3 ms·

Sure, but even so I’m reasonably sure we can rely on the linear nature of time. Whether or not the publication of prequels was premeditated, it still rings true

Sure, but even so I’m reasonably sure we can rely on the linear nature of time. Whether or not the publication of prequels was premeditated, it still rings true that the cultural artefact is always publication order.

wolverine876 3y ago
But you are not at all required to follow some prior linear order in the linear order of your own time. If I want to smelt steel, I don't need to learn to smelt bronze first. What rings true is the eternal best advice: think for yourself.
kelnos 3y ago
I don't really buy that. An author may have planned out the entire story, but later decides to write and release later parts of the story first, and earlier parts later, as prequels, but not include an assumption in the prequels that the reader has already read the earlier-published works. I don't know how common this is, but I don't think I'd be willing to assume this has never happened.
- thaumasiotes 3y ago
  > An author may have planned out the entire story, but later decides to write and release later parts of the story first, and earlier parts later, as prequels, but not include an assumption in the prequels that the reader has already read the earlier-published works. Still untrue. The author is going to include whatever information they possess in whatever work they create. If the prequels are written later, they will rely on information from the earlier works, whether the author wanted them to do that or not.
- davkan 3y ago
  I wouldn’t be surprised if I learned that a majority of books in series have been written with the idea in mind that some readers are coming in fresh. That does not mean that a book is free from having followed the prior works. An author cannot change the frame of reference they were operating within when they authored a work. That’s the reason the “cultural artifact” is the publication order. If we set aside books in a series that were written and edited to completion concurrently and published staggered, then i don’t see how an author could possibly publish a book while managing to entirely circumvent the reality that they have knowledge of the previous books they have written and do not have full knowledge of the ones they have not, no matter how hard they may try.
partomniscient 3y ago
>I’m reasonably sure we can rely on the linear nature of time. I'm not even sure about that, perhaps we can rely on our linear _experience_ of time, but we can't determine which is the correct version of two billiard balls colliding if we're shown the forwards and the backwards versions. Assuming time is linear is convenient, but I don't think its provable or outright definite.

wolverine876 3y ago

But you are not at all required to follow some prior linear order in the linear order of your own time. If I want to smelt steel, I don't need to learn to smelt bronze first. What rings true is the eternal best advice: think for yourself.

kelnos 3y ago

I don't really buy that. An author may have planned out the entire story, but later decides to write and release later parts of the story first, and earlier parts later, as prequels, but not include an assumption in the prequels that the reader has already read the earlier-published works. I don't know how common this is, but I don't think I'd be willing to assume this has never happened.

thaumasiotes 3y ago
> An author may have planned out the entire story, but later decides to write and release later parts of the story first, and earlier parts later, as prequels, but not include an assumption in the prequels that the reader has already read the earlier-published works. Still untrue. The author is going to include whatever information they possess in whatever work they create. If the prequels are written later, they will rely on information from the earlier works, whether the author wanted them to do that or not.
davkan 3y ago
I wouldn’t be surprised if I learned that a majority of books in series have been written with the idea in mind that some readers are coming in fresh. That does not mean that a book is free from having followed the prior works. An author cannot change the frame of reference they were operating within when they authored a work. That’s the reason the “cultural artifact” is the publication order. If we set aside books in a series that were written and edited to completion concurrently and published staggered, then i don’t see how an author could possibly publish a book while managing to entirely circumvent the reality that they have knowledge of the previous books they have written and do not have full knowledge of the ones they have not, no matter how hard they may try.

partomniscient 3y ago

>I’m reasonably sure we can rely on the linear nature of time. I'm not even sure about that, perhaps we can rely on our linear _experience_ of time, but we can't determine which is the correct version of two billiard balls colliding if we're shown the forwards and the backwards versions. Assuming time is linear is convenient, but I don't think its provable or outright definite.