More on Good and Evil

Coincidentally, after writing last week's post, I came across an old issue of TIME magazine from 2007 with the cover story "What Makes Us Good / Evil." Some topics covered include: parts of the brain involved in moral decisions; apparent ethical judgments made by "lower" animals such as apes; how the group enforces standards and punishes offenders through behavior such as shunning; the differing applications of moral principles to people "inside" and "outside" what we perceive as our group. Our empathic response to "in-group" and "out-group" also varies with closeness and distance. An individual might throw himself in front of a train to save a stranger but feel only passing sympathy upon hearing of a mass disaster on another continent. C. S. Lewis speculates that our capacity for sympathy wasn't designed to deal with constant exposure to distant catastrophes we have little or no power to affect. Many psychologists believe we're born with the programming for morality, "a sense of moral grammar" similar to the linguistic framework for syntax built into the human brain. As with language, though, we can't apply the grammar of right and wrong until we learn the necessary content and application from people around us.

The first question that arises, of course, is how to define "good" and "evil." The TIME article doesn't propose a definition explicitly, only by implication. The caption on the first page seems to identify "good" with "morality and empathy" and "evil" with "savagery and bloodlust." The text of the article itself focuses mainly on empathy and the sense of fairness. (It seems some animals are amazingly good at noticing when they're treated unfairly compared to others in their group.) In the STAR TREK episode discussed in last week's post, Kirk and Spock at first didn't have any opportunity to display empathy or justice. They were simply ordered to fight their "evil" opponents to the death. Only when Kirk and Spock refused to fight, and the alien threatened the lives of the entire Enterprise crew to force them to participate in the contest, did they have a chance to display the quality of empathy. At the end, the alien even admitted an essential difference between the Enterprise officers, fighting for the lives of their people, and the "evil" characters, fighting for selfish goals or maybe just for the fun of it.

One of my favorite nonfiction authors, Steven Pinker, wrote a book called THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE, which maintains that we live in the least violent era of human history. In other words, global society is getting more moral. He supports this counter-intuitive position with exhaustive, specific evidence. Although in regard to early history he sometimes conflates myth and literature with real life, and later occasionally slips in data on phenomena that, while deplorable, I wouldn't call "violent," the book offers a lot of solid information and provocative arguments to think about.

On a different topic: If you can get a copy of the May 2015 SMITHSONIAN magazine, check it out. This issue has the theme "The Future Is Here." Articles cover subjects such as magnetic levitation technology, the effects of plastic waste on the environment, constructing replacement human organs with 3-D printing—and "Mind Meld." The last doesn't involve true telepathic conversations, of course. It's only a rudimentary beginning, an electronic connection that allows two people to communicate simple "yes" or "no" data. Ambitious speculation envisions a future ability to download information or techniques directly from the brain of an expert. Or suppose you could upload the contents of your own brain to save and re-download in case you suffer a stroke or the like? Something I've often wondered about mind-reading: Would universal perfect telepathy or empathic perception bestow perfect harmony upon the world? Or would we find ourselves in a situation more like the plight of the lawyer in the movie LIAR, LIAR, whose son was granted the wish that his father could never tell a lie, leading to much awkwardness?

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Reviews 14 by Jacqueline Lichtenberg - Delayed Gratification

Reviews 14
by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Delayed Gratification  

These novels discussed below illustrate the integrating of 4 of the writing craft skills we have been discussing: Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding.  It's about delaying gratification, which is an ingredient in building suspense. 

This combination of 4-skills is about mastering that singular skill usually called "Show Don't Tell." 

The writer, as an artist, observes "life" (the Universe and Everything) and apprehends an abstract idea from it all. 


http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/98/6a/39/986a39beb5d55fef3265bb0d34dab740.jpg

This "Dance in the Rain" attitude is exemplified by Captain Kirk of Star Trek : The Original Series (ST:ToS)

You saw it, also, in Buffy The Vampire Slayer TV Series.  The thing people loved the most about that series was the smart-ass quips snapped out during action scenes.  The action (fighting, dusting Vampires) usually exemplified the subject of the quip -- it was Art In Motion.

And people loved that pithy take on Life.

Both characters, Kirk and Buffy, were Icons of an Attitude toward danger, toward uncertainty, toward overcoming obstacles.

Icons are arrays of Ideas, artistic compositions compiled from many components.  Icons are complicated, but look simple.  They are the height of the Art of "Show Don't Tell."

In this Tuesday blog series on writing craft, we are looking for how to create an Icon -- a "Show Don't Tell" -- for why the Happily Ever After Ending is actually realistic, is real, and is a perfectly rational goal.

More than half the potential readership (or viewership) does not accept the HEA as plausible.  That generates two questions:

A) Why do we accept the HEA as obvious and reasonable?
B) Why do so many people not know what we know?

"Why," "happy," "reasonable," "know,"  are all abstractions.  To dramatize that kind of abstraction is to "Show Don't Tell."

The method writers usually use to concertize such abstractions is Poetic Justice.

Poetic Justice is very familiar to most readers, but it takes a long and often intricate plot to get from injustice to justice and make the two harmonize poetically.

The key factor in an HEA is that it is an ENDING.  (maybe not THE ending, but AN ending).

In other words, some thread or "because line" of the plot has to come around to a point where there are no further consequences of the initial action to be narrated.  One plot-thread ENDS. 

That ending has to provide many emotional peaks all with one image, one line of dialogue, one culminating Aha! moment. 

Another defining property of the HEA is that abstract concept "After."  The writer's job is to find the artistic Icon to explain "after what?" 

What does Happiness come AFTER??  What has to be BEFORE in order for Happiness to be a consequence?  Do they have to have an obvious cause-effect relationship?  Or do things just happen?  Or does happiness have to be earned by being "good?" 

Nebulous philosophical maunderings of this kind are the prime ingredients in Theme -- just as flour is the prime ingredient in bread. 

Here's one possible theme to distill from abstraction:

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/7e/74/63/7e7463f87d15f48e7e3f5ad014b2f4f6.jpg

"Delay Gratification" and you qualify for success.

If your definition of "success" is living the HEA, then this principle means you probably can't get to it today - maybe not tomorrow, either.  Arriving at an HEA will take years and lots of apparently fruitless effort.

Today's modern culture has often been accused of encouraging instant gratification, rather than delayed gratification.

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e4/6f/57/e46f573c86fb1623e50fb6c8ccf8ff86.jpg

Very little of our current school curriculum prepares students to pay off a student loan by living cheaply for 10 years after graduation while making a solid upscale income.  When they reach the goal of a degree, and get a good job (which hasn't been forthcoming instantly for 9 years or so now), they expect a new, top of the line car, the best mobile phone, the most expensive mobile services, brand name wardrobe items, and a lot of vacation time.

Delayed Gratification is not trained into elementary school students by strict discipline.  Likewise, our youngest students are not led into developing personal self-discipline so they don't need a teacher or parent to discipline them.  They are encouraged to act on their feelings, not think everything through and wait for the desire to ebb before evaluating whether to take the action -- or not.

http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/0f/22/5f/0f225fd14a56637a94570b65e823bbe1.jpg

Parents who haven't been raised to self-discipline can't pass on the training because they have no idea what that training entails (and many child-raising advice books and TV shows admonish parents not to do the things that instill self-discipline.)

Teens and twenty-somethings raised this way are your primary readership.

A few among them have managed to acquire self-discipline and routinely practice delayed gratification.

Among those few, I think you will find the greatest percentage of those who understand what the HEA is and what it costs. 

It costs giving up what you want now for what you want most.

If you want most an HEA for your own real life, what are you willing to give up for it? 

"What" is not an abstract.  If you can name and describe a concrete something for that "what" -- you are halfway to creating an Icon for a novel.

The icon for the novel is one component in the Set Piece.

See screenwriting books like SAVE THE CAT! -- the set piece is a scene in a film. 

The set pieces are the ones you find in movie trailers.  See all the set-pieces of a film, and it's hardly worth the admission price to see the whole film.  The set-pieces tell the story, chronicle the plot, and exemplify the characters, all in images.

A novel has to have set-pieces, too, because one of them is the cover image of the book.

"Delayed Gratification" is a combination of two abstract concepts.  Your job as a writer is to find a way to Show Don't Tell delayed-gratification, it's cost and its reward.

The reward usually involves poetic justice -- things coming full circle, and things ending as they "should."  A sense of rightness that increases the reader's sense of security in a world they understand. 

So here are some novels that actually do all of this.

First we have a series I've been pointing you to for a while.  The final book has been published and amply fulfills the promise of the series -- delivering poetic justice with an HEA.

This series is aimed at adults, but many mid-teens would be thrilled with it.

Here are the Rising Flame series books (all one story so read in order)





These books pretty much stand alone, but you might want to read the whole Flame saga to get the point I'm making here.

The Hero lives a very long, extended life, and dedicates all his efforts to the Cause which he understands is the key to humanity surviving among the species of a galactic civilization. 

His failures and long periods of making no apparent progress, his hammering away at the Cause, are all at the expense of parting from his Soul Mate. 

How and why he attains his personal HEA, what it costs him, who helps (and how painful that help is) all using the Icon of "The Flame" and showing via an eventful plot full of risky decisions, exemplifies a theme that shows the connection between the HEA, Doing The Right Thing, Self-Discipline, and that Icon I put at the top of this review -- "Every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being re-directed to something better."

Good and Better are all about perspective and point-of-view. 

These novels are not so much genre "Romance" or even just "Science Fiction" as they are Literature.  These are novels about life. 

I highly recommend all of Sylvia Louise Engdahl's novels -- her YA novels are good for your children, and they will grow up to enjoy her adult novels.

The same is true of Katherine Kerr whose writing career spans many genres -- and many re-formulations of genres.

She's got the knack for Adult Fantasy with grit, action, and female-hero-driven plots.

I have been partial to Kerr's Nola O'Grady Series for a while, and the 2014 entry,  #4 in that series, is strong, a fast and enjoyable read.



Nola O'Grady gallivants across parallel universes in the company of her partner, the Israeli Agent Ari Nathan.  They are in hot pursuit of two criminals (while other things chase them).  Meanwhile the connections between the parallel universes are disintegrating, and a lot of things are going on that apparently nobody really understands.

I'm sure there will be more of these stories, but this one is a good study in the immense payoff karma brings to those who do not grab at instant gratification. 

Lastly, here are two audiobooks from Allan Cole (whom I've discussed before), that you can also get in Kindle.



It's very different in content and style from Cole's Fantasy works, but illustrates the consistency an author's skill brings across genres. 


And here is Allan Cole's MacGregor In: Dying Good -- a contemporary exploration of human trafficking, again "the same but different" from everything else he's done.  MacGregor brings down an international human trafficking ring preying on children.  It's not "Romance Genre" per se, but it is driven by love in transcendent ways.



Cole's characters (young, medium, and old) get themselves into very tight spots, face probable death, do "the right thing" (amidst some maybe no-so-right, and some out-right-bad things), and pull off a highly improbable stunt with the orchestrated aplomb of Master Operatives.  You can clearly see the Hand of God moving the characters -- but the characters can't see it. 

Taken together, these books form a set that illustrates many of the points brought forth in the Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding series.

Part 1:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding.html

Part 2:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding_14.html

Part 3:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding_21.html

Part 3 is an index to relevant Review Columns I wrote for the magazine I used to work for.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Do Rastafarians Have Rights?

A lot of what Judges and government appointees do with regard to the rights of persons too poor to sue troubles me. I couldn't sue Amazon or Google for copyright infringement. Could you?

I am especially alarmed about what I perceive to be the implications of the Second Circuit in the case of Cariou versus Prince.Cariou v. Prince, 714 F.3d 694 (2nd Cir. 2013). The bottom line would appear to be that anyone who grants a photographer permission to take a dignified and beautiful photograph of himself or herself for a specific project has no rights or recourse if someone else takes that beautiful photograph and turns it into something grotesque and abusive for that someone else's profit.

http://next.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=fa1b9366-5592-4342-91e5-6759fdb17338
http://next.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f937e634-8da1-4c9f-85e2-39337ce11624

How is such a precedent going to promote the arts? Why would any future "Yes Rasta" subjects allow themselves to be photographed or painted if American courts permit the original work to be disrespected under a loose interpretation of "fair use"?

Here's what Wikipedia says about personality rights.

"The right of publicity, often called personality rights, is the right of an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal aspects of one's identity. It is generally considered a property right as opposed to a personal right, and as such, the validity of the right of publicity can survive the death of the individual (to varying degrees depending on the jurisdiction).

Personality rights are generally considered to consist of two types of rights: the right of publicity, or to keep one's image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar to the use of a trademark; and the right to privacy, or the right to be left alone and not have one's personality represented publicly without permission. In common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the tort of passing off. United States jurisprudence has substantially extended this right.
A commonly cited justification for this doctrine, from a policy standpoint, is the notion of natural rights and the idea that every individual should have a right to control how, if at all, his or her "persona" is commercialized by third parties. Usually, the motivation to engage in such commercialization is to help propel sales or visibility for a product or service, which usually amounts to some form of commercial speech (which in turn receives the lowest level of judicial scrutiny)."

I wonder why it did not occur to Mr. Cariou to sponsor a class action by his Rastafarian models.

A correspondent of mine tells me that an American "comedian" has published a book that contains pictures of naked Supreme Court Justices. I wonder, is that "fair use"? It is "transformative"? Ought it to be? Whatever happened to civility?

On the other hand, it is alleged that the art world approves of the Second Circuit ruling, because vindicating Mr. Cariou would have been devastating to the field of "appropriation art". What is "appropriation art" but permissionless exploitation of someone else's work? So, I am out of step with the "sharing" economy, which seems to me to have a great deal to do with ripping off the original artist, musician, author.

The article referenced above also discusses Google's book scanning. I've blogged about this before. The "facts" seem to me to be extremely sanitized. In my experience, it is quite possible for a student to do an entire series of homework assignments without purchasing a required course text book simply by using Google books and some simple search terms. So much for snippets and the protections for the copyright owners. Moreover, searching Google straight from the Google Books site leads to links to Russian sites and pirated copies of entire works. Things may have changed... on the other hand, doesn't everyone know that when Google "takes down" a link in response to a complaint from the copyright owner, they re-upload it to their Chilling Effects site, so pirates can find it again.

With this drone business, I wonder about the property rights, not to mention the privacy of homeowners. We are supposed, I think, to have limited rights over the air space immediately above our homes and gardens.  We are supposed to have the right to quiet enjoyment of our homes and back yards but now Google and Amazon--and anyone else with a drone--with their cameras and flying machines and camera cars are spying on places that used to be private. Anyone can take a picture of my roof, it seems--I received such a mailing this week--for the purpose of getting my attention and hawking some commercial service or other.

If I have a flat roof with a high parapet, I ought to be able to sunbathe up there, if I wish, without having to worry about being photographed without my consent. Now, apparently, thanks to the Second Circuit not only may I be photographed, but some crude "appropriation artist" could slash my face and photoshop a donkey's penis onto me if he felt that was transformative, witty and profitable.

Then, of course, there is the problem of Spokeo, Zabasearch, Intellius and other such sites that mine public records (often inaccurately) and sell their findings to anyone at all.
http://next.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a4db79b4-6fb6-41d2-a131-5056e2e47674

For my readers who are unaware of these sites, most will remove your personal information, if you contact them, but you have to know what they have, and you have to check to be sure that your private information has not been re-uploaded.

Have a busy week.

Rowena Cherry

Good vs. Evil on STAR TREK

I've been watching the third season of the original STAR TREK, which includes many of the weakest episodes and also a few that have intriguing ideas combined with cringe-making lapses. "The Cloud Minders" isn't bad, but when Spock solemnly flirts with the cloud city ruler's daughter, she mentions the seven-year mating cycle as if it were common knowledge. "Amok Time" (second season) makes it clear that not only is pon farr kept secret from other species, the Vulcans don't even discuss it among themselves. We might assume that after the near-disaster with Spock, the Starfleet medical department might have been informed of the risks involved in sending Vulcan crew members on long voyages, but surely the topic wouldn't have been made public. "Turnabout Intruder" has the fascinating premise that a woman who envies Kirk's command position switches bodies with him. But when the female antagonist in Kirk's body spews out her anger over her failed career, Kirk makes no attempt to deny that her gender, rather than her unstable personality, kept her from commanding a starship. And how do the other officers, who don't share Spock's mind meld ability, become convinced of the false Captain's identity? Because "he" throws tantrums and hysterical fits!

I've just re-watched "The Savage Curtain," wherein a Sufficiently Advanced Alien (in TVTropes terminology) kidnaps Kirk and Spock in order to make them participate in a contest to determine which of their culture's "philosophies of Good and Evil" is superior. The first problem with this episode is the infuriating notion that Evil is a "philosophy." It isn't, except in the works of outliers such as the Marquis de Sade, whose characters really do boast of committing evil deeds as a matter of principle. As C. S. Lewis mentions in the intro to reprint editions of THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS, in real life people (and presumably demons, as in his book) commit villainous acts for pleasure, revenge, profit, or some other pragmatic motive, not in disinterested service to an abstraction called "Evil." Another weakness of "The Savage Curtain," as the alien points out after Kirk and Spock destroy their foes, is that "Good" and "Evil" use the same methods (aside from Surak, who refuses to commit violence). Kirk replies with the accurate rebuttal that the alien dictated the conditions of the contest.

Furthermore, the choice of characters to represent the evil side is rather disappointing. Kirk and Spock have Abraham Lincoln and the great Vulcan philosopher Surak as their allies on the "good" side. Of the four proponents of "evil," three are ad-hoc fictional characters never mentioned in the series before. The only villain from Earth's history is Ghengis Khan. The ultimate incarnation of Evil from all of humanity? Hardly. (According to Wikipedia, he was vilified for his brutality, but he also had some positive accomplishments.) Even if the writers wanted to avoid recent history and the obvious choices, Hitler and Stalin, they could surely have picked a better representative of human evil. How about Nero or Caligula? Vlad the Impaler? Elisabeth Bathory? Gilles de Rais?

Which two or three historical figures (from among powerful persons like those in the TV episode, not mad loner serial killers) would you pick to represent human "Evil"?

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Index To Depiction Series by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Index To Depiction Series
by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

This post will be referenced by posts in series on other skills, and added to as future parts on Depiction are posted.

You can find the Index Posts to the Tuesday writing craft series by searching on Index. 

The series on Depiction is:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-1-depicting-power-in.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-2-conflict-and-resolution.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-3-internal-conflict-by.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/12/depiction-part-4-depicting-power-in.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/01/depiction-part-5-depicting-dynastic.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-6-depicting-money-and.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-7-using-media-to-advance.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-8-which-comes-first.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-9-depicting-hero-by.html

Part 10 of Depiction is about Trinocular Vision.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-10-binocular-vision-by.html

Part 11 is about depicting complex battle fields.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/06/depiction-part-11-depicting-complex.html

Part 12 of Depiction - Depicting Rational Fury
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/10/depiction-part-12-depicting-rational.html

Part 13 is about Depicting Wisdom
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/12/depiction-part-13-depicting-wisdom-by.html

Part 14 of Depiction is about depicting the generation gap, and using that depiction to create verisimilitude. It discusses older fiction where the good guy wins because he's good.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/05/depiction-part-14-depicting-cultural.html

Part 15 is about Depicting Culture via unconscious assumptions nobody can question
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/06/depiction-part-15-depicting-cultural.html

Part 16 is Reviews 26
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/07/depiction-part-16-reviews-26-depicting.html

Part 17 is about Depicting an Alien Economy and refers to Part 16 and C. J. Cherryh's FOREIGNER series.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/08/depiction-part-17-depicting-first.html

Part 18 - Interstellar Commerce, discusses blending theme, plot, character and story into a seamless whole.
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/08/depiction-part-18-interstellar-commerce.html

Part 19 - Depicting the Married Hunk With Children (especially daughters) (Testosterone effect)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/11/depiction-part-19-depicting-married.html


Part 20 - Depicting Recent Wealth (a scientific study about High Heels)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/11/depiction-part-20-depicting-recent.html

Part 21 - Depicting Alien History (Testosterone revisited)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/11/depiction-part-21-depicting-alien.html

Part 22 - Depicting Alien Nostalgia With Symbolism (Dean Martin song Memories Are Made Of This used in a Video of nostalgic images, perfectly composed and compiled)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/12/depiction-part-22-depicting-alien.html

Part 23 - Depicting Relationships, a Guest Post by Carol Buchanan
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2016/12/depiction-part-23-guest-post-by-carol.html

Part 24 - Depicting A Villain by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/02/depiction-part-24-depicting-villain-by.html

Part 25 - Depicting Hatred by Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/02/depiction-part-24-depicting-villain-by.html

Part 26 - Depicting Humanity
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/03/depiction-part-26-depicting-humanity-by.html

Part 27 - Depicting Love
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/03/depiction-part-27-depicting-love-by.html

 Part 28 - Depicting A Grifter And His Mark
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/01/depiction-part-28-depicting-grifter-and.html

Part 29 - Depicting the Global Village
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/05/depiction-part-29-depicting-global.html

Part 30 - Depicting Royalty
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/06/depiction-part-30-depicting-royalty.html

Part 31 - Depicting Random Luck (sheer dumb luck)
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/07/depiction-part-31-depicting-random-luck.html

Part 32 - Depicting Brain To Computer Links -- Online Bullying Prevention
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/09/depiction-part-32-depicting-brain-to.html

Part 33 - Depicting Privacy
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/09/depiction-part-33-depicting-privacy-by.html

Part 34 - Depicting Prophecy
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2017/11/depiction-part-34-depicting-prophecy.html

Part 35 - Depicting Marriage (this is about convincing readers the HEA is possible)
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/01/depiction-part-35-depicting-marriage-by.html

Part 36 - Depicting Dreams: Male or Female
https://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2018/07/depiction-part-37-depicting-dreams-male.html
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Some useful links from this week

The USPTO has been discussing "orphan" works, or “Facilitating the Development of the Online Licensing Environment for Copyrighted Works.” 

There are already ways for would-be exploiters of copyrighted works to locate and seek permission from rights holders, but Google and others would rather enjoy an "opt-out" system where authors' and songwriters' must proactively search out every would-be exploiter and actively opt out of being exploited.

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2015/04/finding-authors-importance-of.html

I resorted to Wikipedia for this (below), having seen a news item about a new interactive gaming app that appears to exploit the likeness and final hours of a young man who died in a manner that made national headlines.

The discussion by Cyberguy did not clarify whether the bereaved family sold the rights, or whether they are being ripped off. 

Wikipedia:

The right of publicity, often called personality rights, is the right of an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness, or other unequivocal aspects of one's identity. It is generally considered a property right as opposed to a personal right, and as such, the validity of the right of publicity can survive the death of the individual (to varying degrees depending on the jurisdiction).

Personality rights are generally considered to consist of two types of rights: the right of publicity, or to keep one's image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar to the use of a trademark; and the right to privacy, or the right to be left alone and not have one's personality represented publicly without permission. In common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the tort of passing off. United States jurisprudence has substantially extended this right.

A commonly cited justification for this doctrine, from a policy standpoint, is the notion of natural rights and the idea that every individual should have a right to control how, if at all, his or her "persona" is commercialized by third parties. Usually, the motivation to engage in such commercialization is to help propel sales or visibility for a product or service, which usually amounts to some form of commercial speech (which in turn receives the lowest level of judicial scrutiny).

IMHO, Science Fiction, Horror, Romance, and other genre authors should beware of assuming that just because a game app developer does something, it is safe and above board to emulate. It may not be. Rights may be involved. Permissions and contracts may be necessary.

On the other hand, there was an interesting article in an Authors Guild newsletter last year about the difficulties in copyrighting aspects of historical fiction where different authors relied on the documented life of a real historical person, that is, when one accuses the other of plagiarism for using identical historical details and events.

As a bit of a copyright enthusiast (you noticed?) I am silently cheering The Turtles for their sterling work in going after exploiters of their copyrighted musical works. 

http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=bbe7f946-023f-4249-8609-400add5aaf2e&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+Federal+section&utm_campaign=Lexology+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2015-04-22&utm_term=

What I do not understand is why there isn't a class action suit involving all my favorite musicians and bands (living and deceased) from the 1950's, 1960's, and early 1970's who have not been paid any royalties at all by various subscription services. 

Big tech has taught us all to call copyrighted works "content"....  as www.TheTrichordist.com puts it, it is not so much "the internet of things" as "the internet of other people's things."

Excellent quote from The Trichordist on copyright (where the British Green Party allegedly proposes to cut copyright protection to just 14 years, and redistribute authors', musicians', movie makers', photographers' and others' rights to Google:

Ask yourself this: Exactly how does technology make it any less expensive to write a novel?   Writing a novel is purely a work of intellectual labor.  I suppose it’s easier to spell check…,  the backspace key is more convenient than White-out™ and a brush…  But I’m not seeing any evidence it’s less expensive.   In fact I would argue that since the modern English author lives in a much richer society than Dickens, that the relative cost of his labor is much much higher. 

All the best,

Rowena Cherry

Talking with Dolphins

The new issue of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC (May 2015) has an article about dolphin intelligence and communication. The issue should still be on sale, or you can read the article here:

Dolphin Intelligence

Do dolphins have true language and a level of intelligence comparable to our own? If so, they arrived at this point along a totally different evolutionary path, because primates and cetaceans last shared a common ancestor 95 million years ago. Dolphins have large brains, not only in absolute terms but in relation to body size. They communicate over long distances, and one experiment at a research facility on an island near Honduras hints that a pair of dolphins may be able to coordinate actions by vocally sharing their intentions. It has recently been discovered that dolphins in the wild identify each other by "signature whistles." In other words, they have names—the only nonhuman species known to create symbolic labels for individuals.

John Lily, the neurophysiologist famous for his work on dolphin language and intelligence, eventually drifted so far out to the fringe that the whole subject became discredited for a while. Now, though, these questions are being taken seriously again. The article quotes one researcher as saying, "The question is not how smart are dolphins, but how ARE dolphins smart?" Measuring their intelligence by its similarity to ours may shortchange the other species.

In addition to evolving in a different environment—water instead of dry land and air—they don't have hands. That last difference alone must have a significant effect on how their minds work. Are manipulative organs necessary to the development of what we'd recognize as "our kind" of intelligence? I've often thought that elephants would be good candidates for evolution into sapience on some other planet or in an alternate timeline on our world. Like dolphins (and us), they have large brains, long lifespans, extended childhoods, a complex social structure, and the capacity for voluntary vocalization. Unlike dolphins, they have the additional advantage of manipulative organs (trunks instead of hands). Elaine Morgan, in THE DESCENT OF WOMAN and other books on the "Aquatic Ape Hypothesis," theorizes that the human species shares some of these traits, especially voluntary vocalization, with cetaceans and elephants because our prehuman ancestors did in fact have their development shaped by eons when they spent a lot of their time in water. Whether or not there's any truth to this hypothesis (and some scientists think there is), it makes a fascinating story.

The NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC article calls dolphins "a kind of alien intelligence sharing our planet—watching them may be the closest we'll come to encountering ET."

Coincidentally, the same issue has an article on the crisis facing the honeybee population and the project to breed a "super bee" able to resist disease and parasites. That article says, "Honeybees are hive minds. Honeybees are linguistic networks." Maybe we don't have to wait until we travel beyond our solar system to communicate with "aliens."

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration Part 3 - Index To Monthly Aspectarian Review Columns

Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration
Part 3
Index To Monthly Aspectarian Review Columns
by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Previous entries in this 4-skills integration series are:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding_14.html

For 20 years, I did a monthly review column for a magazine published on paper.

You will find links to the relevant ones below. 

Paper magazines have a deadline that is absolute.  It is journalism.  What isn't done by this exact minute does not get printed.  Turning in your column has to be done in advance, in some cases 6 months in advance, of the "send to the printer" deadline.  And the columns must be of an exact (to the character) fixed length.

Over years, the amount of space alotted to your words may change as more advertising is necessary to pay the bills.  Yes, your words are filler between ads -- just as with fiction. 

The words are a commodity you sell by the column-inch. 

Over years, the space allotted to my column went down as the price of paper, printing, and trucking (the price of gasoline) went UP and the number of advertisers willing to pay to reach the readership went up.

So I got more money per word, but the crafting of the column became harder.

I went to doing series of columns, as I've been doing on this blog -- numbering the parts.

I resigned from that magazine when it changed ownership, figuring 20 years was enough.

The Magazine was slanted to the New Age Community, so all my columns address Seekers on the Path and compare spiritual lessons that can be gleaned from Science Fiction and Fantasy novel reading. 

Many of these columns, and the books they discuss, the ideas these sets of books have in common with one another, and especially the themes pertain to this series of columns on Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration. 

Here is a list of links to my Columns that I think are particularly relevant.

The main index page to all 20 years worth of monthly columns is

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/

Click a year and scroll down that year-index to see the books reviewed by Month.  The title of the column reflects what those books have in common with each other, often a theme that the author probably was not aware of illustrating. 

Ideas (themes) come from "the air" -- from the Group Mind you are tied into.  Your Ideas also affect that Group Mind.  So it matters which Groups you choose to join.  A Group is your readership, bound together by an interest in a theme. 

Many of the column series I wrote run for 4-6 months in installments, so I'm giving the year index as the link.  Scroll down watching the books that appear under particular column titles. 

You can navigate years using the year links across the top of each page.  On each year-index page, there are links to the month-columns on the left. 

You can also find a month's column by clicking on the month-link in the left column of the table.  On many years, the title of the column is a link to the column.  Click on the books to find most of them on Amazon.  If Amazon fails, try Abe Books.

Oh, and yes, I have read every word (not skimmed) of every book discussed in these columns.  I did not review every book I read, but I read every book I reviewed.  That rule also pertains to the Review blogs I do here.

Review Column Links

All columns year-index
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/

Years and Individual Columns pertaining to this 4-skill integration discussion. 

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2006/index.html
This set of review columns focuses on explaining Neptune, Saturn and Mercury as used by fiction writers.  Scroll down the index to note the novels that illustrate that. 

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2007/index.html
Note the series titled THE SOUL TIME HYPOTHESIS (about how the Soul enters the level we call Reality via the dimension of TIME) - and how that is handled in fiction.

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2008/index.html
Scroll down over the books in the columns titled Formulating Decisions
Also note the series indexed on this page titled Pluto: Melodrama Unleashed and note the books given as examples.

Here is a series on Government I wrote in 1994:
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/0894.html
Art and Government

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/0994.html
Television, Power and Government

http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/1094.html
Might, Right, Art And Government

And more on the topic of Government in October 2010
The Science of Magic, Part IV: Governing The City
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/1010.html

The Science of Magic, Part V: Scalability
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/1110.html

The Science of Magic: Part VI: Defining Peace
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/1210.html

Poetic Justice: The Fragile Universe
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/0209.html

Karma of World Prominence
http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/columns/0309.html

Over the years, my focus and depth of knowledge on these topics has grown, changed, and moved -- and do keep in mind that magazine is for a narrow audience.

We will be drawing on this old material as the platform to develop some newer ideas.

Whole publishing imprints are constructed around narrow themes -- delivering to a very specific readership the exact discussion they are looking for.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

On "Maleficent"

I've always been intrigued by stories that take the traditional villain, and re-write the tale from his, or her, point of view. In my twenties, I rewrote the part of Homer's Odyssey dealing with the Cyclops, and wrote from the point of view of Polyphemus the landowner dealing with trespassers, cattle (or sheep) rustlers, and murderous home invaders.

In my forties, I discovered the writings of Vivian Vande Valde, and was especially enchanted by her collection of short stories wherein she told the tale of Rumplestiltskin four or five times, each time from the viewpoint of a different character: the King, Rumplestiltskin, the girl's father, and so forth. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem (apologies for the single link). What a fascinating exercise!

I was hopeful that Maleficent would follow in Vivian Vande Valde's vein. (Irresistible alliteration.) I enjoyed the spectacle, but was disappointed on a couple of technicalities.

Who suffers most?
Maleficent does. If you don't want to read any spoilers, stop here.

Who suffers first?
Maleficent.

Who suffers most often?
Maleficent.

Her first love --perhaps we should call him her first pash-- drugs her on their first date, and uses an iron chain to burn off her eagle-like wings, leaving her in crippling physical and emotional agony.

As is common with persons who wrong someone else, King Steffan subsequently treats his victim badly, not inviting Maleficent to his infant daughter's christening.... although he does invite other magical creatures. She is mocked, insulted, threatened. Later, her realm is attacked, many attempts are made to trap and kill her. It is Maleficent who suffers remorse and sheds tears of penitence and heartbreak

Who suffers most in your story?

That most tortured of your characters ought to be your POV character, at least for the scene in question if you are writing Third Person, Limited, Multiple POV.  I forgave Vivian Vande Valde, because there is no way that the Miller (father) could be any kind of hero. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem was an academic exercise.

Unlike many of the harshest critics of "Maleficent",  I don't mind about the departures from Disney "canon", after all, the preamble and colophon inform the delighted audience that the original account was the distorted view of prejudiced witnesses.

Let us tell an old story anew, and we will see how well you know it. Once upon a time, there were two kingdoms that were the worst of neighbors. So vast was the discord between them that it was said only a great hero or a terrible villain might bring them together. In one kingdom lived folk like you and me, with a vain and greedy king to rule over them. They were forever discontent, and envious of the wealth and beauty of their neighbors, For in the other kingdom, the Moors, lived every manner of strange and wonderful creature. And they needed neither king nor queen, but trusted in one another. In a great tree on a great cliff in the Moors lived one such spirit. You might take her for a girl, but she was not just any girl. She was a fairy. And her name was Maleficent.


I do mind that it was Aurora and not Maleficent telling us this. This intrusive editorialisation was not in character with Aurora who seems to be an intellectual lightweight... as most sheltered sixteen-year-olds are. Moreover, given that Aurora in this tale was brought up by idiot pixies in the woods, one wonders whether she would have used the Royal "We".

One word about casting; for me, it was jarring to see Dolores Umbridge (the child torturer of Hogwarts) entrusted with the infant Princess Aurora. Perhaps "Harry Potter" will be to Imelda Staunton what "The Sound of Music" was to Christopher Plummer.

The shapeshifter, Diavel, was the next most interesting character after that of Maleficent, and his scars were intriguing hints that there might have been some thought about the cost of magic (a convention one should respect: there should always be a serious price to be paid for the unfair advantages of sorcery.)

The movie was weak on logic and the quality of dramatic inevitability that a Cambridge professor used to call "thusness".... and,  at least for me, the ending fizzled.  Aurora and her prince appeared to inherit the flowering moorlands, but there was a hint of something interesting for Maleficent.

All things considered, I would recommend seeing "Maleficent". It was strong on spectacle, and therefore enjoyable. Moreover, for those considering a similar experiment --perhaps with a villain from a public domain work-- it might be instructive to also study the reviews. This movie aroused powerful feelings... and make a lot of money!

Good night,
All the best,
Rowena Cherry
SPACE SNARK™ http://www.spacesnark.com/ 

The Complications of Sex Differences

Two articles illustrating the fact that "sexual characteristics exist on a spectrum—not as a binary":

Sex Isn't Chromosomes

Sex identity is far from a simple binary among some "lower" animals, such as fish that change sex during their lifetimes (like Robert Heinlein's Martians). Another example: A male platypus has ten sex chromosomes! Among human beings, there exist XXY men and XYY men. The article discusses science historian Sarah Richardson's SEX ITSELF, which traces the development of scientists' determination (erroneous, she declares) to attribute all distinctions between the sexes to X and Y chromosomes. It's estimated that about one percent of people fall into the intersex range, with chromosomes, hormones, and/or genital anatomy that don't "match." The assumption that simple, binary sexual dimorphism between male and female covers everybody doesn't correlate with the realities of human biology.

Sex Redefined

This article delves more deeply into issues of gender identity in intersex people and also explores chimaerism and mosaicism, in which some of an individual's cells contain DNA of the opposite sex.

These biological phenomena can contribute to speculation about alien sexual biology—will it necessarily follow the "binary" pattern we're used to? Suppose the various functions "normally" divided between male and female among terrestrial mammals—producing sperm or ova, gestating the fetus, feeding infants—are distributed differently in an alien species. Sperm-producing males might get pregnant (like seahorses or the men in the TV series ALIEN NATION) or lactate; three or more sexes might be needed for fertilization (again as in ALIEN NATION); there might even be multiple sexes dividing those functions among themselves.

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt

Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration Part 2: Creating The Iconic Vision by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Theme-Plot-Character-Worldbuilding Integration
Part 2
Creating The Iconic Vision
by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

http://www.inspirationinpictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/131014-4.jpg

Last week (April 7, 2015) we examined what a writer can learn from a Lego Set:
http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding.html

Remember, in this Tuesday blog series, we are in hot-pursuit of the reasons why Romance Genre is not given the respect it deserves as Literature and Art. 

Two features (or Beats in SAVE THE CAT! lingo) we identified as definitions of Romance are the "Love At First Sight" moment (sometimes manifesting as Hate At First Sight) and the HEA.  At some future time we'll examine the more complex "Boy Next Door" scenario, and "Second Time Around." 

In this 4-Skills Integration series, we're looking at "where you get those crazy ideas" and abstractions (such as why bother to be a writer at all?) made concrete and visible to others -- the process generally termed Art (Icons are Art).  You can say things with Art that can not be stated or conveyed in Words.  Since Words are our medium, we are combining skills to create Art that goes beyond Words, to create Icons.  Some word-icons are one-liners such as the Deepak Chopra quote above. 

You want to learn to write in such a way that quotes like that will be excerpted and danced around the internet over your byline. 

The March 31, 2015 entry was about Binocular Vision, coining the term Trinocular Vision.

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-10-binocular-vision-by.html

Binocular Vision is seeing the 3 or 4 dimensional world we live in, our concrete reality, in three dimensions with our eyes gathering data and our minds interpreting that data.

Our animal bodies evolved to use that eyeball-brain binocular data-gathering to spot food, mates, etc. and attain necessities for survival  -- as well as avoid being eaten and other concrete hazards. 

If you include time, it's 4 dimensions that we "see."  We see in YouTube videos -- movement in space over time, mostly chopped into short-sequences (look both ways before you cross the street then watch where you put your feet). 

The space-time continuum (which is actually discontinuous but our eyeballs/brain can't resolve the definition at that level) is an illusion of our binocular vision. 

Trinocular vision would then be the binocular image with the "third eye" (the spiritual eye) open and adding a "dimension" to what we see with our binocular vision. 

Trinocular vision is not squinting the two-eyes shut to see only with the Third Eye -- but seeing with all three at once while going about working, shopping, cooking, driving carpool, painting the house, unplugging a drain. 

We are binocular creatures who occasionally, sometimes only once or twice in a lifetime, "see" with trinocular vision.  We can, for a moment, look at our regular 3-D world and "see" (apperceive) the Hand of God producing that 3-D image we think of as "reality."

Such glimpses of another dimension rounding out reality generally "change" people.  The person has the same Natal Chart, the same personality, the same memories and life-experiences from which lessons and conclusions and coping behaviors are derived.  It's the same person before and after that glimpse. 

But that person, post-glimpse, now either understands the world in a different way, or merely knows that they do not have a clue what's "really going on" but that there is a Higher Power doing all this.

That pivot point in Character is where you focus your PLOT -- where you find "the story of this character's life." 

Failing to find that "moment" in a character's lifespan is what leads writers to choose the wrong Point of View character(s) for a particular novel.  That pivot point is the maelstrom of CONFLICT -- the defining point of change in a character-arc that signals the presence of "story" and "plot" explicating one, clear, "theme" which is pertinent to that one, singular World in which the characters live, the world you build around them, termed the Setting. 

The story-beat Deepak Chopra pinpointed is usually termed "epiphany" -- an AHA! moment.  Or Revelation.

Writers, especially Romance Writers, deal specifically in that epiphany or revelation moment, the "Love At First Sight" moment.

That moment is the moment in a lifetime (a once in a lifetime moment) when the Third Eye is open, and another Person is seen to exist in yet another dimension - the dimension of Soul - and that Other Soul is recognized as one's own Soul's other half. 

Conflict, in Romance, is usually a conflict between bodies, between Lifestyle, Jobs, Careers, Aspirations, Self-images, but not between Souls. 

In Romance, the Souls slam together like two pieces of magnets, forming a seamless whole, and the real-lives and bodies erupt in frantic objection.  In the vortex of that Trinocular Vision Moment, that conflict is joined.  The Trinocular glimpse may have faded away by the time the HEA is reached.  Inside that vortext, the plot hammers the characters with Events that re-shape their lives.

That moment (usually available under a Neptune Transit), is a personal experience that is a flash of spirituality penetrating the veil of religion.

You no longer "believe" in Souls.  You know. 

You become the three-eyed-woman in the land of the two-eyed.  And there's no way you can explain what you have seen.  But having experienced the flash of  Vision, you are now convinced.  Maybe you don't know what you're convinced of -- but you know that what you see is not what you get when it comes to a Significant Other. 

That three-eyed, trinocular woman, is the definition of what a Woman is -- what female-ness is -- in the Kabbalistic traditions.  The Feminine tends to hold onto the ability to apperceive the world with three-eyes-at-once more tenaciously than the Masculine.  (keep in mind that masculine and feminine exist in both human genders, one dominating the other, but both available as necessary)

This is one reason the Kabbalists insist husbands must listen to their wives.  The Feminine is endowed with the ability to apperceive their child's Potential.  A Mother's trinocular gaze upon a child can reveal whether their deeds will be famous or infamous.  The Feminine third eye sees souls struggling to inhabit the physical body.  That interface of conflict is always complex.  But such gazes are usually just glimpses, like Love at First Sight, and can fade and be replaced by binocular perceptions. 

Deepak Chopra is not a Kabbalist, but there is a Kabbalistic explanation of that Love At First Sight moment.  It's a long, complex, and powerful explanation because it also explains
a) why there is a Happily Ever After and
b) why most readers don't believe such an ending can be "real." 

The Love At First Sight leading to the Happily Ever After "ending" is the Character change from "religion" to "spirituality" that Chopra's quote nails.

Of course there are further life lessons that lead from mere spirituality to walking in the ways of the Creator of the Universe.  Those further life-lessons may (or may not) come with the birth of children, or with seeing the eventual Great Deeds of your children (or the Nefarious Deeds of your children).  Or grandchildren. 

So last week we discussed that shift in perception from binocular to trinocular.

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/04/theme-plot-character-worldbuilding.html

And that built on the previous post on Depiction Part 10, Binocular Vision.

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-10-binocular-vision-by.html

In that post, I wrote:
---------quote-----------
Why does about half of the world believe the HEA is nonsense?  Even in the face of factual evidence to the contrary?  Is that "scientific thinking" or "superstition?"
----------end quote----------

Here's some factual evidence to the contrary:  If The HEA Is Implausible, How Come It Happens? 

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/01/if-hea-is-implausible-how-come-it.html

That "It Is Implausible" contention about the HEA is what we're up against when trying to convince the world that Romance Genre is worthy of the highest possible respect -- that the HEA is real, perhaps even common.

The central question behind the HEA is, "What is Happiness?" 

Where does it come from?  How do you get it?  How do you know you've maximized your Happiness?  How do you stabilize at the peak of Happiness? 

If you can't answer these questions, how can you figure out if you, or another couple you know, are in fact living "Happily Ever After?"  How do you recognize an HEA?

We'll work on defining "ever after" some other time.  Right now, we're doing 4-skill-integration.  "Ever After" needs a few more artistic skills. 

The artist's job is to make concrete and visible (Iconic) that which the Trinocular Glimpse reveals.  Art is about telling others that you know what they know, and therefore what they know is true and real -- and realistic -- even if nobody else they know believes it. 

Concrete and Real require icons, arrays of symbols that depict the Trinocular Glimpse.

The series on Depiction is here:

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-1-depicting-power-in.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-2-conflict-and-resolution.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/09/depiction-part-3-internal-conflict-by.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2014/12/depiction-part-4-depicting-power-in.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/01/depiction-part-5-depicting-dynastic.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-6-depicting-money-and.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-7-using-media-to-advance.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/02/depiction-part-8-which-comes-first.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-9-depicting-hero-by.html

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2015/03/depiction-part-10-binocular-vision-by.html

And Part 10 of Depiction is about Trinocular Vision.

To get to an iconic "The Same But Different" vision, an image, a show-don't-tell, we need a theme to form the central core for integrating Plot-Character-Worldbuilding into a seamless whole.  "Happy" is the kind of abstraction that forms the cornerstone of Theme.

So how do you tell if you're HAPPY??? 

"Happy" is a character trait, however transient. 

"What is the nature of Happiness?" is a theme (big enough for a series.) 

"Happiness is Harmony between Soul and Body" is a theme which is novel size. 

Take the Theme, create the Character who lacks Harmony between Soul and Body at the beginning of the Plot, and then attains Harmony at the End, because of the impact of Events (Plot) on Character(s). 

Character Has Epiphany And Sees That Happiness Is Harmony Between Soul And Body -- is a story.  The Series of Events (connected on a Because-Line) triggering the epiphany is the plot.

EXAMPLE:

Mary Finch sets out to prove to her Mafia Dad that she's the best Hitman the Family has, gets away with Murder/Assassination several times, bids on and gets the job of Assassinating a US President, then finds she can't make herself do it.  Mary Informs on her Family, goes into Witness Protection,  applies for and gets a job as a security officer in WitSec itself, Meets her Soul-Mate, and feels Happiness for the first time.  --- that is a Plot. 

Of course there's a sequel where it is revealed to WitSec that she's a former contract killer - a minor detail that didn't come out at the trials because her father is loyal to her?

But how will the Reader/Viewer know Mary Finch is digging herself deeper and deeper into Misery with her successful Hits? 

How will the reader/viewer know that in Witness Protection she's found true Happiness?  What does a HAPPY PERSON do differently from a miserable one?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/20/signs-youre-a-happy-perso_n_4618461.html

The Huffington Post published this article for New Year's 2014/2015.

Here's the headline list:
You don’t sweat the small stuff...
...In fact, you appreciate the little things.
You’re proud of other people’s successes.
Living in the moment is very important to you.
here's a TEDTalk on happiness living in the moment: http://www.ted.com/talks/matt_killingsworth_want_to_be_happier_stay_in_the_moment.html
You’re in a healthy relationship (and not just with your significant other).
When something is stressing you out, you know how to calm down.
You’ve gotten your “affluenza” shot. (not too caught up in seeking material wealth)
You’re constantly adopting a glass-half-full mentality.
You have a sister.
Making new friends seems to come easy for you.
You’ve reached a goal (and you have more you want to accomplish).
You say cheese. (you tend to smile for a camera)
There’s nothing keeping you tossing and turning at night.

So, we started out with a THEME ELEMENT (Happiness), created whole cloth a definition of Happiness that is a theme (Happiness is Harmony between Soul and Body), used that theme statement to create a character, used the character to create a story, used the story to create a plot -- ended with the outline (remember last week, I pointed you to the items on OUTLINE at the end of the long post full of links) -- we ended with the outline for a series of novels, and maybe a TV series if we detail Mary Finch's hits while working for her Dad.  And there's all her lovers along the way -- no stable relationships, until the end.

We built her entire world with a single word in that outline -- Mafia.  (Finch?  Mafia? Interesting story about how a Finch got involved with an Italian family?)

The word "Mafia" is an Icon - it stands for a tight-knit Family which provides financial and operational Security.  It is safe to be a member in good standing, and very unsafe outside.

Mary Finch's Happiness comes when she moves outside of the Mafia, into danger, into where it's not safe.  What does that tell you about her Character?

We could create a longer, deeper and richer work of art if we challenged the Theme.

"What if there is no such thing as an Immortal Soul, and therefore there is no such thing as Happiness?" 

Well, it is unacceptable that there be no such thing as Happiness.  Even the anti-Romance faction believes in Happily For Now (HFN).

But there is another view that "happiness" is just an electro-chemical brain-stimulus to the pleasure center, which proves that humans are just a physical body. 

In fact, that article from the Huffington Post is predicated on the assumption that God does not exist, that your Happiness is up to you to craft with your own two hands, and there is only the Body that has to be Happy.  The Happiness definition lurking un-articulated behind that list of signs you are happy excludes the issue of Harmonizing body and soul.

Take two Characters - one with a mostly-open Third Eye, and one blind in the Third Eye (reasons could be interesting details to Depict) - set them into a Soul-Mate Situation, add Setting, Theme and let the Conflict unfold.

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
http://jacquelinelichtenberg.com

Crime, Retribution And Punishment (in SF/SFR)

How does a convicted criminal pay "their debt" to society... in our world, or in imagined alien worlds whether they are utopian or dystopian?

"Justice" has several possible purposes, some only subtly different: Revenge, Restitution, Retribution,  Rehabilitation, Incapacitation (or preventing a recurrence),  Deterrence, Social Engineering.

1.  Revenge may be intended to be cathartic, depending on the involvement of the victims, but a civilized society may make the process so relatively "humane" and long-drawn-out and expensive that a death penalty, for instance, most likely fails to provide satisfaction for society or for the victims.

2. Similarly, a lengthy incarceration might cost taxpayers a great deal, but prevent the evil-doer from earning the wherewithal to make financial restitution to his or her victims.

Solon of the ancient Greek world, suggested that persons who could not pay their debts could be sold into slavery, which might be a profitable form of incarceration with hard labor.

Some criminals would be too dangerous to be slaves, and there are reports that ancient Roman homes included safety measures to ensure that house slaves did not murder their masters in the night.  Possibly, some of the most dangerous "debtors" could have been sold into gladiatorial schools, assuming that the barbaric public would pay to watch gladiators' entertaining deaths.

3. Rehabilitation, IMHO, is a bit of a non-starter in fiction. One has to have gross institutionalized unfairness, or an underdog anti-hero is not sympathetic; and if there is no fighting/conflict, it's hard to write a page-turner. Most science fiction convicts are unjustly accused good guys, such as Kirk, Starbuck, Buck Rogers, Spock etc. And, if one was not guilty in the first place, one cannot be rehabilitated.

4. Incapacitation (or preventing repeated crimes) is vividly demonstrated in One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest (not SF). Many SF examples of incapacitation are not successful by design, such as the Superman villains Zod, Non, and Ursa (??) who were entombed alive, to float in space forever... until they were rescued.  A similar incapacitation method was tried in V, also with Merlin --trapped inside a tree--, also with the villain in EPIC who.... spoiler alert... was engulfed in a tree wart.

Historical and futuristic versions of incapacitation might be some of the more extreme versions of exile, to prison islands, prison planets, prison ships, prison spaceships as seen in The Chronicles of Riddick, in Star Trek, etc.

5. Deterrence (and Social Engineering) may not necessarily involve a convicted evil-doer at all, as in Hunger Games where a society is repressed and eternally punished for a rebellion, while also providing an elaborate, entertaining, and possibly profitable spectacle.

Horrific and barbaric public executions also serve to deter would-be troublemakers, but we don't see a lot of that in Romance or Science Fiction. It's the stuff of the Horror genre.

Random and spontaneous executions (Flash Gordon, Star Wars) probably are not as psychologically successful for deterrence, judging by the rebellions they inspire.

And then, there's LEXX.
Criminals and rebels had their useful organs harvested (by machines, without anaesthetic, on a conveyor system), and the rest of the bodies were processed as food for the LEXX. However, since the LEXX was a sentient dragonfly-machine that destroyed planets, it is not easy to categorize the thinking behind justice system. I was too revolted to watch enough of the series to understand whether the harvested organs were transplanted into good members of society.

Please enlighten me!

Science Fiction (and Science Fiction Romance) deals with advanced technology and issues of alternative or shifting morality. Did the civilized Star Trek society send Kirk to a prison planet so that he could fight to the death or be assassinated out of sight, because it would be uncivilized to kill him directly?

If technology means that we can print off new organs or body parts, or create a personalized chemical cocktail to replace blood, then we don't need to use criminals as perpetual blood donors, or one-time heart donors, and cannot use expediency as moral justification. What happens to the motivation of futuristic good vampires, if there is no reason for them to drink blood from a human?

Let me know what you think.

Rowena Cherry

PS  Some interesting resources:

The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: ...

https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0313329516

Gary Westfahl

Crime and Punishment - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/crime_and_punishment 

Sci-Fi on Trial: A Survey of Crime and Punishment in the ...

https://johnkennethmuir.wordpress.com/.../sci-fi-on-trial-a-survey-of-cri... 

Cloning Mammoths

A geneticist at Harvard has successfully inserted woolly mammoth DNA into elephant cells:

Mammoth DNA

The experiment didn't recreate the entire mammoth genome but singled out particular "mammoth-like characteristics," such as ear size and the woolly coat. Although there are still several steps to go before a live mammoth-like animal could be produced, the transformed elephant cells are functioning properly, so it could happen. This is only one of three teams worldwide working on such a project.

Naturally, some people have ethical qualms about the whole idea. One zoologist is quoted as objecting that it doesn't make sense to lavish money and time on reviving an extinct species while present-day elephants are endangered. That argument doesn't seem completely logical to me. Why should the two projects be mutually exclusive? Can't we have both genetically engineered mammoths and campaigns to save elephants? Also, as the article points out, work with extinct pachyderms could raise the profile of modern elephants, thus contributing to their preservation.

Doesn't this kind of research have legitimate value beyond "let's do it because we can"? If we could recreate a living woolly mammoth, couldn't we study that species in far more depth than we can from prehistoric, dead specimens? And isn't knowledge in itself a Good Thing? (Even if it can be misused. We have plenty of cautionary SF tales to warn us about What Not to Do; nobody is likely to set up a Jurassic Park devoid of safeguards in real life.)

Speaking of the negative side of reviving prehistoric species, Peter Watt's SF novel BLINDSIGHT has an accompanying website designed as a multimedia publicity release from a fictional research corporation in the novel. That company has recreated an extinct vampire race through genetic engineering (in the story itself, a vampire commands a spaceship tasked with a first-contact mission). Check out this very detailed and graphic account of the vampire project. It takes a while to watch, but it's fascinating. How could you beat the slogan "Taming Yesterday's Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow"? The deadpan humor—delivered absolutely "straight" by the earnest voice-over commentator—is especially effective.

Blindsight Vampires

Margaret L. Carter

Carter's Crypt