I probably should not be as surprised as I am that somebody actually knows what I'm talking about.
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>>(Also those people are all incompetent pricks dammit. What the hell)<<
To be fair, people who are *too* competent--or competent in the wrong ways--are destabilising, and the Empire seems to be fairly proactive about arranging to brainwash or kill anyone who might be destabilising. (Sometimes it even lets the victim pick which!)
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>>Also are you implying that *anyone* has a useful understanding of the Imperial Mind?<<
"Having a useful understanding of the Imperial Mind" is *definitely* destabilising. I caught on fairly quickly that there was more to the Mind than it was letting on (though I didn't *quite* get its true nature right), but then I'm not mind-programmed.
Hmm...
Yeah, this is stated explicitly:
“Have you ever wondered what the Imperial Mind actually is?”
“No…” I said slowly. Why hadn’t I wondered? The Imperial Mind just was … whatever it was.
“That is part of the making of a Prince,” said Morojal. “In the same way that we mind-program servants, Princes are made not to question certain things.”
(Also, re: metaphysical immune systems, I should maybe note that Khem *does* come to perceive his mind-programming as ego-dystonic and fights back against it. But protagonists don't count.)
no subject
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>>(Also those people are all incompetent pricks dammit. What the hell)<<
To be fair, people who are *too* competent--or competent in the wrong ways--are destabilising, and the Empire seems to be fairly proactive about arranging to brainwash or kill anyone who might be destabilising. (Sometimes it even lets the victim pick which!)
---
>>Also are you implying that *anyone* has a useful understanding of the Imperial Mind?<<
"Having a useful understanding of the Imperial Mind" is *definitely* destabilising. I caught on fairly quickly that there was more to the Mind than it was letting on (though I didn't *quite* get its true nature right), but then I'm not mind-programmed.
Hmm...
Yeah, this is stated explicitly:
(Also, re: metaphysical immune systems, I should maybe note that Khem *does* come to perceive his mind-programming as ego-dystonic and fights back against it. But protagonists don't count.)