Oh, dag. Ok, it makes some sense; anything you can make yourself doesn’t cut in to your independence, anything only an existing structure can make turns you dependent on that structure. But–BUT! Jack’s offering to do a scout’s job and put himself behind enemy lines here. Wouldn’t it be worth risking one kid to find out about such an essential part of this new territory? If not, why is it worth uprooting the whole tribe to learn just part of it?
Arrgh, friggin’ Coward. And his amazing old-man-hands.
Also: What exactly is Glasses’ job, here? The scribe makes sense, but what’s he doin, besides smuggin’ it up?
>anything you can make yourself doesn’t cut in to your independence, anything only an existing structure can make turns you dependent on that structure
Heh. Would that be a Nyima influence in Coward’s thinking, maybe? Because that’s the Nyima philosophy in a nutshell… and he *did* orchestrate that peace with the Nyima…
Ah. Independence. That’s a good point. I thought it would be more about trust. Coward might only trust what Jackdaw can make, since Jackdaw knows enough about what he makes.
I do relate to Coward’s decision.
But Jack just might go ahead and scout surreptitiously.
Because to sacarafice just this “one kid” to Anvard’s way of life means sacarificing what it means to be Ascian. It sounds like a slippery slope phallacy, but the whole point of being nomadic is so that you can pack up and head out if things go south. If Jack were to get the implant and his tribe decided to leave Anvard, do you really think he’d want to go with them?
Mary- interesting idea, but I don’t think it really holds. Nomadic groups aren’t generally static populations. They have to let people go and come, just to keep the genetic pool from getting stagnant and icky and full of inasive algae and I think I’m losing my metaphor.
And there are a lot of non-skull-chip reasons a tribe member might choose to leave, like a new family, or a new occupation. And these Ascians have already lost their pack-beasts, so they’ve sacrificed a lot of independence already…I just don’t know what line Coward’s trying to draw.
I think Coward is, in part, striving to maintain the integrity and identity of their tribe. A tribe is a living thing. Yes, a living thing is not static. It takes in and casts off. But it still has an instinct for self-preservation. To allow Anvard to get so far into Jack’s head as to have an implanted skull computer would be to allow Anvard way far into the tribe.
It’s a similar thing, I think, as the Israelites being banned from coupling with foreign women. But Jack’s not so much into the sex thing as he is into learning about technology and Anvard.
Coward wants the tribe to survive, but not at the expense of the tribe’s soul. If there is any soul-distinction between science and art, art has it, not science. Jack will have to art his way to the net, if he wants to stay a part of the tribe.
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Oh, dag. Ok, it makes some sense; anything you can make yourself doesn’t cut in to your independence, anything only an existing structure can make turns you dependent on that structure. But–BUT! Jack’s offering to do a scout’s job and put himself behind enemy lines here. Wouldn’t it be worth risking one kid to find out about such an essential part of this new territory? If not, why is it worth uprooting the whole tribe to learn just part of it?
Arrgh, friggin’ Coward. And his amazing old-man-hands.
Also: What exactly is Glasses’ job, here? The scribe makes sense, but what’s he doin, besides smuggin’ it up?
>anything you can make yourself doesn’t cut in to your independence, anything only an existing structure can make turns you dependent on that structure
Heh. Would that be a Nyima influence in Coward’s thinking, maybe? Because that’s the Nyima philosophy in a nutshell… and he *did* orchestrate that peace with the Nyima…
Ah. Independence. That’s a good point. I thought it would be more about trust. Coward might only trust what Jackdaw can make, since Jackdaw knows enough about what he makes.
I do relate to Coward’s decision.
But Jack just might go ahead and scout surreptitiously.
- Chris
Because to sacarafice just this “one kid” to Anvard’s way of life means sacarificing what it means to be Ascian. It sounds like a slippery slope phallacy, but the whole point of being nomadic is so that you can pack up and head out if things go south. If Jack were to get the implant and his tribe decided to leave Anvard, do you really think he’d want to go with them?
Mary- interesting idea, but I don’t think it really holds. Nomadic groups aren’t generally static populations. They have to let people go and come, just to keep the genetic pool from getting stagnant and icky and full of inasive algae and I think I’m losing my metaphor.
And there are a lot of non-skull-chip reasons a tribe member might choose to leave, like a new family, or a new occupation. And these Ascians have already lost their pack-beasts, so they’ve sacrificed a lot of independence already…I just don’t know what line Coward’s trying to draw.
I think Coward is, in part, striving to maintain the integrity and identity of their tribe. A tribe is a living thing. Yes, a living thing is not static. It takes in and casts off. But it still has an instinct for self-preservation. To allow Anvard to get so far into Jack’s head as to have an implanted skull computer would be to allow Anvard way far into the tribe.
It’s a similar thing, I think, as the Israelites being banned from coupling with foreign women. But Jack’s not so much into the sex thing as he is into learning about technology and Anvard.
Coward wants the tribe to survive, but not at the expense of the tribe’s soul. If there is any soul-distinction between science and art, art has it, not science. Jack will have to art his way to the net, if he wants to stay a part of the tribe.
- Chris
So, unless someone argues that the Laeske are machines, Jack is in the clear.