334/The Death of Socrates - Revision history

Eb at 06:48, 25 January 2025

2025-01-25T06:48:06Z

Eb: /* 334 East 11th Street */

2025-01-24T01:06:22Z

334 East 11th Street

Eb at 00:41, 19 January 2025

2025-01-19T00:41:19Z

Eb: /* 334 East 11th Street */

2023-11-23T00:28:47Z

334 East 11th Street

Eb: /* 334 East 11th Street */

2023-11-23T00:25:31Z

334 East 11th Street

Eb: /* 334 East 11th Street */

2023-11-23T00:00:53Z

334 East 11th Street

Eb at 05:30, 7 April 2022

2022-04-07T05:30:06Z

Eb: /* cultured eggs and a cup of Koffee */

2022-04-07T05:12:52Z

cultured eggs and a cup of Koffee

Eb: /* cultured eggs and a cup of Koffee */

2022-04-07T05:12:28Z

cultured eggs and a cup of Koffee

Eb: /* a population of three thousand ... excluding temps */

2022-04-07T05:08:34Z

a population of three thousand ... excluding temps

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:48, 25 January 2025
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		+	{{#addbodyclass: tiled-toc tiled-toc-no-chapters}}
	'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in {{ISFDB\|60955\|''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967}}.		'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in {{ISFDB\|60955\|''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967}}.

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 === 334 East 11th Street ===
-<mapframe align="left" text="334 E. 11th St." width="420" height="300" zoom="15" longitude="-73.984809" latitude="40.72947" />
+<mapframe align="left" text="334 E. 11th St." width="420" height="300" zoom="15" longitude="-73.984809" latitude="40.72947"/>
 The Manhattan address where most of the novel takes place, located near the corner of 11th and First Avenue, three blocks from Stuyvesant Town and five blocks from the East River.

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-'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?60955 ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967].
+'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in {{ISFDB|60955|''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967}}.
 {{SummaryCollapsed |
@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 == Notes ==
 === Psychology of Aristotle ===
-In ''[[wikipedia:On the Soul|De Anima]]'' (c. 330 BC), a major influence on all subsequent Western science of the mind, Aristotle proposed that the mind could not be separated from the body but was dependent on it.
+In ''{{wp|On the Soul|De Anima}}'' (c. 330 BC), a major influence on all subsequent Western science of the mind, Aristotle proposed that the mind could not be separated from the body but was dependent on it.
 === Gibble-gabble Rauschenberg ===
-{{wp|Robert Rauschenberg}} illustrated Dante's ''[[wikipedia:Divine Comedy|Inferno]]'' in 1959 with a series of 34 pieces that combined drawing, painting, and collages of magazine images. [http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/series/dante-drawing (Excerpts, from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation)]
+{{wp|Robert Rauschenberg}} illustrated Dante's ''{{wp|Divine Comedy|Inferno}}'' in 1959 with a series of 34 pieces that combined drawing, painting, and collages of magazine images. [http://www.rauschenbergfoundation.org/art/series/dante-drawing (Excerpts, from the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation)]
 === General Studies Annexe ... Barnard ===
@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 The 21-story building described here ("built in the pre-Squeeze affluent '80s") is fictional. That address currently is occupied by a five-story red brick tenement-style building from the early 20th century; although it doesn't appear in the [http://www.metrohistory.com Manhattan New Building Database], it was probably built in 1902 or 1903 like its neighbors.
-Thomas Disch did not live at 334; the apartment he shared with his partner Charles Naylor, and continued to live in after Naylor's death, was about six blocks away on Union Square West.<ref>Miller, Sam J. (September 22, 2008). [http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20080922/miller-a.shtml "Who Killed Thomas M. Disch?"] ''Strange Horizons''. Retrieved July 17, 2016.</ref>
+Thomas Disch did not live at 334; the apartment he shared with his partner Charles Naylor, and continued to live in after Naylor's death, was about six blocks away on Union Square West.<ref>{{cite article|author=Miller, Sam J.|date=September 22, 2008|url=http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20080922/miller-a.shtml|title=Who Killed Thomas M. Disch?|publication=Strange Horizons|accessed=July 17, 2016}}</ref>
 === MODICUM ===
@@ Line 58: / Line 58: @@
 [[File:David - The Death of Socrates.jpg|David - The Death of Socrates|360px|right]]
-The 1787 oil painting by Jacques-Louis David: Socrates, surrounded by his pupils, prepares to meet his death by poison. More on [[wikipedia:The Death of Socrates|Wikipedia]].
+The 1787 oil painting by Jacques-Louis David: Socrates, surrounded by his pupils, prepares to meet his death by poison. More on {{wp|The Death of Socrates|Wikipedia}}.
 === why don't they fix the elevators ===
@@ Line 67: / Line 67: @@
 === kids in black masks—U.S. guerrillas ===
-Although [[wikipedia:guerrilla warfare|guerrillas]] are normally the opposite of an official state military, the kids here are imitating the US Marines, who wear pull-over black masks in the world of ''334''; the chapter ends with a new recruit putting one of these on.
+Although {{wp|guerrilla warfare|guerrillas}} are normally the opposite of an official state military, the kids here are imitating the US Marines, who wear pull-over black masks in the world of ''334''; the chapter ends with a new recruit putting one of these on.
 There are two references/jokes here: the ongoing Vietnam-like war has eroded the usual distinction between organized troops and irregulars (Disch was ahead of his time in terms of pop culture at least, since 1980s action heroes like Stallone and Schwarzenegger were rarely in traditional uniform)... and the dehumanizing full-face masks make the Marines look like ''gorillas''. In earlier editions of ''334'', this line actually said "U.S. gorillas"; the change to "guerrillas" may have been a mistake (see [[334/Editions#Textual differences|Editions]]).
@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 === First National Citibank ===
-At the time Disch was writing, this name was a mildly futuristic touch since [[wikipedia:Citibank#Early_history|Citibank]] was still spelling its name as "First National City Bank."
+At the time Disch was writing, this name was a mildly futuristic touch since {{wp|Citibank#Early_history|Citibank}} was still spelling its name as "First National City Bank."
 === The Sicilian Vespers ===
-The name given to a 13th-century [[wikipedia:Sicilian Vespers|war of independence]] by Sicilian rebels against the French; also an opera by Verdi based on the same events. In this case it's an Italian restaurant.
+The name given to a 13th-century {{wp|Sicilian Vespers|war of independence}} by Sicilian rebels against the French; also an opera by Verdi based on the same events. In this case it's an Italian restaurant.
 === Jim Crow Compromise ===
-Disch suggests that the national mandatory contraception and eugenics program was not established by a dictatorial act, but by old-fashioned political dealing. Minority groups would understandably expect such a program to discriminate against them; they were apparently persuaded by being given compensatory bonus points as a form of affirmative action, but the use of the racist term [[wikipedia:Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow]] suggests a highly cynical attitude toward this compromise. Although Birdie supposedly benefits from the rule, he is simultaneously being docked points for his father's unemployment and poor health, two things that are much more common in minority groups due to economic inequality but that the Regents system apparently assumes must be genetic.
+Disch suggests that the national mandatory contraception and eugenics program was not established by a dictatorial act, but by old-fashioned political dealing. Minority groups would understandably expect such a program to discriminate against them; they were apparently persuaded by being given compensatory bonus points as a form of affirmative action, but the use of the racist term {{wp|Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow}} suggests a highly cynical attitude toward this compromise. Although Birdie supposedly benefits from the rule, he is simultaneously being docked points for his father's unemployment and poor health, two things that are much more common in minority groups due to economic inequality but that the Regents system apparently assumes must be genetic.
 === the Stanford-Binet (Short Form) and the Skinner-Waxman Scale ===
-[[wikipedia:Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales|Stanford-Binet]] refers to a set of psychological tests, first compiled in 1916, intended to measure a person's intellectual ability as compared with other people in the same age group. The scale developed by Binet is now known as IQ.
+{{wp|Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales|Stanford-Binet}} refers to a set of psychological tests, first compiled in 1916, intended to measure a person's intellectual ability as compared with other people in the same age group. The scale developed by Binet is now known as IQ.
 The "short form" and the Skinner-Waxman scale are Disch's inventions, the latter being a standardized test of creativity, including (as seen later in this section) multiple-choice questions to measure one's sense of humor. Skinner would be {{wp|B. F. Skinner}}, a strict behaviorist who regarded both free will and creativity as illusions; Waxman is probably fictional. Besides the test question Birdie complains about here, another example is described later in "[[334/Emancipation#thinking of one hundred and thirty-one different ways to use a brick in ten minutes|Emancipation]]".
@@ Line 102: / Line 102: @@
 === executive washroom of the actuarial division of New York Life ===
-The [[wikipedia:New York Life Building|New York Life Insurance Company]] headquarters is in midtown Manhattan at Madison Avenue and 26th Street.
+The {{wp|New York Life Building|New York Life Insurance Company}} headquarters is in midtown Manhattan at Madison Avenue and 26th Street.
 === An old man in an old suit ===
@@ Line 108: / Line 108: @@
 === cultured eggs and a cup of Koffee ===
-Signs of the general shortage of natural resources in the future: eggs produced artifically by [[wikipedia:Tissue culture|tissue culture]], and a coffee substitute (which, as we learn later, also contains Morbehanine).
+Signs of the general shortage of natural resources in the future: eggs produced artifically by {{wp|tissue culture}}, and a coffee substitute (which, as we learn later, also contains Morbehanine).
-There's a long tradition in science fiction of imaginary coffee-like substances. In some cases these sound organic ("klah" in the [[wikipedia:Dragonriders of Pern|Pern]] books), but more often they have 1950s-style brand names that connote fakeness ("Coffiest" in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'', "Kaff" in ''[[wikipedia:The Divine Invasion|The Divine Invasion]]''). Disch (like Harry Harrison in ''Make Room! Make Room!'', where New Yorkers drank "Koffy") has, presumably on purpose, used the least creative term imaginable: it can't be distinguished from "coffee" even by pronunciation.
+There's a long tradition in science fiction of imaginary coffee-like substances. In some cases these sound organic ("klah" in the {{wp|Dragonriders of Pern|Pern}} books), but more often they have 1950s-style brand names that connote fakeness ("Coffiest" in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'', "Kaff" in ''{{wp|The Divine Invasion}}''). Disch (like Harry Harrison in ''Make Room! Make Room!'', where New Yorkers drank "Koffy") has, presumably on purpose, used the least creative term imaginable: it can't be distinguished from "coffee" even by pronunciation.
 === Problems of Creativeness ===
@@ Line 119: / Line 119: @@
 === the ability to see relationships where none exist ===
-Birdie's definition of "creativeness" is a garbled version of oft-quoted advice from [[wikipedia:James Webb Young|James Webb Young's]] ''A Technique For Producing Ideas'': "The capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the ability to see relationships."<ref>Young, James Webb (2003) [1st pub. 1965]. ''A Technique for Producing Ideas''. McGraw Hill. ISBN 0071410945 —Cited in Townley, Simon, [http://writetodone.com/2010/05/05/7-steps-to-creativity-how-to-have-ideas/ "7 Steps to Creativity—How to Have Ideas"], ''Write to Done'', retrieved July 17, 2016.</ref> It's particularly appropriate to his personal situation, since his adolescent passion for Milly has left him pining for a grand romance that was really more of a fling.
+Birdie's definition of "creativeness" is a garbled version of oft-quoted advice from {{wp|James Webb Young}}'s ''A Technique For Producing Ideas'': "The capacity to bring old elements into new combinations depends largely on the ability to see relationships."<ref>{{cite book|author=Young, James Webb|date=1965|pub-date=2003|title=A Technique for Producing Ideas|publisher=McGraw Hill|isbn=0071410945}} Cited in: {{cite article|author=Townley, Simon|url=http://writetodone.com/2010/05/05/7-steps-to-creativity-how-to-have-ideas/|title=7 Steps to Creativity—How to Have Ideas|publication=Write to Done|accessed=July 17, 2016}}</ref> It's particularly appropriate to his personal situation, since his adolescent passion for Milly has left him pining for a grand romance that was really more of a fling.
 === some disease she had ===
-As seen in "[[Bodies]]", Frances's disease is [[wikipedia:Systemic lupus erythematosus|lupus]].
+As seen in "[[Bodies]]", Frances's disease is {{wp|Systemic lupus erythematosus|lupus}}.
 === Stuyvesant Town ===
-[[wikipedia:Stuyvesant Town|Stuyvesant Town]] is a large private apartment complex covering 27 blocks of lower Manhattan, owned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company until 2006. At the time of its construction in the 1940s, it was controversial for its scale, density, non-public nature, and racially discriminatory policies.
+{{wp|Stuyvesant Town}} is a large private apartment complex covering 27 blocks of lower Manhattan, owned by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company until 2006. At the time of its construction in the 1940s, it was controversial for its scale, density, non-public nature, and racially discriminatory policies.
 As described in "[[Bodies]]", a black market has been established in a playground area at the center of the complex.

@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 === 334 East 11th Street ===
-<div class="embed-map medium-map left">
+<mapframe align="left" text="334 E. 11th St." width="420" height="300" zoom="15" longitude="-73.984809" latitude="40.72947" />
 The Manhattan address where most of the novel takes place, located near the corner of 11th and First Avenue, three blocks from Stuyvesant Town and five blocks from the East River.

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 === 334 East 11th Street ===
 <div class="embed-map medium-map left">
-<mapframe text="334 E. 11th St." width="420" height="300" zoom="15" longitude="-73.984809" latitude="40.72947" />
+<mapframe text="334 E. 11th St." width="420" height="300" zoom="15" longitude="-73.984809" latitude="40.72947" frameless />
 </div>

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:30, 7 April 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967.	+	'''"The Death of Socrates"''' is the first section of ''[[334]]''. It first appeared with the title "Problems of Creativeness" in [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?60955 ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'', April 1967].

	{{SummaryCollapsed \|		{{SummaryCollapsed \|

@@ Line 112: / Line 112: @@
 Signs of the general shortage of natural resources in the future: eggs produced artifically by [[wikipedia:Tissue culture|tissue culture]], and a coffee substitute (which, as we learn later, also contains Morbehanine).
-There's a long tradition in science fiction of imaginary coffee-like substances. In some cases these sound organic ("klah" in the [[wikipedia:Dragonriders of Pern|Pern]] books), but more often they have 1950s-style brand names that connote fakeness ("Coffiest" in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'', "Kaff" in ''[[wikipedia:The Divine Invasion|The Divine Invasion]]''). Disch has, presumably on purpose, used the least creative term imaginable: it can't be distinguished from "coffee" even by pronunciation.
+There's a long tradition in science fiction of imaginary coffee-like substances. In some cases these sound organic ("klah" in the [[wikipedia:Dragonriders of Pern|Pern]] books), but more often they have 1950s-style brand names that connote fakeness ("Coffiest" in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'', "Kaff" in ''[[wikipedia:The Divine Invasion|The Divine Invasion]]''). Disch (like Harry Harrison in ''Make Room! Make Room!'') has, presumably on purpose, used the least creative term imaginable: it can't be distinguished from "coffee" even by pronunciation.
 === Problems of Creativeness ===

@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 === a population of three thousand ... excluding temps ===
-As described later in [[334 Part III (24)]], "temps" are basically homeless people sleeping in hallways and stairwells. This was also a feature of the overcrowded future New York in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'' (1952), and ''{{wp:Make Room! Make Room!}}'' (1966). Birdie is "temporary on the sixteenth-floor landing."
+As described later in [[334 Part III (24)]], "temps" are basically homeless people sleeping in hallways and stairwells. This was also a feature of the overcrowded future New Yorks in ''{{wp|The Space Merchants}}'' (1952), and ''{{wp|Make Room! Make Room!}}'' (1966). Birdie is "temporary on the sixteenth-floor landing."
 === Some old lady lugging a bag of groceries ===