From: CRCulver@aol.com
Subject: Re:  (urth) Jaynes and Wolfe
Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 20:49:47 EST

Alga wrote:
<Interesting, for instance, Silk's blind faith in his Outsider>

But Wolfe has said that the Outsider is "a spiritual god," which to me means
the Outsider is the Pancreator.


<the relationship between "gods" and men in BOTLS too--almost directly for the
former. BOTLS (which I admire more structurally with each
contemplation--especially since I don't think Wolfe was strong with structure
up to that point) could be read as Wolfe's attempt to integrate Jaynes with
his (Wolfe's) new knowledge of computers.>

I should mention that there is another book inspired by Jaynes' book, though
very different from Gene Wolfe. It is Neal Stephenson's _Snow Crash_, which is
a hilarious sort of cross between a cyberpunk novel and a satire of that
genre. It would be interesting reading for Wolfe fans with time on their
hands, 'cause you can compare what Stephenson did to Wolfe's interpretation.


<BTW, I don't posit that Wolfe actually *bought* the Jaynes thesis, which has
been pretty thoroughly scientifically pooh-poohed>

My acquaintances in the mental sciences (psychology, psycholinguistics,
psychaitry) have informed me that the book is 90% crap, but that's in
accordance with Sturgeon's Law. When I read the book, I enjoyed its
entertaining qualities, and didn't believe a word of it. Still, Jaynes was
Professor of Psychology at Princeton, so he's no crackpot.


<Contrast with Hamlet's caution re the authenticity of the Ghost>

Y'know, I was reading _Hamlet_ the other day, and I found a strong influence
on Wolfe in it, and now I've totally forgotten it. Hopefully it'll come again.
I think I've yet to post the (rather obvious, to me) link to _Macbeth_ in
SotT.

Christopher R. Culver <crculver@aol.com>
http://members.aol.com/crculver/index.html
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