From: Alex David Groce <Alex_Groce@gs246.sp.cs.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: (whorl) Codename: Alex
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 19:46:20 

But if this is Krait's big nasty secret, how does it reduce the inhumi to
(inexact quote, I'm at work) "little more than animals."  If the secret
strategic victory over the inhumi is to bury them all alive, I think both
Horn and the inhumi are vastly over-reacting to the threat!  The inhumi
pulled out of the ground are back to their normal nasty selves after a quick
fix of cow, and certainly don't seem reduced to animal level.  Mind you, I
don't think my "intelligent blood" thing is the exact secret either--it has
to be something people could DO to the inhumi (don't let them drink blood?
that's already the goal...  force feed them stupid animals?  also unlikely).

I think the burial is MORE inhumane now, if the inhumi (as seems) are somehow
conscious for a long period/forever.  Horn's approach to this is interesting,
in that it's Silk-like, since he doesn't let them stay that way which would
be monstrous, but (very vaguely) Machiavellian in that he USES his solution
to this moral problem to win his war.  

The intelligent blood idea does present the cruel vision of species that, in
order to remain morally and intellectually aware, must do something morally
repulsive.  Essentially, to have any will, they must exercise their will in
a malevolent way.



"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32
--
Alex David Groce (agroce+@cs.cmu.edu)
Ph.D. Student, Carnegie Mellon University - Computer Science Department
8112 Wean Hall (412)-268-3066
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~agroce

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