Re: Adept's questions on chaos

From: Michael Hitchens <michaelh_at_1SCZTKLapTRbe_hvG6AT8cS6X8RX-atMXIqIynKJj0s-T37jK4CLEhdlzL5zG3HPU2u>
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2007 16:24:50 +1000 (EST)


On Tue, 24 Apr 2007, Peter Metcalfe wrote:

> Michael Hitchens:
>
>> Chaos seems to have it easier to seep
>> in when society is weak. So a practitioner of incest is more likely to
>> get the taint if the clan is weak than if the clan is strong - see the
>> example in Gathering Thunder.
>
> If and only if you believe incest is chaotic. But say there was
> a society based on greco-roman egypt which had brother-sister
> marriages? Would they be chaotic? Would it be chaos if the
> marriage were between an uncle and a niece (which is
> not unusual). What about first cousins? Forbidden in Heortling
> society.

Fair enough, but I was thinking Heortlings in the example I gave. More generally I was thinking chaotic acts. But maybe here we do touch on chaos being a "social construct". Or at least "chaotic acts" as a social construct. While the immaterial taint that chaos gives has a universal objective reality, perhaps the acts can get you there are not so universal, but dependent on your society.

I do remember someone else postulating that rape may not be regarded as a chaotic act amongst the Char-Un.

So it is possible that the acts that may turn you chaotic vary (at least in part) from society to society, but the end result is a universal constant.

Michael



Dr. Michael Hitchens
Senior Lecturer, Department of Computing Macquarie University
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