Friday, December 31, 2010

Cold or warm?

Orson Scott Card had an interesting observation, I think it was in the sequel to his famous science fiction novel Ender's Game: one character talked about another person as being very cold. Another character replied: "then imagine how hot even the slightest warmth will seem to her."

I think that's important. I realized years ago that there is no such thing as coldness. There are only various degree of warmth.

And further, one should not be too impatient with a cold person, whether that person is another or oneself. Because too much warmth too fast simply is painful. Things take time. All that matters is willingness, and things will happen.

Oh, and related: Emma Thompson I think it was, in a DVD commentary, commented on a character that she was stone cold and "the kind of person who processes nothing, she will be the same at death as she was as child", or words to that effect.
I agree it will seem that way. But think of an ice cube. If it's close to zero degrees C, it melts when it warms up, and change is visible. But if the cube is markedly colder than that, it warms up, but no change is visible. Yet.

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