Re: On Topic Thursday: The Eternal Conflict

On Thu, 13 Apr 2006 16:51:08 +0000 (UTC), James Nicoll wrote:

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.

It is not obvious, because it is meaningless. The vital point of resolution
is <rot-13>gung gurer ernyyl vf _ab_ cnffntr bs gvzr va gur
Vafgnag</rot-13>. However, we do know that the time span involved is
approximately one hunred thousand years.
.

Relevant Pages

  • "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 ... the Time Wars might be somewhat more c omplicated ... 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)
  • Re: Questions about the Holocaust
    ... into conflict with all of their neighbors throughout history, ... and are central to the Religious Wars of the 2000's. ... I think that history is littered with abortions and injustices. ... of who was actively instigating the Class Wars of the 1900's, ...
    (sci.physics)