Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in Seamus' LiveJournal:

Thursday, October 4th, 2001
6:25 pm	Comic Books I've been rereading my collection of The Sandman in the last few days and it's got me in a kind of philosophical mood. No. Actually the current events of the last month have gotten me ina philosophical mood, and so I felt an urging to reread my collection of The Sandman. Neil Gaiman's writing tends to raise questions about our basic assumptions of morality and reality. Characters like Hob Gadling who are so very human, while having such remarkable traits(like immortality) can cause contemplative questions about ones own choices. Hob Gadling found a way to make it rich in the 1700's. He bought slaves on the coast of Africa and sold them for cotton in the United States. It wasn't until the following century, and later in time that he fully understood the evil he was responsible for. The only thing which prevented his guilt from overwhelming him was a rare understanding that "What's done is done and can't be undone", so he might as well just carry on with life and learn from his horrible mistake. I've never done anything that I'd consider evil. I was raised by compassionate parents who respect all human life, in an unusually enlightened time.(Though not enlightened enough for my tastes.) But if I had grown up in other circumstances, in another time perhaps, would I have the same moral outlook that I do today? Hob was a good person. It was his ignorance of the value of human life, and a lack of understanding towards those who were different than him which led to his wrongdoing. When he came to understand the truth, he saw the evil he had done. Could I be capable of such a vast change in my morality if I live long enough? Consider that what was popularly called "seduction" in previous centuries is today called "rape". What things are we doing today, that we consider acceptable; could we, in times to come, realize are actually wrong? I had planned on writing this log about my favorite comic books which dealt with moral and social issues. I guess that wasn't really what was on my mind. Current Mood: whimsical Current Music: none(sad classical music is playing in my head) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 28th, 2001
2:44 pm	Ender's Game(and it's sequels) by Orson Scott Card I just finished re-reading this book for the first time in quite a few years. Orson Scott Card has a gift for presenting tales of realistic, brighter-than-average, children. Ender's Game is a prime example of this, with a lead character who is a strategic genius, placed in a battle school satellite where he learns leadership, and three-dimensional combat strategy. Though the characterization was powerful, it's not the tale, so much as the science fiction elements I want to focus on. Ender's Game is the very first story I have ever come across which has so thoroughly centred attention on the eccentricities of zero-gravity movement, and in particular, combat. One's ability to adapt to zero-g conditions is dependent on one's ability to shift perspective to suit there immediate circumstances, not their priors. The immediate sequel, Speaker For the Dead didn't have the same punch as the first, though it did present some interesting surprises. The book which followed that was Xenocide, which I, personally found disappointing, and for that reason, I didn't read what followed after. Out of the blue came a book titled Ender's Shadow, which was not a sequel so much as a companion book. It was the same events as told in Ender's Game, with attention focused on one of the other students of the battle school. I have yet to read it's sequel, titled Shadow of the Hegemon. Current Mood: quixotic Current Music: Classic Disney Volume 1 (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 25th, 2001
3:37 pm	The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester "Gulley Foyle is my name, And Terra is my nation, Outer space my dwelling place, The stars my destination." Like "The Demolished Man", this tale is set in a future where humans have evolved a power beyond normal. This time, it's instant, voluntary teleportation. The power to be where you wish, as soon as you wish it. Bester successfully presented a society that has evolved with the changes in it's populace. The truly wealthy prove their wealth by Not using their teleportation powers. Junior executives ride bicycles, senior executives drive cars, and the richest man in the world rides a locomotive, with the track being lane in the direction of the destination, and torn up behind. These societal eccentricites are merely window dressing for the story of a man who can't fit into the world around him. It's his search for a place, and a meaning to his existence which defines the tale. I feel that Alfred Bester's writing usually fits under one extreme or another. Either it's very, very good, such as Destination, or very bad, like The Computer Connection, or The Deceivers. Current Mood: okay Current Music: Disney's Beauty and the Beast soundtrack (Comment on this)
Saturday, February 24th, 2001
1:56 pm	The Demolished Man (By Alfred Bester) One of the most important books in the field of Science Fiction, The Demolished Man held two distinctive characteristics which made it noticable enough to be the first novel to ever win a Hugo award. The first characteristic was an extensive use of psionic powers as a potent plot device. In a world where a vast quantity of people have the power to read one anothers minds at will, social rules are drastically different. This brings notice to the second characteristic of the book. The Demolished Man is a story of a Utopian world. Because law enforcement officers are able to arrest potential criminals before they can break the law, and modify their behaviour to prevent dangerous actions, the world is a pleasant, harmonious place. Bester displayed the sacrifice of privacy for the common good, as a cure to all social ills. Fans of science fiction were presented with an exellent topic for debate. Is freedom of thought something we should have to sacrifice? Is the price for peace to high? On the television show Babylon 5, the character of Al Bester, played by Walter Koenig, showed a dark side to a telepathic law enforcment agency. The Demolished Man presented the invasion of others thoughts as a moral responsibility in order to create a safe, happy environment for all. There was no question as to the right or wrong in this perspective. The debate granted by this tale is an extreme version to questions of privacy rights raised in the real world. What is more important, individual freedoms, or the common good of all people? Current Mood: thoughtful Current Music: War of the Worlds (by Jeff Wayne) (Comment on this)