(urth) Wind god

António Pedro Marques entonio at gmail.com
Mon Nov 8 07:50:53 PST 2010


James Wynn wrote (08-11-2010 14:34):
>
>>> James Wynn-
>>> Given that Time collapses with each cycle it is entirely irrelevant
>>> whether the cycles were "earlier" (in meta-Time) or not.
>>
>> entonio at gmail.com-
>> It's not irrelevant, it's devoid of meaning. Either way, I meant
>> 'future', not 'meta-future'.
>
> How is there a "future" when Time collapses at the end of a cycle?

Because I never mentioned cross-'cycle' temporality?

"
- Severian is Earth's future
- Severian is in the future of an alternate Earth
"

And the paragraph below meant to explain why.

>> No, you hinted it could follow 'There Are Doors'. That's far from an
>> explanation and I don't see how that's easy here.
>
> In TAD alternate universes that are near one another affect each other
> just as if you tune the strings on a guitar to the same note and pluck
> one string those next to it will vibrate. So, in TAD, even though it has
> always been true that men in Laraworld die after having sex, the
> languages, customs, and architecture is virtually the same as our world
> (Green's world). The two universes are constantly affecting each
> other--bringing them into accordance. So grooms in Laraworld wear black
> because men die after having sex. Grooms in Green's world wear black
> because grooms in Laraworld do.
>
> By the same token, it would not be necessary for there to have been a
> Jesus of Nazareth in Severian's cycle for there to be a Catholic Church.
> They would have a Catholic Church, with similar rituals, because there
> was one in the cycle just following or just preceding Severian's--just
> as grooms wear black in our world because men die after sex in
> Laraworld.

An unjustified leap. There may be a Catholic Church, with similar rituals, 
because there was Jesus figure or something in its place, and that in turn 
because there was a real Jesus in a close cycle. It's one thing for grooms 
to wear a given colour for a reason that only comes fulfilled on a parallel 
universe, after all choice of colour doesn't condition your future. It's 
quite different to just have an entire church out of nothing. Those aren't 
dummies, they're people. Their church, if it exists, needs some basis. They 
can't just be going through the motions.



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