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FICTIONAL_VALUES

                                             July 26, 2010

                                              BETWEEN_SOUL_AND_FATE
    Story logic has needs of it's own
    that drives the values of it's
    characters.  To live as a fictional           In contrast, a real world
    character must live, you must:                hero must know when to
                                                  stand down and let another
      Have a drive toward engagement.             take the lead.
      you must get involved, even if
      that means living dangerously.                In contradiction to
                                                    half of the murder
      You must at a minimum be On                   mysteries in the world,
      the Scene, and if you're not                  investigating a murder
      compelled to be there, you must               simply because you're
      want to be there.                             a suspect is crazy,
                                                    dangerous behavior.

                                                    If it bothers you being
                                                    a suspect, then why act
                                                    suspiciously?

                                                    If you run down a
                                                    murderer, then what
                                                    happens after that?


               Real world problems
               rarely fit in the scale
               of a piece of fiction.


                  Tales of repressive governments
                  overthrown in the last chapter
                  by an idealistic revolution
                  almost always ring hollow.


                  Actual political battles
                  more often than not revolve
                  around vote counting, influence
                  trading, fund-raising...
                  there's an awful lot of very
                  dull, nasty work that's               And the work is often
                  actually critical for any             (though not always)
                  democracy we can imagine.             nasty in a very
                                                        low-grade, unexciting
                                                        way that's difficult
                                                        to even launch a
                                                        reformist crusade
                                                        against, let alone
                                                        dramatize in a novel.


              The typical scientist calmly
              digs into trivia, year after
              year amassing pieces of
              evidence, sorting through
              abstruse theories... and
              writing funding applications,
              fighting budget battles...

              There are few swashbuckling
              scientists in the world, and
              it would be difficult to argue         GETTING_WARM
              that there should be.




       FINDING_VALUES




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