Ranma Al'Thor wrote:

On Wed, 28 Aug 1996, Richard Lawson wrote:

So, if you're willing to suspend you disbelief enough on this one point,
does it work for you?

No.

Dang, I can't write fast enough.  As I'm responding to one of your
essays, you're writing more.  Should I feel flattered that I arouse such
passions in you?  :)

The solution works itself out too fast and doesn't address other problems
that would arise from the central problem at hand.  

Again, I tried to show that it was the perception of the public that was
causing problems more so than the actual problems.  People perceived a
food shortage; riots.  People perceive that the food shortage is over;
peace.  It's akin to the self-fulfilling prophecy.  

I did say, in my last Associated Press story, that the world was still
reeling from the effects of the virus.  Nowhere did I say that the
world's problems were instantly solved, only that it was on its way to
recovering.

Saying that something is magical is essentially to say that it is a plot
device to a greater or lesser extent.  I don't respond well to stories
where something is essential magical, but wiht a scientific veneer...This
makes me exceptionally picky when I deal with a lot of science fiction
and is one reason I read more fantasy than science fiction...It engages
my reality sense too much, and I get rather picky.

Evidently.  :)  I was wondering if anyone would comment about Jusenkyo
DNA - what happens to all those pigs when they get hit with warm water? 
And if Ryoga's DNA become that of a pig when he changes, how is he able
to reason?  Pigs are smart, but not that smart.  And what about Mousse? 
Ducks are abysmally short in reasoning power; Mousse should be
biologically capable of no more than feeding himself and flying south
for the winter.

So you're right; magic doesn't hold up to well to scientific scrutiny. 
It's times like these that I fall back on Arthur C. Clarke's old adage: 
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

I would have an easier time suspending my disbelief if the "virus" was
actually a Curse, since that's what it acts like.

But this is one of my hobby-horses, so I'll get off and stop ranting
now.  I'm sorry I can't appreciate this story...It just triggers my
professional instincts too much.

:)  S'okay - I'm wondering what you'd do with the political intrigue of
"The Ways of the Amazons".  Joketsuzoku in Red China - now there's a
subject ripe for controversy.  :)

-Richard

sterman@sprynet.com
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