Psi is magic
PhilHibbs
held reservations over the presence of psi powers in KS, and that this
detracts from it being classified as "hard sf".
What really clinched it for me was during a discussion on the
larryniven-l list about Teela's luck. I got to thinking, what is the
"luck gene" for? Clearly it's for winning lotteries. That's how it
came about, the only reasonable outcome of selecting for lottery-
winning ability is to breed someone who wins lotteries. However,
Teela's luck is clearly more than this, much, much more. How so? Why
did breeding for lottery winning end up with a general-purpose,
universe-bending luckiness? The only answer that I can think of is
that there is some universal principle, some law of nature, that this
gene is tapping into. What is that something, that can manipulate
probability on the quantum scale without conscious effort, or even
awareness? That defies all attempts to categorise it as anything else
other than random chances just happening to line up in a row? It
breaks all the rules, and there is seemingly no limit to its power. I
don't see how that can be described as anything other than magic.
I love Known Space, I love "playing with the equipment", I love the
Ringworld books (except Throne of course), but still, psychic luck is
magic, and I consider it a shame that it had to play a part in the
story.
Phil Hibbs.
Lol
"PhilHibbs" <sna...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:fdd38612-694a-4c8d...@m36g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
Heinlein's Loki, in "Job", has similar outrageous powers.
But I wouldn't let a need to categorize spoil a great story...
Lol
Mephistophilhibbs
> But I wouldn't let a need to categorize spoil a great story...
I feel that Teela's luck is utterly unnecessary in the Ringworld
storyline. The Ring itself, how the puppeteers, kzin, and humans
interact over it, the mystery of its origin, and the actions of the
Protectors on the ring, are interesting enough without psychic luck
muddying the waters.
Phil Hibbs.