Earth-Arbre Correlations
From Anathem Wiki
This page documents suspected correlations between the world of Arbre and Earth. The major premise, isolating scholars for their entire tenure causes significant differences with what seems a fairly direct connection. Some correlations may be looser than others, as Neal's work frequently points out, you need make your own judgments.
Contents |
[edit] People
[edit] Specific Persons
In addition to the "functional" correspondence between Arbrans and humans who made certain discoveries, the names of the Arbran characters in some cases recall the names of different philosophers and scientists of Earth. For example, "Cartas" (especially in the form "Cartasian Discipline") recalls Descartes and his Cartesian method, and "Proc" recalls the Neoplatonist Proclus.
[edit] Roles, Occupations, or Positions
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Math | Cloister or Abbey |
| Avout | Scholar living in a Math. Strictly rational, as opposed to strictly religious as on Earth. |
| Saecular | A "regular" person, a person outside the walls of the Maths. Saeculars and Avouts do mingle but only at certain designated times or emergencies. Is normally used as a general term, as Saeculars can join the Maths (though in extremely metered and structured ways) and Avouts can always leave the Math to join the Saeculars. |
| Deolater | Religious, believer. |
| Ita | System administrator. Probably "IT Analyst" or "IT Administrator". |
| Unarian | Someone who has dedicated a block of one year of service in the math. This correlates to our collegiate system. Many join this math for only a few years in order to receive a secondary education. Those who stay within this math become the professors to the younger Unarians. Gifted and younger individuals are often graduated to the Decenarians. |
| Decenarian | Scholar who dedicates 10 year blocks of time to the math. Can only join at a younger age. These tend correlate to graduate students conducting research along with professors who teach and conduct research. Those unable to keep up intellectually become the laborers of this group, though the least of these are still highly educated compared our society and the saeculars, as this "Falling Back" occurs after the equivalent of a bachelor/master degree. |
| Centenarian | Someone who dedicates a 100 year block of isolation. Involved in extremely high level research. The closest correlation is a research think tank. |
| Millenarian | The collegiate metaphor breaks down at the 1000 year level of service. The closest correlation is a highly enlightened monk or even Bhudda. See Fraa Jad. |
| Burger | Bourgeoisie, middle-class. Businessperson. Often involved with the Unarians. |
| Artisan | Craftsman |
| Sline | Short for Baseline, usually refers to an uneducated person or peasant. This tends to be a more clinical than derogatory but is still a biased term. |
[edit] Ideas and Philosophies
[edit] Concepts
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Adrakhonic Theorem | Pythagorean Theorem |
| Diax's Rake | A warning against Metaphysical Optimism |
| Gardan's Steelyard | Occam's Razor |
| Hemn Space | configuration space, phase space |
| Lazy Peregrin problem | Traveling salesman problem |
| Saunt Lesper's Coordinates | Cartesian coordinate system |
| Saunt Alvar's Syndrome | Stockholm Syndrome |
| Suvinian Dialog | Socratic Method |
| Peregrin Dialog | Peripatetic / Aristotelian method |
| Periklynian Dialog | Agora |
| Sphenist | Sophist |
| Sconist | Stoicism, Empiricist |
| Faanian | Aristotelian Rhetoricist |
| Procian | Ontological, Nominalist |
| Protan | Platonic Realist,Idealist |
| Halikaarnian | Epistemologist |
| Cnoön | Platonic Ideal |
| Hylaean Theoric World | Platonic World of Forms |
| Halikaarn's Diagonal | Cantor's diagonal argument |
[edit] Religions and Practices
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Orth | Latin (language) |
| Fluccish | English, other vernacular languages |
| Theorics | Science, especially physics and mathematics |
| Metatheorics | Metaphysics, philosophy |
| Theor | Physicist, intelligentsia, intellectual |
| Enthusiast | Fideist |
| Deolator | Theist |
| Ark of Baz | Roman Catholic Church |
| Counter-Bazian arks | Protestant denominations |
| Kelx | Jehovah's Witnesses (evangelization), Trinitarianism (three base entities), One Thousand and One Nights (tales to avoid execution). |
| Moshiach | Millenialist, Evangelical, or Messianist ("Moshiach" is Hebrew for "Messiah") |
| Vale Lore | Shaolin Martial Arts, a play on "valor" |
[edit] Places
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Ethras | Athens |
| Baz | Rome/Byzantium |
| Periklyne | Agora |
| Sea of Seas | Mediterranean |
| Ecba | Pompeii/Sicily/Crete |
| Temple of Orithena | Pythagorean School |
[edit] Technology
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Reticulum | Internet |
| Syntactic Device | Computer |
| Jeejah | Cellphone/PDA (Think: Apple iPhone) |
| Speely | Digital Video |
| Farspark | Obsolete (analog TV) |
| Allswell | Satire on concentrated antidepressants in environment and "bioceuticals". |
| Saunt Bucker's Basket | Faraday Cage |
| Everything Killer | Neutron Bomb |
| Cartabla | Handheld mapping device, with integrated GPS (Think: Apple iPhone, with some specific apps) |
[edit] Other
[edit] Historical Events and Chronological References
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Bazian Empire | Roman Empire |
| Old Mathic Age | Middle Ages |
| Rebirth | Renaissance |
| Praxic Age | Enlightment/Industrial Revolution to current technology |
| First Harbinger | European Revolutions, from the French to the Russian |
| Second Harbinger | World War I |
| Third Harbinger | World War II, Holocaust |
| Terrible events | Apocalyptic event or series of events, no historical counterpart |
[edit] Cultural References
| Arbre | Earth |
|---|---|
| Concent | Convent, Concentration camp, University Campus, Concentric Circles |
| Math | Monastery, Cloister |
| Pin-prick Math | Hermitage |
| Polycosm | Many-worlds Intepretation, Multiverse |
| Discipline | Rule of Saint Benedict |
| Blithe | St. John's wort |
| Atamant's Copper Bowl | Husserl's Copper Ashtray |
| Aut | Ritual |
| Convox | Convocation |
