OK So I was reading (listening) to Xenocide and I got to the point in the book where Jane is revealed to Han Fei-Tzu and Han Qing-jao. We find out about their genetic marker to be God Spoken and intelligent. Is there any way that it could be Anton's Key turned and modified.
Did Starways Congress find Bean's cure and use Anton's Key in the ways that Volescu originally planned.
Any Comments, Misconceptions, Thoughts?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Is there any way that it could be Anton's Key turned and modified.
Short answer: No. The thing in Anton's key that makes people supergeniuses is the same thing that makes them supergiants. You can't have one without the other.
Posted by BlueWizard (Member # 9389) on :
I suspect the people of Path gain their intelligence from some genetic modification related to Anton's key, but not literally Anton's Key in the sense you are thinking.
I suspect in 3,000 years of genetics research evolution, they may have found a way to exploit Anton's Key but to do so in a way as to minimize the nasty side effects. Likely this also moderated the level of intelligence. The people of Path seem smart, but not Bean Super-Smart.
However, just because they can apply it, doesn't mean they can undo it once it's done. In other words, that fact that they can NOW apply a variation of Anton's Key, does not mean they can undo the bad effects on a person who has Anton's Key turned without the modifications.
In other words, there is no cure for Bean and the Beanie Babies.
However, the people on Lusitania have made an astronomical leap forward in genetic modification. They were able to change the people of Path substantially. On the super smart, they eliminated the controlling defect of obsessive compulsive disorder, and they were able to make all the normal people of Path as smart as the God Spoken.
I suspect when and if they encounter the Beanie Babies, the scientists on Lusitania will be able to help them before it's too late.
I think what Starway Congress was able to do to the people of Path was an offshoot of the earlier research to cure Bean. But again, it's 3,000 years later, I doubt that anyone, if there is anyone who remembers, even considers the possibility that Bean and his kids are still alive.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
It's an entirely different key which increases intelligence in a different way than Anton's.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
How do you know? Just curious.
Posted by neo-dragon (Member # 7168) on :
Because Anton's key makes a person a genius by allowing their brain to keep growing and developing the way it does when we're children. If a person stops growing, so does their brain, and they don't reach super-genius levels. Since the people on Path aren't giants, we can assume that their intelligence isn't achieved in this manner...
Posted by MrSquicky (Member # 1802) on :
quote:How do you know? Just curious.
First, it's just common sense. The only commonality between the manipulations is that they increase intelligence (as presented, to vastly different amounts - the God Spoken are not in Bean's class) while having many other things extremely different.
Second, at some point or another OSC said so here.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
I like the second answer. The first one might be sensible, but it's not authoritative.
Posted by T:man (Member # 11614) on :
heh heh heh antons key kills you pathites just have ocd but that is cured so it is not on the level of antons key descoladores master of genetic modifications might save bean (hopefully) and the beanlings dont foget!
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
The first one might be sensible, but it's not authoritative.