> From: "Jane Williams" <janewilliams20_at_...>
> Subject: The Missionaries
> There's an interesting hint at the extent to which Gloranthans use magic
> where we'd use basic common sense.
Roderick made a number of good points about this. But they had plenty
of common
sense.
> "when the Hagolings learned the Elmal
> Verses so they could find ripe fruit in summer and autumn" - ever thought of
> looking on the trees, guys?
I can assure you that they looked at the trees all the time. Things had been dropping down on them and eating them for generations, after all.
Common sense has nothing to do with it.
First of all, I can almost guarantee you that most of us reading this would starve to death in the wilderness, even surrounded by food. The famous Donner Party whose members were farmers (and hence somewhat experienced in living outdoors), but failed to recognize that they were literally surrounded by food (and so ate each other). So first, recognizing food is not simple.
But the important point is that they were INCAPABLE of knowing or
understanding
this--and many other things--before the magic and subsequent teaching had
raised their consciousness to the knowledge.
--Greg
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