(urth) the prime calcula/his citadel and other quotes

[Gerry Quinn]

From: "Marc Aramini" <marcaramini at yahoo.com>
> But this last case is different,
> every time I look through the book I see more quotes
> equating motherhood with a particular set of characters, I see
> a consistent scheme, I see no contradictory evidence, only
> motivation unrevealed, so I have a certainty approaching 100%
> and I think my chance of convincing someone who sees the
> same data should be in the high 90th percentile.  If all the data
> is explained and fits, then I can't see how it can be rationalized
> away, when doing so makes other statements seem merely like
> desciption of banal events or just kind of weird observations
> with no application, even though they are all consistent and
> pointing to the same conclusion.

And for me it's completely the opposite - I don't see this consistent scheme 
at all!  Of course I can see all the things you point out to me, like Silk's 
dreams or Mamelta's utterance.  But to me those just seem like forced 
interpretations of events that have more natural explanations.  You see me 
as trying to rationalise away obvious facts - and I see you as doing exactly 
that!  You see me as ignoring this major 'mother' theme, and I see you as 
creating this theme by interpreting some events strangely and ignoring 
others.

It's like we're living in two different Whorls!


> Its just discouraging, because this kind of thing is really only
> a first step interpretationally, just an assembling of pertinent
> information with no real reasoning involved.

I very much don't want to discourage you.  But I really am convinced that 
what you see as clear evidence for your thesis isn't strong evidence at all. 
Whereas you think I am ignoring and rationalising away the obvious!  All I 
can suggest is that you think about other events and characters in the story 
as they relate to your idea - maybe you'll come up with an unexpected piece 
of evidence that convinces us all, or maybe you'll come up with an improved 
theory that does the same.

- Gerry Quinn