would be 
plausible if they were genetically modified "supermen". This prevents 
commoners from posing as exultants, and lets the bastards be readily 
identified for elimination or co-option before they are fully of age to 
make real trouble. Ultan is almost certainly one of these supermen, 
given his impressive mental, physical, and charismatic traits other than 
his blindness, and Thea and Thecla are likewise gifted with pleasing 
voices and faces, deep thinking, and quickness if not strength.

However, there is also talk of "royal jelly" being used to make them 
taller still, and this has been speculated to be growth hormones or even 
the actual glands taken from the khaibits, who don't have to be 
particularly tall to serve their purpose. This might mean that some of 
the exultant families were ennobled after the art of genetic 
modification was lost or banned or simply withheld, and have to resort 
to individual growth treatments as they have not yet intermarried enough 
with the older "supermen" stock. Vodalus may be an example of this kind, 
as he is described as very tall but slender, and only a little taller 
than Thea.

I've just now come across Master Gurloes' comment on Thecla's ancestry 
in SHADOW, Chapter VII that seems to confirm this: "'Not just an armiger 
family. High blood.'"

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
IEEE Student Chapter Blog at
< http://ieeetamut.org >