::scr Re: doesn't have the morlocks

[Simon Wistow]

On Thu, Apr 04, 2002 at 12:05:09PM +0100, Magnus Huckvale said:
> Surely 'superior' here is an inappropriate value judgement, particularly in
> the context of the book.
> 
> To quote the late DNA
> "man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because
> he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all
> the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time.
> But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more
> intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons."


Ah, but the Eloi had no control over their own destiny. They were merely
cattle to be eaten. 

Maybe this is one of those psychological test things, like "the glass is
half empty, the glass is half full" which is supposed to divine a
persoanlity type - "Which species are you?"

> Real-world Morlocks see their lives as the cave in which they have to work
> like slaves, never really achieving any ultimate goal because they don't
> know what it is.  They just dig bigger and bigger holes.
> 
> Elois on the other hand may do the occasional spot of Morlock-like work but
> in general they live in a land of milk and honey, being carefree and gaily
> exploring their creative sides.

Unfortunately (I'll quote game theory on you if you want), not everybody
can be an Eloi. Then society breaks down. See also the fable of the lazy
grasshopper.

 
 
> But everyone has their inner Elois, some of us feel too trapped in the
> Morlock's cave to explore it.
> 
> That was the point I wanted to make anyway.  

Like I said, Eloi and Morlock was a terrible analogy (probably inspired,
retrospectively, it seems by "In the Beginning was the Command Line"
although I'd forgotten completely about that bit in it) and was just the
result of a long, lazy afternoon drinking in the sun. 

Simon




-- 
: square failure, cubic wildcard