Re: The Usual Heinlein Thing

On Mar 4, 12:03 pm, Gene Ward Smith <g...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

How does having your characters spout arrant nonsense promote mental
flexibility? The book in question isn't Alice in Wonderland. How does
making the alternative appear absurd promote consideration of alternatives?

Maybe the notion that mathematics can justify the type of society in
Starship Troopers is absurd.

But will the absurdity of _that_ affect the theme of the book, or how
readers consider that theme, to any great extent? I don't think so; I
think that the stuff about mathematics is basically just window-
dressing, likely inspired by other SF authors of the time such as van
Vogt.

One has an adventure story about a young man maturing while fighting a
war. Elements of the society in which he lives are brought far enough
into the foreground of the narrative that we do have to conclude it's
more than just a book about a war, or about a young man growing up,
and that the idea of a society in which changes have been made to the
notion of democracy to ensure a more responsible franchise is being
presented for our consideration.

But that they claim to be able to give students exercise in
mathematically analyzing its rationale seems to me something that can
be treated as outside what the reader is asked to think about, just as
the reader isn't asked to think about, say, how the rockets in the
book work.

John Savard
.

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