Comments on: HtSiE: tN Chapter 42: The Cromoglodon is Born

By: Icepick

Icepick — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:22:20 +0000

I am too easy to respect and admire one who is thoughtful and calculating. It is seductive to think that they will always lead to the right answer, even if it isn’t rooted in pathos.

Oh, and you used Cromoglodon in the narrative before you introduced it.

By: Akash

Akash — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:42:53 +0000

This seems to be moving in a direction similar to the original story line. You can actually see the dominos lining up for Edwin’s eventual descent into evil, as in the original podcast episodes. Edwin taking control of Loeb’s buisness, slowly but surely, the Cromoglodon becoming one of his clients, it seems like the story will, in this book or another, incorperate Agnes/Edna’s death and the Omdemnity plotline, especially considering the stress placed on a lack of insurance in “A blackjack toting angel.” Am I right?

By: Bexcess

Bexcess — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:30:47 +0000

That’s not what makes him scary, or what any of the characters worry about. There isnt the absolute choice between Absolute Rationality/Stubborn Chaos, its that there is no tempering of the rationality with any emotion whatsoever (”don’t get too attached to the help”). Edwin, not only a frightening character in that despite his intelligence all it takes is one faulty rationalization for him to go all Hitler on you (/Godwin), but also that he has become a parody of “the thinking man” so trapped by his own thoughts as to be grotesque, a self-parody, worthy of pity even. Or not, I dont write.

By: Ms. Danson

Ms. Danson — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:51:00 +0000

Yes and no. The “can do anything” part requires close watching but I think I’d prefer the “if given a reason” part over the alternative. If he needs a reason to act then he’s also open to being reasoned with if said reason works with his goals and needs. Essentially, he can be reasoned out of an action if given sufficient reason. The flip side of this is people who do things out of strong conviction and/or irrational motivations. They cannot be stopped by reason or argument because they are Right ™. In either case it is the extremity that makes it dangerous but in the milder forms I’d take logic over irrational certainty.

I suspect that this is why I see Edwin in the protagonist role as more of a sympathetic character than a villain. He makes sense to me. He is amoral, not immoral.

By: Thisguy

Thisguy — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:35:19 +0000

Edwin as a grotesque character, I like.

By: LPCampbell

LPCampbell — Fri, 15 May 2009 23:12:25 +0000

The thing about deductive reasoning is that it can go too far. I agree with you. Logic and reason are startlingly absent in today’s society. But logic and reason to their fullest extent leave no room for warmth, empathy, and compassion. That’s what makes Edwin both frightening and intensely interesting. For all his reason, for all his intelligence, he’s has put himself together wrong. He is the extreme of something, and extremes are rarely, if ever, good things.

Beyond the whole philosophical debate discussion, great episode. This might be one of my favorites so far.

By: Mason

Mason — Fri, 15 May 2009 21:43:42 +0000

I don’t know, I consider Edwin a kind of role model for modern thought. He has a point, people just don’t THINK any more. Deductive reasoning is a dying art.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Fri, 15 May 2009 17:32:14 +0000

So far. Pretty scary isn’t it.

By: Ms. Danson

Ms. Danson — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:58:45 +0000

If he has a reason he can do anything… that is the essence of Edwin isn’t it?