Vilcabamba
The Vilcabamba section is a lit ref.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 03:51, August 5, 2016 (UTC)
- Beump.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 08:39, October 28, 2017 (UTC)
Hindsight
Clarke's role in "Hindsight" is a little meatier than the other story, but not by much. Probably best sent to lit refs.JonathanMarkoff (talk) 08:26, September 6, 2016 (UTC)
Literary comment
"Harry Turtledove has said that the story "Death in Vesunna" was written as a satirical rebuttal to Clarke's Third Law."
I have heard this claim but never what the source was. Anyone know where it was made? ML4E (talk) 15:12, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
- We had this discussion some time ago, and came up blank. It may very likely have been in a now-vanished chat from the turn of the millennium.Matthew Babe Stevenson (talk) 19:07, 6 April 2021 (UTC)
- Not good enough I'm afraid. We should remove the comment. Turtle Fan (talk) 00:43, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
- Steven Silver endorses the notion here. TVTropes references this story as serving this purpose. That may just barely justify keeping it here, although a further note might be needed for clarification.Matthew Babe Stevenson (talk) 06:27, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
- In my opinion, Silver's endorsement counts for quite a bit more than TVTropes.
- But, let's be honest, a D- English student would be able to spot HT's general disdain for Clarke's Third Law. "Vilcabamba" flat out states it--the humans know the Krolp aren't magic, even if humans can't reverse-engineer Krolp tech. Even in his recent piece, "My Hypothetical Friend", he has a less sophisticated society building more sophisticated tech by following instructions. TR (talk) 15:24, 7 April 2021 (UTC)
- It looks to me that Silver's statement is his opinion on a theme in the story. Over time, his view has been conflated with something that Turtledove has said. After all, the Lit. Comm. says "Harry Turtledove has said ..." which is not what the Silver citation says. This is my concern with the Lit. Comm. ML4E (talk) 17:54, 7 April 2021 (UTC)