On Tue, 24 Aug 2004, Mark A Mandel wrote: > Nobody in this thread seems to have considered one important and very > unusual aspect of Vlad's experience under the Orb: He's an Easterner. Fair point, and I don't have a good model for how the Orb checks veracity (actually in my "Consciousness Explained"-influenced view of things I'm not sure there is a precise veracity to check) so it's hard to quibble, but note that Vlad never reports anything unusual about communicating psychically with Dragaerans vs Easterners, and his other interactions with the Orb are (afaik) normal. Furthermore, if the Orb is bad at interrogating Easterners one might think that the Jhereg would be aware of this fact and would take that into account in hiring. (Maybe they do, of course, which would be interesting.) Apropos, I have the impression that Vlad says it's impossible to lie in psychic communication - if so, the whole question here might be moot. Further note that Loraan (I think) has a name for preserving the thoughts of the dying - such a technology might work on the living and provide a good way of accessing info.