Recursive Science Fiction

This is an interesting site about science fiction works... that are about science fiction. (Spotted at Tim R. Mortiss' blog, La Explanada de Avente.)

Polygamy

In societies where rich men are much richer than poor men, women (and their children) are better off sharing the few wealthy men; one-half, one-quarter, or even one-tenth of a wealthy man is still better than an entire poor man. As George Bernard Shaw puts it, "The maternal instinct leads a woman to prefer a tenth share in a first-rate man to the exclusive possession of a third-rate one."

(Psychology Today: Ten Politically Incorrect Truths About Human Nature)

In some instances concubines had wider latitude to act in their own interests than they might have had in poor marriages. An Icelandic folk saying of uncertain age goes, "Better a good man's frilla [a kind of concubine] than married badly."

(Jesse Byock: Viking Age Iceland)

Since some icelanders had more than one woman, others must have felt very cold indeed, alone in bed during those icy icelandic nights. The disadvantages of polygamy for non-elite males should be evident to anyone who was taught New Math at school:

Non-injective and non-surjective: BAD (unless you are lucky A, that is)

Bijective: kind of OK for everybody I guess. Surely better than this.

Nineteenth Century LOLCats

London is peculiarly fertile in this sort of phrases, which spring up suddenly, no one knows exactly in what spot, and pervade the whole population in a few hours, no one knows how. Many years ago the favourite phrase (for, though but a monosyllable, it was a phrase in itself) was Quoz. This odd word took the fancy of the multitude in an extraordinary degree, and very soon acquired an almost boundless meaning. When vulgar wit wished to mark its incredulity and raise a laugh at the same time, there was no resource so sure as this popular piece of slang. When a man was asked a favour which he did not choose to grant, he marked his sense of the suitor's unparalleled presumption by exclaiming Quoz! When a mischievous urchin wished to annoy a passenger, and create mirth for his chums, he looked him in the face, and cried out Quoz! and the exclamation never failed in its object. When a disputant was desirous of throwing a doubt upon the veracity of his opponent, and getting summarily rid of an argument which he could not overturn, he uttered the word Quoz, with a contemptuous curl of his lip and an impatient shrug of his shoulders. The universal monosyllable conveyed all his meaning, and not only told his opponent that he lied, but that he erred egregiously if he thought that any one was such a nincompoop as to believe him. Every alehouse resounded with Quoz; every street corner was noisy with it, and every wall for miles around was chalked with it.

But, like all other earthly things, Quoz had its season, and passed away as suddenly as it arose, never again to be the pet and the idol of the populace. A new claimant drove it from its place, and held undisputed sway till, in its turn, it was hurled from its pre-eminence, and a successor appointed in its stead.

(Charles Mackay: Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds)

They break; you can see through them

Six months did Thomas remain confined to his bed; and during that time he not only became reduced to a skeleton, but seemed also to have lost the use of his faculties. Every remedy that could be thought of was tried in his behalf; but although the physicians succeeded in curing the physical malady, they could not remove that of the mind; so that when he was at last pronounced cured, he was still afflicted with the strangest madness that was ever heard of among the many kinds by which humanity has been assailed. The unhappy man imagined that he was entirely made of glass; and, possessed with this idea, when any one approached him he would utter the most terrible outcries, begging and beseeching them not to come near him, or they would assuredly break him to pieces, as he was not like other men but entirely of glass from head to foot.

(Miguel de Cervantes: The Licenciate Vidriera. See also this post on Claw of the Conciliator.)

The bank had been modernized. It was a transparent young lady who waited on him. It wouldn't have startled him in any of the other worlds, but it did at home.

"I am unsure," he said. "Are you people?"

"I also am unsure," said the young lady, "since our position is presently under litigation. Actually we are the newest thing in people. Soon there will be none produced in the old manner. You will have to admit that it was a very grotesque arrangement."

(R. A. Lafferty: Space Chantey)

Plants and minerals, seas and athmospheric vapors here enjoy an absolute transparecy. Only the humans and higher animals stand out clearly above that whole by the opaline transparency of their bodies. Only their eyes, constructed like ours, are of an entirely opaque white. The muscles of that human race have the appereance of fibrous fasciculus, or amianthus. The blood which flows through their arteries is similar to lymph; the veinous blood seems to be of chyle or milk.

Despite a complexion offering in all its parts the vitreous appearance of a milky opal, the men of Élier are large, agile, and well proportioned. The women, a little smaller, are delicate and slightly diaphanous.

(C. I. Defontenay: Star)

The first symptom is a scaliness of the skin; itch, flakes upon the clothing, inflammation. There follows a weakness in the bones as the calcium is dissolved. One grows limp and rubbery, but this is still an early phase. Soon the outer tissues harden. Thick, opaque membranes form on the surface of the eyes; the nostrils may close and seal; the skin grows coarse and pebbled. In this phase prophecy is common. The sufferer partakes of the skills of a Somnambulist, and utters oracles. The soul may wander, separating from the body for hours at a time, although the life-processes continue. Next, within twenty days after the onset of the disease, the crystallization occurs. While the skeletal structure dissolves, the skin splits and cracks, forming shining crystals in rigid geometrical patterns. The victim is quite beautiful at this time and takes on the appearance of a replica of himself in precious gems. The crystals glow with rich inner lights, violet and green and red; their sharp facets adopt new alignments from hour to hour; the slightest illumination in the room causes the sufferer to give off brilliant glittering reflections that dazzle and delight the eye.

(Robert Silverberg: Nightwings)

I suppose a quote from Ballard's The Crystal World would belong in this post, but I haven't read that book yet.

Wikipedia Religion Links Smorgasbord

Some pages I found interesting:

Mandaeism. One religion I didn't knew about. Yazidi. Another one.

Tondrakians. Christian heretics of medieval Armenia.

Beguines. A female religious movement of the Middle Ages.

Kuzari Principle. A proof of the existence of God, specially suited to the Jewish religion.

Donmeh. Purported descendants of the followers of Sabattai Zevi.

Also, one shouldn't rely too much on Wikipedia. Or blogs.

¿Está A Coruña preparada para una epidemia zombi?

Mucho me temo que no. El principal problema es el cuello de botella a la salida, que haría muy difícil la evacuación:

El tema no fue mencionado por ninguno de los partidos durante las recientes elecciones municipales. Una triste muestra de la indiferencia de los políticos por las verdaderas preocupaciones de los ciudadanos.

Quizás las mejor estrategia en caso de epidemia zombi sería atrincherarse en la Torre de Hércules. O mejor aún: en el depauperado Centro de Ocio del puerto (que ya tiene un aire post-apocalíptico, todo sea dicho). Víveres no faltarían, porque la mayor parte de los locales son de comidas. El problema es que, al contrario que en los centros comerciales estadounidenses (al menos los que salen en las películas), no existiría una tienda de armas de fuego que poder saquear para defenderse de las hordas zombi. Pero quizás la tienda de comics y demás frikadas tenga una katana de pega (posiblemente de Naruto). La gran cantidad de locales vacíos haría sencillo alojar a los supervivientes.

Alternativamente, podría montarse uno en la Arielita y confiar en que, como suele pasar, quede averiada a medio camino, felizmente inaccesible.

Si algún coruñés previsor ha concebido un plan mejor, estaría interesado en escucharlo.

Edit: Una ventaja del apocalipsis zombi sería que la eterna polémica A Coruña/La Coruña quedaría obsoleta al pasar la ciudad a denominarse "Zona de Infestación X-7013".

It kinda looks like NY

Bologna in the Middle Ages.

Another city rife with with towers is Sharn. It has the disadvantage of being imaginary. (Is Bologna real? I haven't been there so I can't tell.)

Evangelistic Atheism

For a long time I have thought that modern evangelistic atheism (Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennet, et al.) is very close to the mindset of the early christians. Let's remember that those early christians were considered "atheists" by the pagans, and that they showed a pronounced skeptical streak. See the post The Original Atheists at Crooked Timber, and also the comments.

Going a little further back, Elijah's questioning of Baal's priests is almost scientific. He repeatedly asks for proof of their claims, derides them when that proof is not forthcoming, and then provides proof for the power of his own god. Some christians resent the snarkiness of the evangelistic atheists, but that snarkiness is nothing compared to that of Elijah (even without the ensuing massacre). Also, many of the arguments against idolatry in the Bible are pretty cogent and subscribable by modern atheists, who only carry them a little further. For the atheists, only Reason should be worshipped.

The book Black Mass by philosopher John Gray seems to make similar points, at least judging from the reviews.

The Ethical Treatment of Books

Books are kept not on open shelves but in locked chests. Students who borrow are cautioned not to scratch grooves in the margin with their fingernails or to use straws from the lecture floor as placemarks. A Jewish ethical treatise warns that a man must not express his anger by pounding on a book or by hitting people with it. The angry teacher must not hit the bad student with a book, nor should the student use a book to ward off blows.

(Joseph and Frances Gies: Life in a Medieval City)

Used books from overseas

When buying used books from online bookstores, overseas shipping rates tend to end up surpassing the cost of the books themselves, frequently disuading me from the purchase.

BetterWorld.com delivers books to anywhere in the world for a mere $2.97, which is nice if you don't mind waiting a bit for your order (I don't). Some good deals there. They also sell through AbeBooks.

An excellent online bookstore for non-used books is The Book Depository. Free delivery, and the books tend to be cheaper than their Amazon equivalents once shipping is included.

Hell is the absence of Blog

I post again, and sooner than forever!

Actually, the absence of Blog is not really Hell. It's more like a slight, liminal itch that you scratch by typing.