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

[Lee]

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> From: severiansola at hotmail.com
> To: urth at urth.net
> Subject: May 2014 Wolfe interview in _Technology Review_
> Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2014 09:07:24 -0400
>
>>Gerry Quinn: There is only one imitative species
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> Well, one evolving imitative species I would say. Actually, since the definition of "species"
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> involves mating and reproducing, the process of direct imitation as an evolutionary
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> mechanism makes the "species" label rather inapplicable.
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> We are presented with two scenarios for the origin of Shadow Children.
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> 1. They are the original inhabitants of the St Anne who evolved from shadowy, telepathic,
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> underground creatures who become abos on their first encounter with humans.
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> or
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> 2. They are the "(d)evolved" result of shipwrecked humans living on Ste Anne and chewing that
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> weird hallucinogenic stuff.
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> Stories are told which support each scenario to the point of cancelling each other out.
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> If we are to know the true story it must come from incidental evidence in the text.
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> The incidental evidence I find for Scenario #1. is:
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> A. the name Shadow Children, a name we would expect for the descendants of underground shadowy
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> things.
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> B. The use of nonsensical geography such as Atlantis, Mu and Gondwanaland used in the attempt
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> to establish an Earth origin for the Shadow Children which seems like an alien-type mistake to
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> make.
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> C. "(D)evolution" ought to turn humans into apes, not Shadow Children.
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> D. The indeterminate, plural nature of Shadow Children is like nothing found on Earth. How
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> could use of a chemical create such an alien change in human DNA?
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> E. The evolutionary process of telepathic shadow creatures to Shadow Children to Abos to (almost)
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> pure Human is an elegant one tracing a continuing path from more primitive and more mystic to less primitive and less mystic. Shadow Children being a stunted, dead-end human result is inelegant
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> and doesn't fit any pattern, like a leftover jigsaw puzzle piece.
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> F. As Gerry notes, if you kill something and replace it, a lie has to be told to explain it.
> Shadow Children falsely explained as degenerate humans would serve the purpose of such a lie.
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> There does not appear to be any purpose for a lie told about a mystic, domestic, shadowy
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> origin to Shadow Children.
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> I am not aware of any incidental evidence which supports Scenario #2. Perhaps others are aware
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> of some.