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From: Miller.pasa@Xerox.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Deep Question(s)
Message-ID: <2867@topaz.ARPA>
Date: Mon, 22-Jul-85 20:36:32 EDT
Article-I.D.: topaz.2867
Posted: Mon Jul 22 20:36:32 1985
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Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
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From: Miller.pasa@Xerox.ARPA

Two questions for all you deep thinkers and bibliophiles out there:

First, I just saw 2010 for the first time the other night at a revival
theater.  I won't go into what I thought of the movie, since I'm sure
that was thoroughly handled on the net before I got on.  (By the way, if
this question has already been hashed over, somebody tell me what was
said and I'll be quiet.)  I left the theater with this one big, sort-of
psychological question:  assuming everything happened just the way the
movie said it did, how did people on Earth react?

It struck me that that fancy new sun and all those weird messages coming
over TV screens all over the planet didn't really change the political
situation one iota.  So did we nuke each other or not?  I think it's
fairly clear that we were meant to leave the film thinking that mankind
had suddenly grown up and would now live happily ever after.  I, for
one, would LIKE to believe that people, even big government leaders,
don't **REALLY** want to blow each other up and would therefore jump at
any good, face-saving excuse for not doing so.  But I'm not sure I have
quite enough faith in humanity to believe that.  On my more pessimistic
days, I would firmly expect somebody to say "Let's nuke them commies [or
'imperialist pigdogs,' if you prefer] and make the galaxy safe for
democracy!!!"

So what do you think?

Second question--  while waiting for a D&D game to start the other
night, several of us were discussing the interface between
technology/science and magic.  The only novel we could come up with that
really treated the CO-existence of the two (as opposed to the existence
of one through the other) was OPERATION CHAOS by ... ?
(I have forgotten again, even though it was a fantastic book.  Any
help?)  Was there ever a sequel to that?  Can anyone give me some
examples of stories in a similar vein.  Zelazny's AMBER novels are close
at some points, but not quite what I'm thinking of.  (Probably because
it, like most everything else I've ever read that comes close, deals
with the introduction of an element of one world into another (i.e. guns
in Amber) while I'm thinking more of a situation where the two normally
coexist.)


Chris Miller
Miller.pasa@Xerox.ARPA