message 0022

• Tape-teaching/Creativity/The characters of Azi

>From: Jo Jaquinta <jaymin>
>Subject: Cherryhlist
>Date: Fri, 30 Oct 92 13:55:28 GMT

	Seems to have been quite for a while. I was busy running a games
convention but there wasn't any traffic at all.
	Anyway the game convention reminded me of ideas I had had when 
exploring the idea of a C.J.Cherryh role-playing-game (*no*, not a game
where you play leading SF authors!). I liked the idea of a mechanic that
controled your ability to learn new skills. The higher the value, the
quicker you picked up new things. However, taking deep tape of various
sorts permanantly lowered this ability. I.e. you could instantly learn
something from tape but it made it more difficult to pick up on things
naturally.
	The extreme case of this is, of course, the AZI. They are almost
completely tape fed and are almost totally incapable of acting outside
of their specific field. We get a good picture of AZI out of depth in
40,000 in Gahenna. The first generation AZI never fully adjust to what
they have been thrust into but the later generations are not really
impared.
	If we accept this as a working premise it brings up an interesting
question: If, as we see in Cyteen, tape-teaching is an increasingly common
method of learning in society does that mean the society is more or less
doomed to eventual stagnation as their creative process is sapped?

			Jo