HFQ Official Snippet #11

Draken wrote:If I'm right Aivah is a genie, higher IQ and eidetic memory, it's only possible explanation for her memory and skills with schemes. Also skimmer could be piloted by its computer, upload preplanned flight route and laugh it.

You know, in human history, we've had the occasional skilled schemer who does even remember things without being genetically engineered. We're not billions of simple-minded amnesiacs fumbling through our lives only waiting for rearranged genomes in order to have offspring capable of remembering stuff and being underhanded.

JeffEngel wrote:

Draken wrote:If I'm right Aivah is a genie, higher IQ and eidetic memory, it's only possible explanation for her memory and skills with schemes. Also skimmer could be piloted by its computer, upload preplanned flight route and laugh it.

You know, in human history, we've had the occasional skilled schemer who does even remember things without being genetically engineered. We're not billions of simple-minded amnesiacs fumbling through our lives only waiting for rearranged genomes in order to have offspring capable of remembering stuff and being underhanded.

But in this snippet, we did have the information about genies in the TF, and apparently the number of people with eidetic memories is higher of Safehold that it is on Earth today. That's all that Merlin was speculating about.

fallsfromtrees wrote:But in this snippet, we did have the information about genies in the TF, and apparently the number of people with eidetic memories is higher of Safehold that it is on Earth today. That's all that Merlin was speculating about.

That might well be, but about 30 generations after the last targeted modifications to the genome, with those eidetic memory genes being recessive (obviously), I'd not call anyone "genetically modified". It's just that chances for a very good memory are elevated.
It'd be interesting to know if there are more people with information processing problems on Safehold. Because forgetting stuff is an essential function of the brain...

I seem to remember Nimue being described as one of the most brilliant tactical officers the TF navy had ever had, in OAR. Witness Merlin's fertile mind in spotting and devising tactical ploys in the current war. However even geniuses, and genies, stuff up sometimes. Especially when their plans meet the enemy.

Leaving the technical aside and talking literary, I want to mention something from Arthurian legends.

The character Nimue in Arthurian legend is Merlin's, uh, girlfriend. She has positive and negative aspects to her character.

On the positive side, she is his apprentice, and acts as a magical stand-in providing heroes with magic weapons or advice before they face sorcerors.

On the negative side, she is the seducer who tricks the elderly Merlin into drinking a potion that places him into deep sleep. She then seals him up in his cave (sometimes a hollow tree).

In the earliest Arthurian legends, Nimue has an alternate name, Niniane.

So Merlin brings Niniane to his cave. Potential foreshadowing?

anwi wrote:

fallsfromtrees wrote:But in this snippet, we did have the information about genies in the TF, and apparently the number of people with eidetic memories is higher of Safehold that it is on Earth today. That's all that Merlin was speculating about.

That might well be, but about 30 generations after the last targeted modifications to the genome, with those eidetic memory genes being recessive (obviously), I'd not call anyone "genetically modified". It's just that chances for a very good memory are elevated.
It'd be interesting to know if there are more people with information processing problems on Safehold. Because forgetting stuff is an essential function of the brain...

Robert Heinlein in his novel Beyond This Horizon actually talks about the disadvantages to an eidetic memory, unless it it matched with superior intelligence, so it is definitely an advantage with pitfalls. I once knew someone with an eidetic memory, and she said she had to be very careful was she read and watched, She NEVER went to horror movies, because she didn't want to be endlessly replaying them in her head.

As the weary veteran of a lot of time studying different languages, I remember wishing that I had a photographic memory. It would have made the task at hand so much easier... unfortunately, my memory leaks like a sieve.

Don

NinaKatarina wrote:Leaving the technical aside and talking literary, I want to mention something from Arthurian legends.

The character Nimue in Arthurian legend is Merlin's, uh, girlfriend. She has positive and negative aspects to her character.

On the positive side, she is his apprentice, and acts as a magical stand-in providing heroes with magic weapons or advice before they face sorcerors.

On the negative side, she is the seducer who tricks the elderly Merlin into drinking a potion that places him into deep sleep. She then seals him up in his cave (sometimes a hollow tree).

In the earliest Arthurian legends, Nimue has an alternate name, Niniane.

So Merlin brings Niniane to his cave. Potential foreshadowing?

hmmmmm - interesting!

Thank you RFC for the snippett.I wonder who the other pilot is ? It is probably Nimue I don't know of any one else who could pilot the 2nd recon skimmer. I wonder what Ninian/Aviah and Nimue would make of each other?

" I don't know of any one else who could pilot the 2nd recon skimmer."
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Owl pilots the skimmer to and from the cave for the majority of Merlin's trips; don't see why he isn't the "pilot" of the second skimmer on this trip.

Steve