StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Karen Traviss wrote:Every argument I see that I - and Ryan, too - but it's obviously more rewarding to attack a woman) have the "wrong" figures seems to be to be based on emotional arguments and assumptions. We professionals have to go with hard data. We have no choice.

This final comment isn't directed at you, but is a general observation about the tone of the attacks on me since last September: they are highly emotional and gynophobic. The language used is not the language of numbers and logic. Yes, I'm a woman, and I've always done jobs that are largely the preserve of men. Calling me names based on my gender won't drive me out of any boys' club: it'll just make me dig in harder, and get more implacably logical.

I've spent way too much time addressing the aggressively-expressed obsessions of fewer than a dozen people. (I counted them at the time. Some have disappeared, I'm told, but I'll be generous with the estimate.)

000 wrote:I'd suggest an online petition just to get a bunch of names in one spot, but those are lame and easily dismissable.

ray245 wrote:is there any girl here who wanted to help us prove to her that her idea is wrong?

Just love to see her face when she noted that the poster is a female, AND disagree with her. Certainly makes half the post invaild.

Karen Traviss wrote:Angels, pinheads and inquisitions

I'm a bit tired of words today, so I thought I'd try an equation. It's about light and heat.

eW= ty x L /k

Where: eW = energy available (in watts)
ty = kilocalories spent in angry typing
k = opportunities wasted to do something useful in real life
L = length of the Super Star Destroyer x by systolic pressure

I substituted a few numbers in that, and boy, there was a lot of wasted heat and not much light generated. I thought about getting a heat exchanger fitted, but then I tried something different.

sb = eW x r /ty

Where: sb = social benefit to real people
eW = energy available
ty = kilocalories spent typing angry responses
r = real issues requiring action

You can see that if you reduce ty, then sb increases.


There are thousands of people in the world who would love to have no greater source of unhappiness in their lives than arguments about SSDs, GAR strengths and whether Han fired first - because they're being blown up by IEDs, or bombed, or starved, or being driven out of their homes by disasters and wars and any number of bad, real things. If the most upsetting thing that happened to them in their lives was arguing about Mara Jade's hair, they'd rejoice.

Passion about fiction is great when it's fun and lighthearted, or when it provides respite or sheds light on real issues. But save your anger about it - on both sides of the argument - and channel it into improving real lives. Visit a vets' home. Send our troops books. If the military isn't your bag, then raise money for famine relief or help an animal shelter. But whatever you do, remember what's real and get het up about that.

Last time people started fighting about how many angels could dance on a pinhead, folks got burned at the stake by the Inquisition. Those really weren't the good old days, believe me.

Or as Niner might say; save the fight for the enemy.

Crown wrote:Wayne, if you're going to use her moronic 'Angels, Pinhead, etc' post, make sure to include Colonel Olrik's response;

'Watts don't equate with Kcal(m*Pa), so she's obviously full of shit.'

And;

'And you can also remind her that energy doesn't come in Watts.'

That's just an altogether special kind of ownage if you ask me.

Grasscutter wrote:The number of Clone Troopers fighting in the war is something that a lot of people probably could have let go or rationalized away (attached planetary defense forces, etc.). But Ms. Traviss has took this argument beyond just a question of numbers when she declared that the Clone War was "a brush-fire war". She's not just publishing illogical numbers – she's changing the very feel and style of the Star Wars story.

Her vision of Star Wars seems to be more of a small-scale but intense political thriller. There's nothing wrong with telling those kinds of stories, and there's certainly a place for them in the Star Wars franchise. It's a big galaxy after all and there's room for all types of stories, whether they are big or small in their scope. This does not, however, mean it's right for her to try and retcon the rest of the Star Wars universe into conforming with her vision.

KT wrote: The name Talifan might be more apt than I ever thought, and [info]rc_ghost's splendid phrase internet madrasas equally revealing.

Two key elements leap out at me: the insular nature of the deviant group, their previous normality until exposed to some idea or personal influence, and the "downward spiral" effect of them vying with each other to be more extreme - best described by former members of the Baader Meinhof gang in frank TV interviews.

This is clearly a universal phenomenon, but right now I'm not sure if I'm looking at one syndrome or a mix of aberrant behaviours manifesting similar symptoms. The internet element is a significant one in this, I feel. I get a whiff of Aspergers, OCD, religious orthodoxy, plain old normal human susceptibility, and a dozen other things.

And, yes, some of them - maybe most - might just be normal humans,and thus easily led and prone to conform.

Just like the clones*, in fact. How ironic.

But I need to unravel this.

I'll keep you abreast of what other dingbattery I unearth (every tie-in writer has a stack, I know) but at the moment I'm on the hunt for any academic who's done research into the psychology of obsession and anti-social behaviour among fans, be that in the context rock stars, actors or just grunt hacks like me.

Fascinating. Utterly fascinating. My gut reaction is that they all need garotting, but my rational self finds it all...fascinating.

(*Except the clones have sex lives. Chicks dig armour. )

Master of Ossus wrote:Don't forget the death threats she makes on her LJ.

"There are too many wild lists with inaccurate numbers going around."

Karen Traviss, Portsmouth City Council

Master of Ossus wrote:Don't forget the death threats she makes on her LJ.