(urth) FW: May 2014 Wolfe interview in _Technology Review_

[Gerry Quinn]

On 11/08/2014 13:31, Lee wrote:
> The question for you remains- What did Abos look like before humans 
> arrived in the system? 

Some looked like every beast, and some were of fantastic forms inspired 
by the clouds, or lava flows.  But most were long, and lived between the 
roots of trees.  [Perhaps an association of which they retain a din 
racial memory...]  So we are told, anyway.

>> And the drug-plant they talk about - a pre-determined cover story? Do
>> all Shadow Children chew it, just in case a curious 'Shadowfriend' is
>> unconvinced by the basic storyline?
> What I see made clear is that the "cover story", the lies which augment the disguise,
> are not just for the benefit of "Shadowfriends". Self-delusion is necessary for the
> most complete and convincing disguise.
>
> Do Shadow Children know they are poor imitations of crashlanded humans? No. Only
> The Old Wise One has a glimmer of memory of it. Do the Abos, like Victor, know
> they have killed and taken the place of humans? No. Victor clearly believes most
> of what he writes in Marsch's journal. He does, at this point, truly think he is
> Marsch.
He knows who he is.  The early parts of Marsch's journal were written by 
the actual Marsch.

>
>> Of course there may well be abos even on Sainte Croix - I believe there
>> is a hint of this in No. 5's comment about a "planetary face" which is
>> not found among the "gypsies and criminal tribes". (There's no direct
>> suggestion that Marsch looks like them, though.)
> But Marsch/Victor does run away when confronted by this truth, as just mentioned.

> No, he has a long discussion with No. 5, ending only when Aunt Jeannine sends for him.  He leaves at another meeting, when No. 5 identifies him as an abo.
> It doesn't take long for Marsch to be killed and replaced. I suspect all humans on
> Ste Anne and Ste Croix have been similarly replaced (except Number Five who lives
> cloistered and protected in his clone castle).
Just months in the wilderness, and a couple more years before neo-Marsch 
felt ready to try his luck in human society.
>> I believe you misunderstand the reference.  The series of clones create
>> their own environment, and consequently stabilise into a solution that
>> does not change with time.
> I do not misunderstand. This is exactly what Marsch/Victor tells Number Five, trying
> to explain to him why his cloning experiments don't work; why he doesn't advance.
Yes - the analogy correctly applies to No. 5.
> I am saying it is ironic because Marsch/Victor is telling Number Five exactly how the
> native imitative species have managed to duplicate humans almost perfectly, Abos and
> Shadow Children being the earlier approximations.
This doesn't have the same resonance with the mathematical theory, 
because the environment changes.
>> Also, according to your theory, Marsch is surely a very poor example!
>> He would be a second-generation type incapable of properly holding a
>> pen,
>
> Incorrect. Marsch is the replacement for an Abo, making him the third-generation type.
>
> As is made clear, even the third generation type, while they can use a pen- a very fine motor skill no other animal can approach, they cannot use one with the precision of a true human.
>
But then where are the super-abos, as humans on the two planets appear 
to use technology quite well?  I'd have thought that your theory would 
have to make Marsch something of a throwback.  He started life, after 
all, as what you would call a second-generation abo, an outcast of 
society. The hero as werewolf, if you like.

Of course he is good on theory.  But then, the Shadow Children seemed to 
understand the principles of space travel and general relativity, even 
if they don't use tools.

- Gerry Quinn