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Sorry if this has been mentioned, but I never found a topic on it. I just got Enchantment, and noticed two connections between it and the Ender series. These are likely unintended and just my Enderverse-fanatic mind leaping to conclusions, but of course I have to ask if anyone else saw them.
Pages 228-9 in the trade paperback edition, Chapter 10:
quote: "...overlooking that Armenian fellow's farm." "The Arkanians," said Sophia.
Is Arkanian a popular Armenian family name? Or was this an intentional nod to Petra's family in the Ender books? There is no other mention of it, so it really isn't that important. I just thought it was interesting.
Pages 270-73, Chapter 12: Piotr talks about "Occam's razor". Here I have to plead ignorance: is this a real theory today? I must admit that I haven't heard of it outside of Card's books, and in the Speaker trilogy it is called "Ockham's Razor", a slightly different spelling. I simply noticed it and it intrigued me.
Does anyone have information about these possible connections?
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Ockham's Razor (so named because it was created by William of Ockham... I'm really not sure why "Occam" is the popular spelling, but I'm sure it's some linguistical trickery that OSC would love to make a night out of explaining) is the idea that one should make no more assumptions than are necessary. For instance, when searching for the reason that your girlfriend just dumped you, it is unlikely that one needs to look further than the fact that you just ran over her cat. And so you can "cut" away whatever other assumptions you might have to make to explain it.
I don't have any info on the "Arkanians" thing, except to say that I noticed the same thing, and then promptly forgot it. Thanks for the reminder.
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Put more simply, Oc{c|kh}am's Razor states that, all things being equal, the simplest answer is the correct one.
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I think Occam and Ockham are both valid spellings and unnecessary redundancies due to the translation from old english ( or maybe middle english, I forget the difference due to drinking too much old english 800).
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quote:Originally posted by CRash: Is Arkanian a popular Armenian family name?
Here where I live in Fresno, there is an extremely large Armenian community. I just looked in the phone book, and there are no Arkanians listed at all. Therefore, I'd be willing to bet that it isn't all that common a name.
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I grew up near Glendale, Armenian relocation center for the U.S. Arkanian is not an extremely popular name, but it's fairly "typical", and a lot easier to spell and pronounce for non-Armenians than a lot of Armenian names. I'd bet that's why it was chosen.
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Aw, I'd like to think it was a friendly nod to the fans. Wouldn't you? That's what I thought it was when I first read Enchantment.
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wasn't it in THe lost world, the book not the movie, that Michael Chrihton talked alot about ockhams razor?
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He mentions it throughout the Jurassic Park series, and it is actually a rather well-known dictum. Scientists are supposed to use it when studying evidence for theories, for example, though there are other instances where it comes in handy as well. I've always seen it spelled Occam myself, but I'm sure the other spelling is equally valid.
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Well, thanks to you all for explaining it to me--no matter how it's really spelled. I must have been living under a rock or something (the rock called "Jr. High"). Now that I think about it, I do recall hearing it mentioned somewhere else, but I don't remember the location. Whatever. Thank goodness I have you helpful people to set me straight.
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Both spellings are valid, from a period when spelling was phonetic and arbitrary, so both are right; and I don't care, which is why I used one spelling in one book and another in another.
I didn't "use" the name Arkanian, I made it up, using the rule that all Armenian last names end in "anian" <grin>.
And of course mentioning an Arkanian family in Enchantment was a tip of the hat to readers of the Ender series. But it is absolutely NOT a parallel, just an allusion.
quote:Originally posted by littlemissattitude: Here where I live in Fresno, there is an extremely large Armenian community.
Whatthe... we have other Fresnans here?
Though I now live in Orange, I was born and raised in Fresno, and in another neat parallel, the church I go to back home is the First Armenian Presbyterian Church. I'm not actually Armenian, but it's a half-mile from my house, and the community's great.
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