Dragaera

Multi-jointed fingers (and houses)

Mon Jun 19 07:23:56 PDT 2006

>Look, you're saying "B is like A therefore to doubt B 
>has all properties of A requires proof."  I'm saying, "That's silly."

No, I'm saying that Occam's Razor was invented for a reason. 

Doubting or, more correctly, speculating about the possible differences is
perfectly okay. The only problem I ever had,if you go back and look, is that
you're constantly talking about your theories and calling them evidence. You
even told me I was incorrect and referred back to them when I requested
textev (i.e., evidence from the stories). 

Theories are fine. Thought experiments involving populations of Easterners
gaining titles and the results? Great! Good to consider!

In the end, though, it's all just speculation. Maybe you haven't actually
lost sight of that but a few of your replies give the impression that you're
already taking it as a given that your theories are correct and proven and
any reasonable person would believe likewise.

The books, which are the authoritative evidence, don't support any such
conclusions. There are no indications at all about the nature of titles sold
to Easterners. Working strictly from the texts of the stories, there is
absolutely no reason at all to presume that Vlad's title is any different
than Morrolan's. They're both landed gentry in a noble house. The only
difference is that Vlad was allowed in by right of commerce while Morollan
got his by right of birth and conquest.

Are Easterners different from Dragaerans? Bloody right! Does that have
anything at all to do with a title of nobility, especially one as inherently
meaningless as a Jhereg title? No, at least not until Steve writes a story
about it.