(urth) S&S vs. SF in BotNS

[David Duffy]

On Thu, 22 Dec 2011, Dan'l Danehy-Oakes wrote:

> Gerry Quinn wrote:
>> I don't think Wolfe talks much about souls as such.  I'm not sure we 
>> can flatly state that he is postulating that they are an entirely 
>> separate thing from the mind and its connection to the universe.
>
> ...but I think that talking about Lupine fiction, and _especially_ the
> Briah cycle, without seeing souls everywhere, is akin to Dr. Crane's
> explanation of Silk's enlightenment as a cerebral accident.

It's pretty clear (to me at least) that Wolfe is very interested in souls, 
and how they can be consistent with modern neuroscience and "strong AI". 
That is, answering questions like

If there is an immortal soul that underlies our personality and cognition, 
what happens to it when a brain injury causes a permanent change in 
personality or thinking?  What qualities persist despite drastic changes 
in the personality and thinking?

In split brain experiments, with competing sources of intentionality, are 
there one or two souls?

If there are multiple souls present in the same individual (eg demonic 
possession, multiple personality disorder), how do they interact?  Can 
they merge?

If sufficiently advanced technology can replicate minds, are there 
associated souls, and are they copies of the original?

If sufficiently advanced technology can design, control, engineer minds, 
what happens to the soul?

Wolfe has played with various answers to all these questions in different 
stories.  Broadly, his type of soul continues to make choices in 
those domains where it is free to do so, but those domains might be 
extremely narrowed eg Piaton [who is possessed, in every sense], Sand [who 
cannot choose to reject orders, but can think freely about other matters].


Cheers, David Duffy.