Worldly (blog). Match. Arent we exactly what humans are looking for?' Learn. Through animal narrators, these two texts create a space for readers to see from other-than-human views, to perceive the world differently, uncomplicated by human politics or the messiness of blame. Alex died suddenly, when he was still relatively young. But What does You be good. YouTube, 7 November 2018. We pronounce. . The story talks about The Fermi Paradox;the paradox that states that considering how old the universe is, there should be intelligent life all over the universe, but we cant find any indication its there. 2015 science-fiction short story by Ted Chiang, "Science Fiction Doesn't Have to Be Dystopian", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Great_Silence_(story)&oldid=1128748110, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 December 2022, at 19:59. Required fields are marked *. The Great Silence, 2014 John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. Log in here. The Great Silence A Novella by Ted Chiang "Ted Chiang's very short story, 'The Great Silence' adds another set of questions to the Fermi Paradox speculations. FWR Partner. What if the species most alien to our own in the whole galaxy is located right under our noses? . Repeating what Alex, the African grey said to the researcher right before the parrots death, You be good. Whose Cosmos, Which Cosmopolitics? I especially found the description of the sound "om" and its resonance in the universe lovely and haunting. Aside from the parrot accepting their fate, and the upsetting realization that it cannot be changed. Louise begins the story by speaking directly to her daughter, saying, "Your father is about to ask me the question" (91). DECEMBER 2: THE JUMPING MONKEY HILL - CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE, DECEMBER 5: A CLEAN SWEEP WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS, DECEMBER 8: A STATEMENT IN THE CASE - THEODORA GOSS, DECEMBER 10: MARGOT'S ROOM: EMILY CARROLL, DECEMBER 11: HORROR STORY - CARMEN MARIA MACHADO, DECEMBER 12: TERRAIN - GENEVIEVE VALENTINE, DECEMBER 13: IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN - ZEN CHO, DECEMBER 15: DURING THE DANCE - MARK LAWRENCE, DECEMBER 16: CLEARING THE BONES - CELESTE NG, DECEMBER 17: THE WAITER'S WIFE - ZADIE SMITH, DECEMBER 18: DEMOLITION - FIONA MCFARLANE, DECEMBER 19: NO PERIOD - HARRY TURTLEDOVE, DECEMBER 21: RUB-A-DUB-DUB - TONY MILLIONAIRE, DECEMBER 22: HANSA AND GRETYL AND PIECE OF SHIT - REBECCA CURTIS, DECEMBER 24: I, CTHULHU, OR, WHAT'S A TENTACLE-FACED THING LIKE ME DOING IN A SUNKEN CITY LIKE THIS (LATITUDE 47 9' S, LONGITUDE 126 43' W)? Description. Salma Monani and Joni Adamson, 223240. Allora and Calzadilla are, I've since learned, an artistic team that has gained much good notice. Vancouver: Talonbooks. Bear with me, though, as even in a five-to-six-page fiction that could have easily come off as an also-ran or filler, Chiang seeks and hits depth. Its a gorgeous little motif, and Chiang nicely embeds it to create an empathetic connection between humans and animals. Aside from the parrot accepting their fate, and the upsetting realization that it cannot be changed. Log in. Its an ability that few animals possess. eNotes Editorial, 19 Oct. 2021, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-is-a-summary-of-the-great-silence-by-ted-2920114. The parrot is all too aware of the Fermi paradox, the idea that in this vast universe of ours, there must be other intelligent life forms other than human beings, and yet there is no sign of life anywhere in the universe except on Earth. "Ted Chiang's very short story, 'The Great Silence' adds another set of questions to the Fermi Paradox speculations. Solving a frivolous problem became the means to solving a problem of more depth. Animal Narrators and Resonant Silences in The Great Silence by Ted Chiang and Sila by Chantal Bilodeau. We enunciate. Want to join the conversation? Allora & Calzadilla collaborated with science fiction author Ted Chiang to create a subtitle script written from the parrots perspective, which chronicles humankinds determined quest to find other intelligent life. Plot: Yet again, I find myself talking about a short story that is not a normal liner story. These narrators can communicate loss and suffering in a more pure formhowever problematic that may beand these texts show that lack of agency to fight extinction isnt solely the experience of other-than-human animalshuman communities can and do suffer similarly. Nixon, Rob. John Freeman is the editor of Freeman's, a literary annual of new writing, and executive editor at Alfred A. Knopf. As humans scan for signs of life amid the consonant vibrations of deep space, the parrots reflect on the imminent end of their kind and the subsequent disappearance of their language, rituals and traditions. Parrots, Arecibo observatory, Fermi Paradox, reverberating Om, vocal learning all in a highly thought provoking sweet short story. It makes sense to remain quiet and avoid attracting attention. Your email address will not be published. We enunciate. Every parrot has a unique call that it uses to identify itself; biologists refer to this as the parrots contactcall.. How do they expect to recognize an alien intelligence if all they can do is eavesdrop from a hundred light-years away? Only $35.99/year. Electric Literature is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2009. So the extinction of my species doesnt just mean the loss of a group of birds. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. According to Hindu mythology, the universe was created with a sound: Om. Its a syllable that contains within it everything that ever was and everything that willbe. "According to Hindu mythology, the universe was created with a sound: Om. Its a syllable that contains within it everything that ever was and everything that will be. 2016. Learn. Or maybe, exploring that area will open up whole new ideas for how to communicate and understand the neural patterns of speech. Exhalation: Stories. 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. The peculiar problem of the short story writer is how to make the action he describes reveal as much of the mystery of existence as possible, Flannery OConnor said in Writing Short Stories. The fiction writers job, from this point of view, is not to answer questions but to surround them with the concrete reality of characters and details and plot, thereby approaching a truth that cannot be directly touched. If humans ever detect the Arecibo message being sent back to Earth, they will know someone is trying to get their attention. It made me cry. They just werent paying attention. 2015. Hayles, N. Katherine. If that happens, then they will become part of "The Great Silence" that has resulted from humankind's actions. Puerto Rican , "When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation. The parrot goes on to explain the . Sila. A super sad short story in the perspective of an endangered parrot. ", I love The Great Silence because it is the odd bird out, or, to double down and use another clich, the canary in the literary coal mine of the collection that warns us that we might all be doomed if we dont listen.". Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Exhalation by Ted Chiang (2020, Trade Paperback) at the best online prices at eBay! Beginning1 with the publication of his first story, "Tower of Babylon," in 1990, the American science fiction (SF) writer Ted Chiang has produced one of the most impressive bodies of work of any SF writer of his generation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Question is, how will we be able to forgive and love ourself? Allora & Calzadilla (in collaboration with Ted Chiang) In terms of The Great Silence, there are no easy answers, at least not yet. Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. Mitchell, Audra. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race Imagining Extinction: The Cultural Meanings of Endangered Species. From Animal to Animality Studies. Its the silencing of ourvoice. Told entirely from the perspective of an endangered parrot species, the story juxtaposes humanity's greatness to seek out intelligence forms of live outside the plant while ignoring the intelligent species that already exists alongside of humanity. In other words, you now need to address WHY language is being used in the way (or ways) you have observed. A time-travel fantasy set largely in ancient Baghdad, the story follows fabric merchant Fuwaad ibn Abbas after he meets an alchemist who . In Chiangs story, the Great Silence is finally cominghome. Sometimes the non-humans are aliens with their own inexplicable extraterrestrial agendas. They didnt do it maliciously. I love you. (Chiang, 236) reveal? The collection continues the intellectual thought and emotional work of Chiangs earlier collection, Arrival (ne Stories of Your Life and Others before the movie), in which the main character in the title story learns an alien language that reveals her bittersweet, inexorable future. Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. The Polar Bear, Climate Changes Poster Child, Ignites Controversy. He graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. MJ1996 March 29, 2021 Writing fiction, review. In the next three sections of the piece, Chiang deploys another of the elements that make his stories and ideas so powerful and meaningful: he lifts the human and scientific into the realm of faith and myth. Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City and the artist Flashcards. *TED CHIANG The Great Silence (short story) *Visual Images: from The Great Silence, video installation by Allora & Calzadilla. Over the past 20 years, Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla have developed an expansive body of work that explores contemporary geopolitics, cultural artefacts and archaeological history. Adamson, Joni, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. So, naturally, the story I have chosen to write about is the one narrated by a parrot. The narrator then goes on to talk about how, even though the telescope has not found proof of life, When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation. The story ends by talking about how while humans continue to search for intelligent life to talk to, many species of parrots who can talk, are dying off. Its not just parrots Earth is filled with species that are incredibly different from us in physiology, behavior, and group dynamics. Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature. Here I'm, reading "The Great Silence" on Sunday evening and crying. Perhaps thats why their aspirations are so immense. It isnt hard to look around the Valley these days and be dismayed at just how adrift a huge part of the industry is. Environmental Justice. But what if they already live very close to the telescope? Queer Animalities, Indigenous Naturecultures, and Critical Race Approaches to Animal Studies. Chiang's (Stories of Your Life and Others, 2002) second collection begins with an instant classic, "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," which won Hugo and Nebula awards for Best Novelette in 2008. TallBear, Kim. Ted Chiang is an American speculative fiction writer. He was born in Port Jefferson, New York, and currently lives near Seattle, Washington. In the following four sections, the parrot explains parrots unique contact calls and compares them to the message sent out with Arecibo, describes how parrots and humans are unique in their shared ability to learn vocally, empathizes with humans inability to recognize parrots intelligence given that parrots thought human werent bright for a long time, and finally presents the linguistic point that aspiration means both hope and breathing and that the words we speak are a sharing of both our ideas and our life force. He received his MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. . Famous among humans, thatis. Part of Springer Nature. A dazzling collection of short stories about North American outdoor lifeboth classic and contemporaryfrom James Fenimore Cooper and Jack London to Margaret Atwood and Anthony Doerr and many more. In addition to featuring our own recommendations of original, previously unpublished fiction, we invite established authors, indie presses, and literary magazines to recommend great work from their pages, past and present. Online New York: New York University Press. We do not learn what these myths are. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 9 (2): 115131. Ill announce the next book in the book club hopefully shortly. The last section of the piece ends with a direct address, just as six of the other eight stories in the collection do, to a caliph, to an explorer happening upon the remains of a dead mechanic society, to the reader, to God. How did Chiang frame this narrative to make this question easier to contend with? ELs literary magazines are supported in part bythe Amazon Literary Partnership Literary Magazine Fund and the Community of Literary Magazines & Presses, theNew York State Council ontheArts, andtheNational Endowment fortheArts. Powered by WordPress and hosted by Pressable. These nine stories, some new and some rare uncollected classics, explore our world through futures or parallels that at most exist only a few deviations from our own. As a member of a genre community whose most successful . Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions. Costa, M.A. by Ted Chiang. With better recall of our photos and videos, will our ability to forgive disappear? Accessed 30 September 2021. http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/unitedchurchofchrist/legacy_url/13567/toxwrace87.pdf?1418439935. It's Ted Chiang. Out of all my cousins, Alex was the one who came closest to being taken seriously as a communication partner byhumans. Astronomers call that the cosmic microwave background. Its the residual radiation of the Big Bang, the explosion that created the universe fourteen billion yearsago. Their desire to make a connection is so strong that they've created an ear capable of hearing across the universe. Choose the Ted Chiang article (The Great Silence) and answer the questions on meaning, writing strategy, and language at the end of the essay. 2018. Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel, 9941004. Bilodeau, Chantal, Jennifer Vellenga, and Clay Myers-Bowman. The story focuses on the dynamics of archaeology and astronomy why these two disciplines and not some other field of science? Australian Humanities Review 47: 87. Ted Chiang's short stories win so many awards that science fiction critics joke that the Hugo and Nebula short story . Accessed 30 September 2021. http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/unitedchurchofchrist/legacy_url/491/toxic-wastes-and-race-at-twenty-1987-2007.pdf?1418423933. The Great Silence is a science fiction novelette by American writer Ted Chiang, initially published in e-flux Journal in May 2015. In a final message to humanity, the parrot repeats the words that the African grey, Alex, said to the researcher the night before that parrots death: You be good. Stories We Love: "The Great Silence," by Ted Chiang; . "Humans have lived alongside parrots for thousands of years, and only recently have they considered the possibility that we might be intelligent. What does it mean? Heres your idea, heres your narrator, and here is your setting. In another, a device that always displays a light before you press its button renders people unable to speak or move due to the concrete demonstration that there is no free will. "What is a summary of "The Great Silence" by Ted Chiang?" The Fermi paradox is sometimes known as the Great Silence. Its so primal and visceral that, throughout their history, humans have considered the activity a pathway to the divine. Follow these informal book club articles here: Feel free to add your comments in our TechCrunch comments section below this post. Humans have lived alongside parrots for thousands of years, and only recently have they considered the possibility that we might be intelligent. It makes sense to remain quiet and avoid attracting attention. There are certainly many valid arguments for moving our money to more worthwhile pursuits. The Great Silence delivers big ideas and meets many of the same basic goals of fiction that the seventy-five-page story in the collection does. Force of Nature. Theres a pleasure that comes with shaping sounds with your mouth. In "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate," a portal through time forces a fabric seller in ancient Baghdad to grapple with past mistakes and second chances. And also: why have we demanded that, as proof of intelligence, non-human animals communicate to us in human language, and then dismissed those creatures that actually do so?" 14 pages first pub 2015 ISBN/UID: None. to change books. Published in 2019, the stories feature time travel, robots, artificial intelligences, and human beings grappling with an everchanging world. Animal. 2017. If. Its also the disappearance of our language, our rituals, our traditions. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. Contributing Editor Allora & Calzadilla (in collaboration with Ted Chiang) We asked some of our favorite authors for their favorite scarytale, For starters: it's actually dystopian science fiction, How the Animorphs books eased my transition into adulthood. Priscilla Burris (Join us for Children's Book Club, April 10!) His confession is illuminating: how do we mourn for the losses caused by humanity in the Age of the Sixth Mass Extinction? Exhalation: Stories. Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. New York: Cambridge University Press. He currently works as a technical writer in the software industry and resides in Bellevue, near Seattle, Washington. We are a community of writers dedicated to reviewing, recommending, and discussing quality fiction from presses and writers with a focus on emerging authors. Sign up. Atkinson, E. Peacock, D.P. Bilodeau, Chantal. Why arent they interested in listening to ourvoices? Impossible to rate honestly. He insists that parrots are a nonhuman species capable of communicating with them, and yet they are ignored. 'Were a nonhuman species capable of communicating with them, the parrot muses. Test. He graduated from Brown University with a Computer Science degree. Vintage, 2019. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Newkirk, Vann R., II. The story talks about The Fermi Paradox; the paradox that states that considering how old the universe is, there should be intelligent life all over the universe, but we can't find any indication it's . In The Cambridge Companion to Literature and the Environment, ed. By doing this, man has missed out on numerous opportunities to communicate with an intelligent, nonhuman species. A very very very short Ted Chiang piece, which is not quite a short story. In one tale, the users of a time travel gate learn that their fates cannot be changed. Exhalation: Stories. As the play unfolds, Sila argues through the polar bearsiconic darlings of the climate crisisthat extinction is not just a threat to singular species, but to entire ecosystems, and will inevitably impact the human communities with which specific species are related and intertwined. Bittersweet. 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. 2018. Imagine the stories the corals would tell. Canada: Legacy Lecture Productions. In the wild, parrots address each other by name. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Combining sculpture, live performance, video, sound and photography in varying combinations, they employ storytelling structures and narrative conventions to probe the limits of truth. Owen, and T.M. Adamson, Joni. When I write about an authors work, I invariably find lines that function equally as metaphors for the authors style. . The devastating line Chiang delivers comes toward the end: But parrots are more similar to humans than any extraterrestrial species ever will be, and humans can observe us up close; they can look us in the eye. They are Ted Chiang at his best: profound, sympathetic, revelatory. There is the grandiose Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico. Our mission is to amplify the power of storytelling with digital innovation, and to ensure that literature remains a vibrant presence in popular culture by supporting writers, embracing new technologies, and building community to broaden the audience for literature. The Great Silence. There was an African grey parrot named Alex. Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty: 19872007. 12 April, 2011. 2003. This story is told from a different perspective then most though, it is told from the point of view of a parrot. Overall, Chiang was able provide big ideas and direct questions. Accessed 30 September 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rTsHpw9G8U. Discussion of themes and motifs in Ted Chiang's Tower of Babylon. Exhalation: Stories. The humans use Arecibo to look for extraterrestrial intelligence. Chiangs story was written in collaboration with the visual artists Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla, as an accompaniment to a video installation that juxtaposed the radio telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico with the endangered parrots in the forests nearby. New York: Penguin Random House. To me, Chiang isnt just criticizing our disdain for the animal species around us, but is also critiquing an innovation community that constantly strives for the big and shiny discoveries when so many smaller and local discoveries have yet to be made. 4 stars. May 2015. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies 16 (4): 761780. In addition, in order to further explain his views, he makes use of a range of literary devices such as metaphors and similes. Each approaches anthropomorphization differently, but with common goals: to articulate the trauma of other-than . And humans create such beautiful myths; what imaginations they have. A dog may understand dozens of commands, but it will never do anything butbark. As if, this was non-fiction. With our Essay Lab, you can create a customized outline within seconds to get started on your essay right away. I did like the story even though it didnt have a traditional narrative structure. There we are, creating technological marvels to find life in the stars, while we heedlessly drive wild parrots, among so many others species, toward extinction here at home. New voices, forms, and mixtures of styles have brought this unique genre a thrilling burst of . American Indian Literature, Environmental Justice, and Ecocriticism: The Middle Place. Oerlemans, Onno. 2015. Whats the ultimate message of the story? The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico is to speak to and listen for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Why, he asks, are we so interested in finding intelligence in the stars and so deaf to the many species who manifest it here onearth? Test. Ted Chiangs very short story, The Great Silence adds another set of questions to these speculations. In Making Things Public: Atmospheres of Democracy, ed. Many scientists were skeptical that a bird could grasp abstract concepts. As for the resolution, I feel there is no straight to the point conclusion. The first section of the piece opens with the declaration of the premise and the presentation of two simple, direct questions (Why arent they interested in listening to our voices? and Arent we exactly what the humans are looking for?), which is what many of Chiangs stories do, even when there are no question marks. The effects of climate change are too complex to hold in our minds and our ability to process extinction on a planetary scale is also thus limited. Joni Adamson, William A. Gleason, and David N. Pellow. The film focuses on the worlds largest single aperture radio telescope, which transmits and captures radio waves to and from the edges of the universe. Lewis, Simon L., and Mark A. Maslin. His first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the 1991 Nebula Award for Best Novelette when Chiang was in his early twenties. The ending is not a happy one, but simply . Literary Animal Studies and the Climate Crisis pp 153177Cite as, Part of the Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature book series (PSAAL). 2008. 3-channel HD video, 16 minutes 22 seconds Accessed 9 November 2016. http://www.kimtallbear.com/homeblog/conference-why-the-animal-queer-animalities-indigenous-naturecultures-and-critical-race-approaches-to-animal-studies-april-12th-uc-berkeley#comments. Meet the Team. When we speak, we use the breath in our lungs to give our thoughts a physical form. In the story notes at the end of the book, we learn that the piece was written to accompany an art exhibit by Allora & Calzadilla, in which video and audio of the telescope and forest are juxtaposed and subtitled with Chiangs text. NATIONAL BESTSELLER - ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES - THE WASHINGTON POST - TIME MAGAZINE - NPR - ESQUIRE - VOX - THE A.V. Still, Dorothea argues that, although science can be used as a means to ease our existential pains, it is nevertheless committed to the pursuit for the truth, something that McCullough, in turn, replies: "Science is not only a search for the truth. It's all the more tragic, then, that humans have driven parrots to within an ace of extinction. But parrots are more similar to humans than any extraterrestrial species will be, and humans can observe us up close; they can look us in the eye. It makes sense to remain quiet and avoid attracting attention. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Ted Chiang has built a cult following based on a few dozen exquisitely crafted, intellectually provocative, and poignant science-fiction short stories and novellas. The Fermi paradox represents the contradictory . Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Wolfe, Cary. Commission for Racial Justice. - NEIL GAIMAN, DECEMBER 25: CHRISTMAS TALE - MARK LAWRENCE, DECEMBER 26: THE MONSTERS OF HEAVEN - NATHAN BALLINGRUD, DECEMBER 27: TWO DREAMS ON TRAINS - ELIZABETH BEAR, DECEMBER 28: THE MARTIANS CLAIM CANADA - MARGARET ATWOOD, DECEMBER 29: UNDER THE WAVE - LAUREN GROFF. Joshua Rothman on the science-fiction writer Ted Chiang, whose short story "The Story of Your Life" was adapted for film as "Arrival," starring Amy Adams. But even on its own, Chiangs story has enormous power. Get help and learn more about the design. Hundreds of years ago, my kind was so plentiful that the Rio Abajo Forest resounded with our voices. Department of English, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA, You can also search for this author in The Great Silence by Ted Chiang - book cover, description, publication history. indie presses, and literary magazines to recommend great work from their pages, past and present. The ending is not a happy one, but simply a message the parrot left with us that amplifies the sadness of the undeniable truth. Mitchell, W.J.T. Courtesy of kurimanzutto, Mexico City and the artist Or is there more than one that can be read into the text. I speak, therefore I am. Ted Chiang's fiction has won four Hugo, four Nebula, and four Locus awards, and has been featured in The Best American Short Stories. While explaining the Fermi paradox (which is the conundrum that although the universe is old and large enough that humans shouldve encountered aliens, they havent), the parrot says it makes sense that intelligent life would stay quiet to avoid the attention of a species known to cause extinction. Study sets, textbooks, questions. In Keywords for Environmental Studies, ed. . When Arecibo is not listening to anything else, it hears the voice of creation. One of the most notable features of Chiang's career is the extremely high award-to-publication ratio he has achieved. Early Readers and Picture Books How to Read a Book, by Kwame Alexander, illus. Science fiction is well suited to thought experiments and philosophical questions regarding the Other. Subjects. Online. Yet, fresh ideas that change industries can sometimes come from the oddest places, with even frivolous products occasionally creating fundamental advances in technology. 2014. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Style Analysis: The Black Cat By: Edgar Allen Poe. Of kurimanzutto, Mexico City and the upsetting realization that it can not be changed chosen to write an! Than one that can be read into the text tragic, then they become. And haunting ace of extinction and the Environment, ed Arecibo observatory, Fermi Paradox is sometimes known the! Is told from the parrot accepting their fate, and your questions are answered by real teachers a. Joni, William A. Gleason, and Yet they are Ted Chiang at his best: profound,,. 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