Episode: 52 Xenogenesis - Adulthood-Rites: IV: HOME Chapters 7 & 8

XenoThesis

In episode 52, Richard and Michael discuss the Final 2 Chapters of Adulthood-Rites and reflect on the book as a whole. Tangents include smoke inhalation and gait recognition technology.

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:00:30 - Welcome to the last Episode of Book 2
00:02:58 - Chapter 7 predictions
00:04:12 - Chapter 7 begins
00:04:22 - Fire!
00:05:41 - Vertically stacked vs side-by-side double barreled shotguns
00:07:35 - The Return of Neci! (CV += Arson)
00:09:40 - ‘Sair’ orafice neologism, built in N95? [1,2]
00:12:26 - Carbon monoxide poisoning [3] & Oxygen carriers [4]
00:15:00 - Akin isn’t used to his body’s new keybinds
00:17:20 - We love campfires and really shouldn’t [5]
00:19:50 - This should hurt - weird sensations under Analgesia [6]
00:25:30 - Accelerated wound healing -> Hungry
00:26:20 - Akin’s Gait recognition skills [7-9]
00:27:44 - Gil (understandably) has too little trust left for Mars
00:30:30 - End of chapter 7
00:32:27 - What will life be like for those not going to Mars? [10]
00:32:50 - Chapter 8 predictions
00:33:40 - Chapter 8 Begins
00:35:34 - Kolina & Stancio Return for Macy
00:37:50 - Retrospective on the book
00:37:55 - Part 1 - Akin as an infant
00:41:30 - It’s fun to see Lilith from the outside
00:43:50 - Part 2 - Akin’s Kidnapping & Time in Phoenix
00:46:10 - Power dynamics of Akin & his kidnappers
00:48:26 - Effect of lack of hope & meaning on the resisters
00:51:06 - Part 3 - The Ship & Akin’s adolescent phase
00:53:42 - Learning the Oankali culture - understanding the misunderstandings
00:58:20 - The case for a Human Akjai
01:01:20 - Nuanced exploration of colonialism
01:03:12 - Is Oankali society an Ooloiarchy?
01:04:10 - Moral Ambiguity in Octavia’s Writing
01:04:45 - ‘Humanising’ all perspectives
01:06:04 - Forces you to think, alien setting gives enough distance
01:09:08 - Even the dislikable characters are relatable
01:09:38 - Major theme: Nature Vs./Via Nurture
01:11:50 - Genetic != Determined
01:16:28 - Part 4 - The hope of Mars?
01:18:06 - Memamorphasis as rebirth Alegory?
01:19:40 - Akin as mesiah? - if so a very original take on the trope
01:22:35 - Reflection on our discussion topics
01:24:40 - Predictions for Imago
01:32:00 - Outro

References

Effectiveness of Akin’s ‘sair’ against smoke:

• [1] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.01.062 - particulate makeup of smoke
• [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7447000/ - N95 and smoke
• [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carboxyhemoglobin - Carbon monoxide poisoning
• [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemocyanin - Copper based oxygen transportation
• [5] https://www.samharris.org/blog/the-fireplace-delusion - You’ll never feel the same about campfires :(

Being concious during surgery:

• [6] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21086818-do-no-harm - Do No Harm (Henry Marsh)

Gait Recognition:

• [7] https://www.privacyinternational.org/explainer/4496/how-gait-recognition-technology-can-be-used-protest - High level what it is and privacy implications
• [8] https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/gait-recognition - More detailed technical background
• [9] https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2204.02569 - It’s a rapidly evolving field countermeasures against the first generation tech will get less effective as refinements are made

Cultural references: [10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apocalypto - Film referenced

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Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio