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blakes7-d Digest Volume 00 : Issue 115
Today's Topics:
Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
FW: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Re: [B7L] Federation Logo
Re: [B7L] Federation Logo
Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
[B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
[B7L] Liberator's vaults
RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
[B7L] Gareth Signing
[B7L] Avon's Ultraworld Costume
RE: [B7L] Federation Logo
RE: [B7L] fanfic
[B7L] Randall and Hopkirk
Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 22:19:25 +0100
From: Julia Jones <julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Cc: b7 <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <lED+4kCdR3$4Ew0I@jajones.demon.co.uk>
In message <01c501bfab03$44346800$e535fea9@neilfaulkner>, Neil Faulkner
<N.Faulkner@tesco.net> writes
>I
>can't see any evolutionary disadvantage in being blond or straight-haired,
>so the disappearance of these traits would not be through natural selection
>per se, but if these traits are recessive to dark and crinkly hair then they
>will become progressively rarer.
They tend to be linked to fair skin, and fair skin *does* have adaptive
advantage/disadvantage - balancing production of vitamin D against risk
of skin cancer. Disrupt the ozone layer, or increase the level of cloud
cover, and you may change what level of melanine is appropriate in any
area. They never did specify in the aired canon what the exact motive
for the domes was...
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 18:39:30 -0400
From: pcarter@pccc.cc.nj.us (Patricia Carter)
To: b7 <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <01BFAAF7.C47047C0@Patricia.pccc.cc.nj.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
I'd have to agree with Allison on this. The notion of race in this way is wholly arbitrary as a way of grouping people and really, from what I've read, has no scientific basis. There is more genetic variation within each so-called race than between different "races", as my college Evolution prof stated repeatedly in his introductory course.
Pat C.
----------
From: Alison Page[SMTP:alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 4:38 PM
To: b7
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Neil said -
> there are at least four recognised human
>races - Australoids, Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Negroids.
I've got to disagree with you Neil. The idea of four races is just a bit of
fiction. The populations of Africa show more genetic diversity than exists
between (say) an australian aborigine and a white european, so why lump them
all together as one 'race' and split us and the aborigines into two races?
You might as well divide people up by blood group, and then there would be
four recognised human races: the A-oids, the B-oids, the O-oids and AB-oids.
Alison
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 18:40:53 -0400
From: pcarter@pccc.cc.nj.us (Patricia Carter)
To: "'Lysator'" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: FW: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <01BFAAF7.F5CD9C00@Patricia.pccc.cc.nj.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
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From: CARTER, PATRICIA
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 6:39 PM
To: b7
Subject: RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
I'd have to agree with Allison on this. The notion of race in this way is wholly arbitrary as a way of grouping people and really, from what I've read, has no scientific basis. There is more genetic variation within each so-called race than between different "races", as my college Evolution prof stated repeatedly in his introductory course.
Pat C.
----------
From: Alison Page[SMTP:alison@alisonpage.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 4:38 PM
To: b7
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Neil said -
> there are at least four recognised human
>races - Australoids, Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Negroids.
I've got to disagree with you Neil. The idea of four races is just a bit of
fiction. The populations of Africa show more genetic diversity than exists
between (say) an australian aborigine and a white european, so why lump them
all together as one 'race' and split us and the aborigines into two races?
You might as well divide people up by blood group, and then there would be
four recognised human races: the A-oids, the B-oids, the O-oids and AB-oids.
Alison
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 18:44:32 -0400
From: pcarter@pccc.cc.nj.us (Patricia Carter)
To: "blakes7@lysator.liu.se" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>,
"'Julia Jones'"
<julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk>
Cc: b7 <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <01BFAAF8.78C2B1E0@Patricia.pccc.cc.nj.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
A stray thought to Julia's post:
Hmm...I'm wondering though when it comes to ozone layer depletion and dangerous UV rays, etc. if the "risk" to "fair-skinned" people is significantly higher than to everyone else. Won't we all eventually burn?
Guys -- I really have posted more today than in the two months I've been on this list. I think it's time for me to be quiet.
Pat C.
----------
From: Julia Jones[SMTP:julia.lysator@jajones.demon.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2000 5:19 PM
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Cc: b7
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
In message <01c501bfab03$44346800$e535fea9@neilfaulkner>, Neil Faulkner
<N.Faulkner@tesco.net> writes
>I
>can't see any evolutionary disadvantage in being blond or straight-haired,
>so the disappearance of these traits would not be through natural selection
>per se, but if these traits are recessive to dark and crinkly hair then they
>will become progressively rarer.
They tend to be linked to fair skin, and fair skin *does* have adaptive
advantage/disadvantage - balancing production of vitamin D against risk
of skin cancer. Disrupt the ozone layer, or increase the level of cloud
cover, and you may change what level of melanine is appropriate in any
area. They never did specify in the aired canon what the exact motive
for the domes was...
--
Julia Jones
"Don't philosophise with me, you electronic moron!"
The Turing test - as interpreted by Kerr Avon.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2000 23:59:32 +0100
From: "Ariana" <ariana@ndirect.co.uk>
To: "b7" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Federation Logo
Message-ID: <006701bfab1e$1a14c2c0$0ced07c3@ariana>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
From: Hellen Paskaleva <hellen_pas@hotmail.com>
> Tiger -
> >I have a friend who is believes that B7's Federation is what Star Trek's
> >Federation becomes after about four hundred years.
>
> Yeah, _I_ do believe so. It is logical - it is unlikely that they are a
> dozen "Earth Federations" - it is easier to think, that this is one and
the
> same governing structure, evolved with the changes in the society.
Not a bad theory, actually. Some could even argue that the Star Trek
Federation was beginning to go that way by the end of DS9. Imagine what kind
of society the ultra-paranoid Section 31 would construct if they took over
the Federation.
Ariana
http://www.alpha.ndirect.co.uk
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 08:24:57 +1000
From: Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
To: "Blake's 7 list" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] Federation Logo
Message-ID: <20000421082457.B9187@welkin.apana.org.au>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Wed, Apr 19, 2000 at 09:05:58AM +0100, Andrew Ellis wrote:
> >
> >I have a friend who is believes that B7's Federation is what Star Trek's
> >Federation becomes after about four hundred years.
>
> Funny, I was just talking about this at lunch, and apart from the fact that
> they mention actual dates in Star Trek, everything seems to fit better if
> you put B7 before ST.
>
> eg teleport is acquired by the Federation giving rise to transporters
>
> e.g. replicator imported into the Federation from "Moloch" is used on all
> Star Trek ships for food preparation
>
> e.g. B7 Federation war machine appears to be based (initially) on small
> ships (although we get cruisers eventually), and perhaps the "battleship"
> Enterprise class evolved from the Federations attempts to produce a
> Liberator.
You aren't the only person to have said so, actually.
Way back in the mists of time, about 1986 or so, the first published
version of Ana Dorfstad's "The Pattern of Infinity" came out, in the
first four issues of Enarrare'. This version was different to the
more polished version which later appeared in the Enarrare' B7
Special, and it had one thing that the later version did not - an
epilogue. An epilogue in which it was described how the Federation at
the end of the story, turned into the Trek Federation. She got around
the date problem by pouncing on the term "New Calendar" and proposing
that the New Calendar was not just a reset-the-start calendar, but it
was actually a decimalized calendar - each "year" was a hundred days
long. After all, living under the domes, what does the length of the
planetary year matter, particularly in a galactic empire covering
planets which have differing year-lengths anyway? The new revamped
Federation simply goes back to the Old Calendar, hence the setting of
Trek in the 23rd Century (or whenever it was).
It was quite a plausible and amusing epilogue.
For example...
"The major innovation in their design [of a space drive] was the
incorporation of Feldon crystals. The completed engine was, quite
naturally, brilliant. The speed delivered by the engine increased, not
linearly, but by exponent powers. There were any number of suggestions
about what the new drive system should be called - intergalactic
drive, ultra-light drive, fluxdrive, superdrive, Cochrane drive, but
the name that stuck was the one uttered by some anonymous wit, working
on the project team, whose comment was: "With the President and
Tarrant so involved in helping us, it ought to be called "warped
drive"." Eventually that was shortened to "warp drive" and the actual
origin of the name was forgotten. Doctor Cochrane was credited with
the invention of the system, and no doubt, he would still have
invented it had Avon not interfered. It would simply have taken him
several more decades."
Or, one of my favourite bits...
"Tarrant's grandson was a hero in every sense of the word. Avon would
have hated him. History has painted even his mistakes in a flattering
light. He was, of course, breathing the very air of heroism in his
diapers, and was fed a steady diet of heroes of the old west, heroic
presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, heroic relatives such as
great-uncle Deeta. In fact one of his favourite books was an old
vis-tape of the Teal-Vandor convention in which Deeta met his tragic
end. He viewed it so often that there can be little doubt that it was
from this episode that he filched the now-famous phrase, "Space... the
final frontier..." and made it uniquely associated with himself, his
ship, and his crew."
As I said, amusing.
Kathryn Andersen
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Vila: What? Where're we going?
Tarrant: To destroy a computer.
Vila: Why?
Tarrant: It knows too much about me.
(Blake's 7: Moloch [C11])
--
_--_|\ | Kathryn Andersen <kat@welkin.apana.org.au>
/ \ | http://home.connexus.net.au/~kat
\_.--.*/ | #include "standard/disclaimer.h"
v |
------------| Melbourne -> Victoria -> Australia -> Southern Hemisphere
Maranatha! | -> Earth -> Sol -> Milky Way Galaxy -> Universe
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 10:49:22 +0200
From: "Marian de Haan" <maya@multiweb.nl>
To: "'Lysator'" <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <002601bfab6e$840a8f20$c1ee72c3@marian-de-haan.multiweb.nl>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Pat Carter wrote:
>Thanks for the clarification here on the gene pool thing, but I guess I'd
need to see some evidence that "trend" is actually occurring now -- more so
than at other times in Evolutionary history --
It definitely is in the Netherlands.
>and that the so-called decrease in Blonde hair/Blue Eyed people is, well
significant enough that one must comment upon it. I mean, is this like a
problem that we should all be concerned about?
I'm not, and what gave you the impression that I was?
>My impression -- and I could indeed be sadly mistaken -- is that there have
always been lots of interracial mixture throughout history --
When peoples meet, they'll mix. I can only speak for the Netherlands, but
until half a century ago there was virtually no interracial marriage because
there were no other 'races' present. With the increase in travel and
migration, the number of interracial relationships is ever growing and it
seems a logical assumption that this trend will continue.
> I agree with you that there's nothing racist at all about speculating
about the heritage of B7 characters. But, I guess I always look to evidence
in these cases, if not in the real world, then at least in B7 canon. Is
there any evidence that Blake was of mixed African and European ancestry?
Are we saying that all people with curly brown hair must have African
ancestry? (Well, to the extent that Early Man was found in Africa, then,
well, we're all "African," right?) Again, I'm not sure if that's an
accurate application of science, rather genetically speaking in terms of the
totality of human population or even in terms of evolutionary processes. So
then, why must we need to speculate that Roj Blake was half-African or that
Avon maybe of Asian ancestry?
Because it's fun (to me, anyway). :-)
>Sorry to be really obtuse here, and I readily admit that I have limited
scientific and historical knowledge, but I don't really see the point of
voicing these speculations? Is there a point to them? Or are such
speculations "entertaining" in their own right.
To me, yes. (Like, for example, slash is to others. I can't see the fun in
that, nor any evidence for it in the canon.)
>(If the latter, I've definitely missed a lot!) And even if they are
pointless to my mind, I honestly don't think this should stop anyone from
voicing them either, but hey, I just don't get it, that's all.
Stop anyone on this list from voicing an opinion? Not possible! :-)
Marian
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 04:25:27 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <20000421112527.21648.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Pat wrote:
<I'm not sure it's ever mentioned that either Avon or Blake were Alphas on
the show.>
Blake, yes - Vila says so in Shadow. And okay, Vila is *not* the world's
most reliable source of information, but Cally doesn't correct or query it,
so presumably it is true.
Avon - no, but <rose-coloured glasses settled firmly in place> what *else*
could Our Darling be?
Seriously, since I'm firmly of the opinion that he and Blake come from a
very similar socio-economic background (as does Jenna, who is stated to be
'superior'), and the only certainly-Beta we see (Coser) is most certainly
*not* from that background, Avon as Alpha is a reasonable assumption. I also
have the feeling there are grades within grades, like upper, upper-middle
etc...
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 04:31:13 PDT
From: "Sally Manton" <smanton@hotmail.com>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: [B7L] Liberator's vaults
Message-ID: <20000421113114.83898.qmail@hotmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed
Steve Dobson (hi, Steve and welcome!) wrote:
<In "Cygnus Alpha", Avon and Jenna search the Liberator and come across the
vaults, holding gems worth millions and millions of credits. I wonder what
happened to all these treasures, as in "Shadow", one of the reasons for
contacting the Terra Nostra is to utilize their resources.>
It appears to be other resources Blake is looking for ("think what they've
got: men, material, information") rather than money - he is planning to
*pay* for it with some of the jewels...and from what Vila says:
VILA: Pick a pleasure, any pleasure.
JENNA: And you'll find it for sale in Space City.
BLAKE: If you've got the money.
VILA: But we have, we have.
They're still rather well-off revolutionaries (not quite so much by Kairos,
maybe? since they're all - even Vila - rather enthusiastic about the profits
of piracy. Maybe the treasure room got holed over Star One <veg>?)
I always liked the idea in one of (I think) Predatrix's stories (or Bryn
Lantry's?) that Blake's crew of criminals promptly split the treasure up,
then trade jewels between themselves for stuff they get on shore leave (Vila
is especially good at this). Which would also explain Blake silently but
rather pointedly demanding them back from Avon on Space City - they came
from *his* share...
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 18:51:36 +0200
From: Jacqueline Thijsen <jacqueline.thijsen@cmg.nl>
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: RE: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <39DCDDFD014ED21185C300104BB3F99FE9CA53@NL-ARN-MAIL01>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Sally wrote:
> Pat wrote:
> <I'm not sure it's ever mentioned that either Avon or Blake
> were Alphas on the show.>
>
> Avon - no, but <rose-coloured glasses settled firmly in
> place> what *else* could Our Darling be?
The way Avon talked about Coser (not bad for a beta grade), led me to
suspect that he himself must be a higher (alpha?) grade. After all, he'd
hardly sneer like that at his own grade.
Jacqueline
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 14:22:33 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.com>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
cc: Freedom City <freedom-city@blakes-7.org>
Subject: [B7L] Gareth Signing
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0421132233-c72Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Gareth Thomas will be at Tenth Planet in Barking, Essex on Saturday 1st July
2000: 12 - 3pm to promote the launch of MJTV's new CD series, 'The Actor
Speaks'.
The first CD will feature Gareth talking about Blake's childhood and will also
have an episode of the B7 spoof 'Jake's Heaven' as well as other stuff featuring
Gareth or written by him.
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.nas.com/~lknight )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 14:19:19 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.com>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
cc: Freedom City <freedom-city@blakes-7.org>
Subject: [B7L] Avon's Ultraworld Costume
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0421131919-965Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
The highest bid on Avon's costume from Ultraworld is now at 850 pounds.
There's a photo of the costume on http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7
Please feel free to forward to anyone you feel might be interested.
I'll probably close the bidding in about a week.
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.nas.com/~lknight )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 23:24:06 +0200
From: Jacqueline Thijsen <jacqueline.thijsen@cmg.nl>
To: Lysator <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: RE: [B7L] Federation Logo
Message-ID: <39DCDDFD014ED21185C300104BB3F99FE9CA57@NL-ARN-MAIL01>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
Gnog wrote:
> >
> >I have a friend who is believes that B7's Federation is what
> >Star Trek's Federation becomes after about four hundred years.
> >
> >Tiger M
>
> Funny, I was just talking about this at lunch, and apart from the fact
that
> they mention actual dates in Star Trek, everything seems to
> fit better if you put B7 before ST.
>
> eg teleport is acquired by the Federation giving rise to transporters
> e.g. replicator imported into the Federation from "Moloch" is
> used on all Star Trek ships for food preparation
>
> e.g. B7 Federation war machine appears to be based (initially) on small
> ships (although we get cruisers eventually), and perhaps the "battleship"
> Enterprise class evolved from the Federations attempts to produce a
> Liberator.
>
> Sorry to be swimming against the stream again.
Not at all. The funny thing is that all of these things could just as easily
be construed as proof that B7 *is* what happened to the ST Federation after
a huge cataclysm (like a war, which was mentioned in the series) that drove
everything and everyone apart. The technology that keeps showing up could be
seen as old pieces of technology that were kept from way back by small
groups, such as the alphas, or the reinvention of old things (which happens
all the time, after all). The initially small ships could be explained by a
lack of resources caused by that same cataclysm after which they were slowly
working their way up to big ships again. It even explains the way other
species don't like humanoids much (mentioned at least twice in the series).
After all, a galaxy wide war that was bad enough to drive the Federation
apart and destroy (the knowlegde of) technology would also have had a very
negative effect on those other species even if they weren't involved. Hmm,
that could mean that the Andromedans were actually changelings who'd
disarmed after their surrender to the federation and then later on had to
run like hell to escape the war. Knowing that they'd left in that direction
and the memory of the earlier war with them could have been the reason for
the Federation defenses at Star One.
Jacqueline
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 23:24:30 +0200
From: Jacqueline Thijsen <jacqueline.thijsen@cmg.nl>
To: Lysator <blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
Subject: RE: [B7L] fanfic
Message-ID: <39DCDDFD014ED21185C300104BB3F99FE9CA5A@NL-ARN-MAIL01>
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="iso-8859-1"
PatPat wrote:
> Fanfic also can be a political act, a way to elevate
> marginalized minority characters.
>
> (True Church of Travis, take note!)
Hmm? Exactly what do we have to do with Tarrant?
Jacqueline
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 22:43:55 +0100 (BST)
From: Judith Proctor <Judith@blakes-7.com>
To: Lysator List <Blakes7@lysator.liu.se>
cc: Freedom City <freedom-city@blakes-7.org>
Subject: [B7L] Randall and Hopkirk
Message-ID: <Marcel-1.46-0421214355-b07Rr9i@blakes-7.demon.co.uk>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
don'd forget Gareth Thomas is in this Saturday's episode of Randall and Hopkirk
on BBC1
Judith
--
http://www.hermit.org/Blakes7 - Fanzines for Blake's 7, B7 Filk songs,
pictures, news, Conventions past and present, Blake's 7 fan clubs, Gareth
Thomas, etc. (also non-Blake's 7 zines at http://www.nas.com/~lknight )
Redemption '01 23-25 Feb 2001 http://www.smof.com/redemption/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 19:24:35 EDT
From: Tigerm1019@aol.com
To: blakes7@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Re: [B7L] On Dayna and Evolution
Message-ID: <6a.211bf0c.26323d33@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
In a message dated 04/21/2000 11:52:22 AM Central Daylight Time,
jacqueline.thijsen@cmg.nl writes:
> The way Avon talked about Coser (not bad for a beta grade), led me to
> suspect that he himself must be a higher (alpha?) grade. After all, he'd
> hardly sneer like that at his own grade.
It's also possible that Avon wanted his crewmates to think his grade was
higher than it actually was, or perhaps he believed that he was misgraded as
a beta, and therefore looks down on others of the same grade. Or maybe he
just resented his lower status and took it out on others he considered
inferior, including those of his own grade. Just because people may be from
the same class in society doesn't mean they don't sneer at each other.
Someone (was that you, Ariana?) pointed out a few weeks ago that Avon behaved
like a man who thinks he has something to prove. He certainly seemed to have
problems with those he perceived as authority figures (Blake). I think he
was born into a lower grade, Beta or Gamma, and tested into a higher grade,
or that he was actually a Beta and wanted people to think he was an Alpha.
Also, IIRC, it's never stated in the series what the grading system is based
on. There may be factors other than intelligence or aptitudes which are
taken into consideration.
As with most things, I think there's room for a wide variety of
interpretations.
Tiger M
--------------------------------
End of blakes7-d Digest V00 Issue #115
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