tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post2471083315845826435..comments2024-03-10T04:29:20.044-04:00Comments on Mad Genius Club: When I Fall In Love, It Will Be CompletelySarah A. Hoythttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-73262656916367142172009-05-21T14:59:23.907-04:002009-05-21T14:59:23.907-04:00Rowena,
As the others have said, there are degree...Rowena,<br /> As the others have said, there are degrees of insanity, and degrees of ability to function. One the one end there is eccentric, and I think anyone interested in the mechanics of storytelling qualifies at least for this. On the other end, there is the completly unable to function, hold down a job, make and maintain social relationships, or take care of oneself state.<br /> I do not think there is any human who can truely be said to be perfectly sane. However, most are able to function to some degree or another. I may have calibrated my standards off of Doc Smith too much.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15239571852845018344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-46381994310899230282009-05-21T11:44:42.500-04:002009-05-21T11:44:42.500-04:00I have a paper saying that I'm sane. It's a bit l...I have a paper saying that I'm sane. It's a bit like Nobby's paper saying he's human in Pterry's watch books, but still I treasure it. :)<br /><br />Functional... well, that no one ever called me.Sarah A. Hoythttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-70501958423022334812009-05-21T06:25:01.827-04:002009-05-21T06:25:01.827-04:00Dear John, Insanity is a relative concept. I mean ...Dear John, Insanity is a relative concept. I mean look at ANY of my relatives...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-67416104332224293882009-05-21T05:30:52.795-04:002009-05-21T05:30:52.795-04:00Dear Rowena
I have a pschiatrist's opinion that I ...Dear Rowena<br />I have a pschiatrist's opinion that I am clinically sane, if a little wierd. So how many of us can boast that?<br /><br />JohnJohn Lambsheadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04598696442104566164noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-39986118012462272402009-05-20T21:55:50.081-04:002009-05-20T21:55:50.081-04:00Hey, WangZheng259, aren't we all functionally craz...Hey, WangZheng259, aren't we all functionally crazy????Rowena Cory Daniellshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08995983965583233914noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-52316767360709870532009-05-20T17:11:15.385-04:002009-05-20T17:11:15.385-04:00Thing is, it isn't so much the insanity as the abi...Thing is, it isn't so much the insanity as the ability to adapt to it, and be useful in spite of or because of the maladaption. Kratman's Carrera, Staur and Muhlenkampf are all very well adapted to war, to the degree that they do not thrive anywhere else. I think this is part of the appeal of them for me. Buckman is just plain nuts however. They aren't exactly the best examples of people overcoming the obstacles that malfunctioning nervous system and brain, or a very different way of thinking pose. But that is something I aspire to.<br /><br />I don't know if my liking for the underlying ethos predates exoposure to the stories, but I share the desire of the engines in the Thomas the tank engine stories 'To be Really Useful.'<br /><br />I've noticed that my reaction to Joan Aiken's stories has changed since college, perhaps due to growing up. Now, I want to punch out the villainous adults. Then, I really admired the ability of the kids to land on their feet. I was not the most self relient child, and I dearly wanted to be able to take care of myself, no matter the adults around me.<br /><br />These are sort of a case of me liking charactors who personify what I want to be capable of myself. Ability and utility are some of my big desires.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15239571852845018344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-16799012622408292812009-05-20T15:08:58.097-04:002009-05-20T15:08:58.097-04:00Ah loyalty. insanity.
"Cair clung to a spar floati...Ah loyalty. insanity.<br />"Cair clung to a spar floating in the open ocean, out of sight or scent of land. The rain had stopped now, and, as the spar rose with the swells, he looked around for other wreckage. Other heads in the water. <br /> He saw nothing but white-capped gray sea. <br /> The loss of his crew cut more deeply than the loss of his ship. <br /> He drifted. And clung. The cloud-tattered morning turned to a slate-skied afternoon. There was no longer hope left in him. Just relentless determination, beyond any logic or faith. <br /> And on the wings of evening, a dragon came out of the seamist." A Mankind Witch <br /><br />It's a admirable trait to social animals, yes. As is perserverance. <br />But there are others. Not so nice maybe... a capacity for violence IS an attractant. So is sexuality. How do we make these different, how do we quickly establish them in our characters?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-64261297458323694382009-05-20T15:05:29.388-04:002009-05-20T15:05:29.388-04:00Well, there is something in The Little Prince, by ...Well, there is something in The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint Exuperi, which like many well brought up girls of my generation I read to nausea, that might nonetheless apply. There is a point at which the lost aviator says he loves the little prince for the intensity of his love for his rose. (The little prince travels between worlds and left his rose in his asteroid. Long story.) That it shone through him like a lamp.<br /><br />That is something else that can, in the end, make you love a character. A fanatic love for something, even if it's not something you love or would have loved (but something you understand someone loving. Unless you're writing a serioulsy distopic take on the world. Or some sort of depraved, sideways fantasy. If someone is in love with -- meh, there was a movie about this some years ago and it was ew -- self mutillation through car crashes, you probably won't get the warm fuzzies but the creepy crawlies.) then you feel a strong afinity for the person.<br /><br />In all the characters I cited they are in love with that quaint definition of their "name" prevailing in more traditional societies. They won't sully their reputation. (This is not entirely a self-centered thing, since reputation was a trading currency in a "smaller" world. Losing your name could affect those you love very badly.) But it can be something else. Suppose you start a short story with this young woman who wants to go to the next village. Okay fine. You can even want her desiring this because she hates her place. That's fine. But if you have her wanting to go over there because there's this tree she loves and she wants to sit under it... well... you sympathize more. Love always makes a character more sympathetic than hatred or dislike, I think. Of course, it helps if they love something more than a tree... I'm just out of it today.<br />Of course, this leads to the first rule of character plotting. Find out what the character loves over all in the world. Now take it away...<br />:-PSarah A. Hoythttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-46290072155810018832009-05-20T13:37:08.695-04:002009-05-20T13:37:08.695-04:00I think I agree with Sarah's. Also, functional ma...I think I agree with Sarah's. Also, functional madness, fanatic determination, efficiency, and effectiveness. To continue the pattern, Miles Vorkosaigon is an example of functional madness that is mostly useful.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15239571852845018344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-67034879400630800832009-05-20T12:23:15.992-04:002009-05-20T12:23:15.992-04:00For me -- I don't know if universal, though I reme...For me -- I don't know if universal, though I remember your telling me something about natural behavior of primates -- they seem to be loyalty, honor (which mostly boils down to a sense of one's obligations), and Nobless Oblige -- i.e. looking after the helpless because you AREN'T helpless. However I'm not sure they're the same for everyone. Almost sure the last one isn't. Might read as "stupidity" to many. Of course, any of those exaggerated enough becomes a character flaw, too.<br /><br />What are other people's attractors?Sarah A. Hoythttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17478124095732219352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4940224740718934743.post-90842286442557639482009-05-20T10:43:44.260-04:002009-05-20T10:43:44.260-04:00Hmm. In biological/fishing terms they're called su...Hmm. In biological/fishing terms they're called super-attractors -- an exagguration of a natural trait that elicits more of a reponse than the real thing, with certain factors acting as releasers of a behavior pattern (I recall sticklebacks (where red is a male display color) frantically attempting to attack a royal mail truck driving past their tank. Of course, Sarah, we need to know what for humans (a less evolved species than sticklebacks) these superattractors/ releasers are.<br />So: what are they ;-)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12315551718688781746noreply@blogger.com