Re: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict

In article <1144946477@xxxxxxxxx>, Wayne Throop <throopw@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
: jdnicoll@xxxxxxxxx (James Nicoll)
: SF has the advantage that while history only goes back perhaps 9,000
: years [...] the future goes on for a very, very long time.
: No, even longer than that.

Consider the Continuing-Time-verse. Something like 20,000 years of
various kinds of conflicts. Which is small compared to some you've
mentioned. But... how do you count the Time Wars outside the little
few-tens-of-thousands-of-years bubble of Continuing Time?

And in general, how do you count a conflict that spands parallel
timelines? Actually, the Time Wars might be somewhat more c omplicated
than "parallel". But anyways, the principle remains: how to account for
more-complex-than-a-timeline time?

I have no idea, being rather firmly nailed down in linear
time.

Have you read Garfinkle's ALL OF AN INSTANT? It's involves
conflict between time travellers in a universe whose history is
extremely maliable. The mechanism for this, the Instant, doesn't
seem to have duration as we know it and how to measure the duration
of the conflict outside it is not obvious.

The war that forms the backdrop for The Big Time covers
a battlefield billions of years long through who knows how many
permutations.
--
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/james_nicoll
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict
    ... SF has the advantage that while history only goes back perhaps ... how do you count a conflict that spands parallel ... the Time Wars might be somewhat more c ... All political parties die at last of swallowing their own lies. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • "All of an Instant" (was: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict)
    ... conflict between time travellers in a universe whose history is ... duration of the conflict outside it is not obvious. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: "All of an Instant"
    ... conflict between time travellers in a universe whose history is ... duration of the conflict outside it is not obvious. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict
    ... SF has the advantage that while history only goes back perhaps 9,000 ... how do you count a conflict that spands parallel ... seem to have duration as we know it and how to measure the duration ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict
    ... conflict between time travellers in a universe whose history is extremely maliable. ... seem to have duration as we know it and how to measure the duration ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)