Detweiler and Sons

Jeroswen wrote:Ok I have been re-reading the series. There is a question I was hoping to find the answer to which I can't seem to find.

1. Why are Detweiler's sons clones of himself?
2. Why does he not have any biological sons?

He is married to improve the Detweiler genome, yet he cloned himself several times. This is an issue that always bugged me that I hoped would be resolved when re-reading the series. Has their been any talk of this? I searched the boards and haven't found anything, so if this is a re-hash of a previous question I apologize.

Jeroswen wrote:Ok I have been re-reading the series. There is a question I was hoping to find the answer to which I can't seem to find.

1. Why are Detweiler's sons clones of himself?
2. Why does he not have any biological sons?

He is married to improve the Detweiler genome, yet he cloned himself several times. This is an issue that always bugged me that I hoped would be resolved when re-reading the series. Has their been any talk of this? I searched the boards and haven't found anything, so if this is a re-hash of a previous question I apologize.

Jeroswen wrote:Both of your responses are thoughts I have had myself but I haven't seen it mentioned in any books. Although in my own head a society bent on further advancing the human genome would be fathering children from various other alpha lines without the need for clones. I doubt they would be worried too much about something as frivolous a monogamous relationship where advancing humanity is concerned. So the clone issue kind of sticks in my craw as it were. Like you both say, there could be many reasons for the clones, its just ... odd.

If its, just one of those things, then I'll let it go. I was just curious if Mr. Weber had explained it in any books.

Jeroswen wrote:So the clone issue kind of sticks in my craw as it were. Like you both say, there could be many reasons for the clones, its just ... odd.

If its, just one of those things, then I'll let it go. I was just curious if Mr. Weber had explained it in any books.

On 2014-04-14 RFC wrote:Since I’ve already wandered somewhat afield from the topic I originally set out to discuss, I should also point out that Albrecht Detweiler and his sons are not clones of Leonard Detweiler. They are, in effect, the current generation of the steadily improved Detweiler genotype. Remember we’re talking about a prolong society here, and the actual age difference between Albrecht and Benjamin isn’t very great for that sort of society. Nor are the offspring of the Detweiler “sons” genetic duplicates of their parents. Albrecht was cloned, frankly, because by all of the tests the Alignment could apply, he was going to be an incredibly capable generalist and leader and the Long-Range Planning Board decided that given how far into the endgame of the Alignment’s strategy they were, it made a great deal of sense to provide an entire cohort of equally capable leaders to whom Albrecht could delegate areas of responsibility.

JohnRoth wrote:

Jeroswen wrote:Both of your responses are thoughts I have had myself but I haven't seen it mentioned in any books. Although in my own head a society bent on further advancing the human genome would be fathering children from various other alpha lines without the need for clones. I doubt they would be worried too much about something as frivolous a monogamous relationship where advancing humanity is concerned. So the clone issue kind of sticks in my craw as it were. Like you both say, there could be many reasons for the clones, its just ... odd.

If its, just one of those things, then I'll let it go. I was just curious if Mr. Weber had explained it in any books.

Yes, but I don't offhand know which one, or I'd have given you the reference. Weird Harold's surmise is close to what I remember, but it was the Long Range Planning Board's decision, not Albrecht's. The fact that they were running close to pulling the trigger made them decide to go conservative: clone Albrecht rather than see what they could get out of more mix-and-match.

Jeroswen wrote:Both of your responses are thoughts I have had myself but I haven't seen it mentioned in any books. Although in my own head a society bent on further advancing the human genome would be fathering children from various other alpha lines without the need for clones. I doubt they would be worried too much about something as frivolous a monogamous relationship where advancing humanity is concerned. So the clone issue kind of sticks in my craw as it were. Like you both say, there could be many reasons for the clones, its just ... odd.

If its, just one of those things, then I'll let it go. I was just curious if Mr. Weber had explained it in any books.

JohnRoth wrote:Yes, but I don't offhand know which one, or I'd have given you the reference. Weird Harold's surmise is close to what I remember, but it was the Long Range Planning Board's decision, not Albrecht's. The fact that they were running close to pulling the trigger made them decide to go conservative: clone Albrecht rather than see what they could get out of more mix-and-match.

Fox2! wrote:I would think "do both." The clones are tactical choices for the near term problem. The "mix and match" would continue the "perfection" of the Detweiler genome.