message 0143

• Comparison between normal and Azi ship crews/abilities of Azi in general

>From: nancy ott <ott@ansoft.com>
>Subject: cherryhlist
>Date: Tue, 18 May 93 12:04:53 EDT

> > >From: "Phil G. Fraering" <pgf@srl.cacs.usl.edu>

> > 2. It seems to take a lot more training to operate an ECS carrier
> > smoothly than you could probably get from Azi (except for the really
> > specialized ones, which you don't have that many of).

> >From: Lesley Grant <lgrant@maths.tcd.ie>

>       From _Cyteen_ (and _DS_, _Serpent's Reach_, etc) it seems that azi
> make the *best* soldiers, agents, pilots, techs, etc. They can be trained
> pretty quickly on the theoretical side of things, and don't seem to have
> problems putting theory into practice instantly (tape-teaching seems to make
> one 'practised' at something, even if it's a new discipline). The military
> in Union also consistently bought the 'best' azi, the ones with most initiative
> and so forth.

The azi may make the most effective soldiers and technicians, but who
makes the most effective commanders and researchers?  The individuals
in positions of authority in Cherryh's novels are almost always normal
humans, not azi.  In "Downbelow Station", "Cyteen" and "40,000 in
Gehenna" it seemed pretty clear that azi upbringing and tape learning
do not generally produce individuals with the ability to react well to
chaotic situations.  Azi do what they know spectacularly well --
hence, they make excellent soldiers, techs, gardeners, security or what
have you -- but can't always handle the unexpected.  Even Reseune
hadn't succeeded at mass-producing creativity and higher-level
thinking; most of the azi with those skills were unstable.

Azi like Grant, who were raised by normal humans, and older azi who
have had the chance to learn from experience behave more like regular
humans.  Azi who were raised in a farm setting like Reseune,
tape-trained and specially taught, behave .... well, like azi.  I'd
imagine that Josh Talley was somewhere in the middle, with more early
socialization than a regular azi -- allowing him to handle the
unpredictability of a spy and saboteur's life -- and more
deep-teach/custom training than someone like Grant.

I've left the azi in "Serpent's Reach" out of this because they aren't
Union azi; they're part of an entirely different society (the Reach).

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