james_davis_nicoll: (Default)
james_davis_nicoll ([personal profile] james_davis_nicoll) wrote2011-02-19 06:04 pm

Dear SF writers of the world

I hit my lifetime tolerance for heroic tales of children drafted into draconian, high mortality super-soldier programs justified as required for the greater good sometime around the end of the novel version of Ender's Game. Please adjust your story lines accordingly.

[identity profile] lederhosen.livejournal.com 2011-02-19 11:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Morally yes, psychologically no. If Milgram's work is anything to go by, people find it easier to do bad things when they don't have to see the consequences.

[identity profile] mme-hardy.livejournal.com 2011-02-19 11:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, while I'm not convinced about the Holocaust links, the book is very carefully stacked so that we feel sorry for Ender no matter what he does; in every situation where he does evil, there's somebody else (or the situation itself) to blame.