Hatrack River Forum: Ted Chiang

This is topic Ted Chiang in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=054215

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :

A discussion of some of his shorts came up in another thread. In reference to Dividing By Zero:

quote:
Originally posted by scifibum:

quote:
I don't not want to believe it; I find it blindingly impossible.
That's what's so great about the story. What if you convinced yourself of something that was blindingly impossible, and fundamentally undermined your relationship to the universe, but you couldn't believe any other thing?

I get that. But (and this probably has a lot to do with being raised by a mathematician and a mathematical physicist), I just don't believe that is possible in this case. I don't believe that even the most brilliant mathematician could prove what she is supposed to have proven. Nor do I believe it is possible to prove the inverse.

The two Chiang stories that I have liked the most are the two where the science is minimal (The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate) or completely invented (Seventy-Two Letters). Although the latter was too long, in part because of all the unnecessary detail to the made-up science. [Wink]