tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16218624.post882521661502985524..comments2023-11-03T05:27:32.648-04:00Comments on Xibalba: xibalbahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224952131898257723noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16218624.post-25007939677205403762014-04-27T19:13:29.651-04:002014-04-27T19:13:29.651-04:00"Nothing really changes" because the Sec..."Nothing really changes" because the Second Foundation works mightidly too put things back "on course". The Mule changes everything by making it a requirement after conquering the First Foundation that the Second Foundation move heaven and earth to get things back on course and by threatening to derail Seldon's entire plan. That is what I meant by saying the mule changes everything. In the context of the story he does indeed change everything by being a threat that no one envisioned in the slightest.<br /><br />In fact things are so much back on course that the Protagonist of Foundation's Edge is very suspicious and thinks the Second Foundation or someone is manipulating events, because after the interruption of someone like the Mule things going back so closely to right on course is shall we say hard to believe. Further the Second Foundation is designed to ensure things stay on course otherwise the chances are overwhelming that in the end they will not stay on course. After all all the deviations from the plan mentioned are a few percentiles and over the course of 1000 years they add up to failure in the plan being implemented which is why the Second Foundation was created. <br /><br />As for people within two centuries of the fall of Rome providing a model for the Mule. No such character who could manipulate people via anything like emotional manipulation can be found. Also the sorely maladjusted upbringing to say nothing of the megalomania and psychopathogy fit Hitler very well. Hitler could manipulate people emotionally with his oratory individually and enmass. He was a stunningly effective orator. That he could manipulate people emotionally through his oratory was often remarked on during his lifetime. So the source for the Mule, or should I say inspiration, was more likely Adolf Hitler than any historical character in the two centuries after the fall of Rome.<br /><br />As for your definition of Science Fiction, that is one and not necessarily the only one. It takes place in a future with all sorts of changes in human society and technology. As for no lasting impact on humanity Asimov does have such impacts in his Foundation series - the First Foundations miniaturization of technology for one thing and new technology that makes "jumps" through hyperspace easier. The Visi-Sonar is a musical instrument that is in a very loose sense cabable of emotional manipulation but it is not used for such a purpose because basically only someone like the Mule could so use it with any reliability.<br /><br />As for your last paragraph; that is precisely the point. In Foundation and Empire Ebling figures out the Mule's power because human responses are being distorted. In fact Ebling discusses the assumptions of psychohistory which assume that their will be no fundamental change in human responses or human technology. In fact Ebling gives two examples of technological change that would undermine psychohistory. But it is hardly a static Universe. The key word here is fundamental. Obviously has indicated above change does occur.<br /><br />Your definition of Science Fiction is unduly restrictive and would consign much Science Fiction to out of Science Fiction. I further note that you miss that the point of Hari Seldon's plan is in fact to create a society radically different from the old Galactic Empire. In fact the whole point of he plan has revealed in Foundation's Edge is to create a conscious, so to speak, Galaxy - Galatica! incorporating all the life and yes none life in the Galaxy. That would be a radically different and changed way for humans to live. Even the Second Foundation, which is oblivious to how it is being manipulated to create Galatica plans for a system of rule quite different from the old empire.xibalbahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00224952131898257723noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16218624.post-31656108509493755682014-04-26T06:39:53.667-04:002014-04-26T06:39:53.667-04:00"The Mule changes everything"
In Asimov..."The Mule changes everything"<br /><br />In Asimov's history of the future nothing really changes. The Mule is an amusing blip on the radar screen.<br /><br />If Augustine of Hippo and premillennialism were stimuli for Asimov's thinking about the 1000 year period after the fall of the Galactic Empire, then historical figures from a century or two after Augustine might have provided Asimov with ideas for constructing the Mule character.<br /><br />The idea that you might be able to transpose the Roman Empire and the Galactic Empire is an anti-science fictional premiss for a story.<br /><br />"Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology."<br /><br />In the Foundation Fictional Universe, even the Visi-Sonor, a device that allows for mind control, has no lasting impact on Humanity.<br /><br />The Psychohistory concept that was developed by Campbell and Asimov requires a Static Universe in which human behavior never changes, just like the behavior of gas molecules never changes.John Schmidthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12557999612244024954noreply@blogger.com