"...I think [Tahirians] think more naturally in quantum mechanics than we do. What does that mean for the way they understand the universe?
"Wind ramped, rain and hail struck like bullets, the aircraft flew onward." (p. 252)
Wind, rain and hail seem to comment and to confirm that Tahirians understand the universe as dynamic process, not as static substance.
To Tahirians, any uttered sound is only a spontaneous signal, not an articulate word. The artificial inter-species language, Cambiante, comprises "...three-dimensional hypertext..." (p. 253) (why "hyper-"?) on the screen of a specially invented hand-held instrument called a "parleur." (24, p. 226) Cyclical or back-and-forth textual changes constitute a fourth semantic dimension. The parleur user enters content that the nano-computer renders in agreed symbols according to logico-grammatical rules. Thus, no one has to learn the "hypertext."
A Tahirian communicates not in words but in mutable, interpenetrating concepts. To en (not him, her or it), even Chinese ideograms are incomprehensibly rigid. Tahirians are of a single sex and each partner impregnates the other. Their basic social unit is a clan, not a family. Their primal psychology is cooperative, with alphas contributing more to the group.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I can't help but wonder what on Terra is a "...three-dimensional hypertext..."!
So Tahirians are true hermaphrodites, combining both male and female reproductive and sexual functions.
Ad astra! Sean
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