(urth) Fairies and Wolfe [was: Short Story 5: Mountains Like Mice]

[David Stockhoff]

On 3/28/2012 7:06 AM, Gerry Quinn wrote:
> *From:* Marc Aramini <mailto:marcaramini at yahoo.com>
> > Mountains like Mice
> >
> >
> The gyrda as scandinavian gods or fairies without a heart is perhaps 
> interesting
> >
> to think of, as if all this scientific meddling has brough back nature 
> spirits that
> >
> have little humanity.
> Fairy-like races have been a continual thread throughout Wolfe, but 
> the details vary. They are usually small, they are usually attuned to 
> the natural environment; they are always distinctly non-human and 
> mysterious, and difficult for humans to understand. Wolfe’s aliens (or 
> in this case modified humans) more often than not have at least some 
> fairy-like aspects. The frequent fairy resonances are probably in part 
> a deliberate strategy for evoking a sense of mystery, and tilting 
> Wolfe’s SF in the direction of fantasy.
> The degree to which fairy morality intersects with human morality 
> varies; it looks like it’s not too high with the Gyrda.
> Carrying on from this thought, it occured to me that robot races in 
> Wolfe have common characteristics too. They are often moral exemplars. 
> (Of course, it is logical that we should construct them according to 
> our ideals, though they often evolve beyond the plan.)
> It occurred to me that perhaps (in Wolfe) robots think of humans the 
> same way humans think of fairies. The more I think about this, though, 
> the more I am inclined to discard the idea. There may be elements of 
> it there with chems and similar constructs, but I don’t think the 
> analogy apples generally.
Without having read the story (though I will), I want to comment that 
the "moral robot" has been around at least since Asimov's "3 laws," 
which basically hardwired robots to be MORE moral than humans. Naturally 
they represent the kind of rational and dispassionate morality that we 
humans, for a few hundred years at least, were imagined to aspire to.

Also, I agree that chems/robots are not likely to view their creators as 
fairy-like, but I think there is something to the idea, and it probably 
depends on the circumstances. The question is whether a better model 
exists, such as the gods.

Fairies are mysterious, removed, and often heartless---much like the 
gods, fair enough---but we don't see them as our creators. On the other 
hand, the classical gods could often appear capricious as well---though 
they just as often followed moral laws to the letter in ways and to a 
degree that astounded humans. Fairies tend to follow contracts with 
humans to the letter in a similar way, but do not generally impose their 
morality on humans directly as the gods do---outside of children's 
literature, where fairies (sometimes named "Dame ___") are often plain 
stand-ins for gods and goddesses. On balance, both comparisons are 
problematic, and the two traditions are inseparable anyway.

(If robots had a god, he would be Vulcan, the gods' fabricator and 
machinist.)

The chems dwell among their creators and appear to possess some of their 
"mortal" capabilities, but not all, and are ready to shoot them on 
command. So there doesn't appear to be much going on in the way of 
worship or mythologizing.