(urth) The green man is a fake

[Jerry Friedman]

> From: Jeff Wilson <jwilson at io.com>

> 
> On 1/16/2011 6:31 PM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > He's "the color of pale  jade".  This means he absorbs less visible light 
>than
> >  current
> > plants (Ribes?).  If Wolfe had said "blackish jade", it  would have been a 
>step
> > in the
> > direction of  plausibility.
> 
> He might be bleached out from lack of light, the way grass  is when something 
>is left covering it for a few days, then removed. On his  second appearance, he 
>is merely jade colored, indicating a partial  recovery.

Good one.  I really should have figured that out.

However, the reason for this phenomenon of etiolation seems to be so the plant 
can
put its resources into growth to reach the sun and not into chlorophyll in the 
dark,
which will be useless.

http://books.google.com/books?id=0ZtXx54h75MC&pg=PA745#v=onepage&q&f=false

This wouldn't apply to the green man--I can't see why he'd etiolate when he's 
genetically
engineered and it would be better for him always to be ready to photosynthesize.

(For that matter, it doesn't apply to algae, most of which do form chlorophyll 
in the dark,
as implied in the above reference and stated in

http://books.google.com/books?id=r808AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false

)

Also, why wouldn't he wait till he was completely recovered?  And given that his
algae are genetically engineered, why shouldn't he be black (or fuligin), or 
gray when
faded?  Answer: because green is a cooler color for a photosynthetic man.  Same
reason he's shaped like a man instead of having big leaves or membranes or
something.
 
> > However, I'm imagining a world with many fusion plants  powering LEDs that 
>shine
> > on green people as they sleep.   Including shining on them from below 
through
> > transparent water  or air mattresses.
> 
> The green man seems almost atechnological. He wears a  kilt for modesty,

Which I suspect is the showman's idea, by the way.  Modesty doesn't make much
sense for people who need light, and no sense at all if they're short of it.

>but despite having the run of Severian's lifetime, he doesn't  bother to stop 
>for anything else that might help him rescue  Severian.

That's an interesting point.  His kind was created by technology--has it been 
lost by
his time?  Or is he just not involved in it?  Anyway, maybe he sees that he can 
rescue
Severian without anything.
 
> > However however, I suspect Wolfe just committed the Sin  Against Niven and 
>didn't
> > think it through.
> 
> Niven's one to talk!  Actually, Niven fesses up to lots of "didn't think it 
>through" moments, though I  can't believe he didn't intentionally stick the 
>fossil record under the rug when  he decided 1) Kzinti and humans are descended 
>from a virus, 2) primates are  descended from aliens, and 3) all of the above 
>are descended from feedstock  designed by still another alien race for the 
>benefit of still another unrelated  alien race.

Or maybe "knowingly" more than "intentionally".  That is, his goal wasn't to 
make it implausible;
that was just the price he had to pay.  (This could apply to Wolfe too, contrary 
to what I said.)

Jerry Friedman