Blessedness
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Baruch Spinoza
11 min read
The story is explicitly stated to be 'structurally based on Spinoza's Ethics,' the protagonist is named 'Bento' (Spinoza's first name), and the space station 'Blessedness' references Spinoza's concept of beatitudo. Understanding Spinoza's philosophy enriches the story's themes about determinism, nature, and human freedom.
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Eusociality
15 min read
The narrative explicitly contrasts humans as 'not eusocial' with the alien Bulatan species, raising questions about biological determinism and social organization. Understanding eusociality (cooperative breeding, division of labor, overlapping generations) illuminates the story's philosophical exploration of parasitism versus mutualism.
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Pensées
11 min read
Pascal's Pensées is directly quoted in the story ('The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me'), and Bento uses it to practice being Robert. Pascal's existential philosophy about human insignificance in the cosmos directly connects to the story's themes about circular versus linear conceptions of history and humanity's anxious relationship with vastness.
Story publishing is a long road.
I feel this space opera piece will not find a home in time. The story is some few years old. It is structurally based on Spinoza's Ethics. It is goofy and optimistic. Here it it:
About 5400 words
Blessedness
By Helen De Cruz
I.
There are two ways to conceptualize history—the circle and the line. In the circle lies security: the huge cycle of death and rebirth, the smaller revolutions of stars around the galaxy’s axis, the tiny circlets of planets around stars, and our spherical hives. The circle is us, hence our name Bulatan in the Old Language means “those of the circle.” By contrast, humans are creatures of the line. In the line lies anxiety. Where does it go? Where lies its endpoint? What counts as progress? We’ve witnessed it time and again across the universe. The line always ends in greed, and ultimately, self-destruction. Humans are no exception.—Agent Bento’s log 4435038
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The winner controls the energy was the motto of the illustrious family where Bento was to infiltrate. He stared into the void of his cup of black coffee, its aroma forceful even for his sparse human olfactory receptors. He tried a sip and regretted it. His clumsy appendages fished the silver watch out of a waistcoat pocket. His contact arrived right in time.
Bento met Émile Lemaitre in a run-down coffee house that sat perched under a dome on an outpost moon. The old footman arrived, wearing an inconspicuous shapeless coat draped over a tattered livery, a simple felt cap in lieu of a wig. Seated at an elegant glass table, Bento dissolved a lump of sugar onto his spoon, trying to get rid of the coffee-bitterness on his tongue.
“The best thing about Blessedness is the high entry cost,” Émile said, “Low-lifes can't get onto it, so the area is extremely safe.”
Barely audible above the hubbub of discreet conversations of traders and smugglers and the steady clicks of billiard cues, Bento said, “So life on Blessedness is great because the poor can't afford it?”
“Yes!” Émile said, “Life in a Blessed manse is sweet. As a servant I lived comfortably, and you would be a Prince! With a private pool, pleasure gardens, masques, operas! Your resemblance to Robert de Méreaux is…astonishing.”
“I'm not a liar,” Bento’s large eyes, with that mix of dark brown and gold characteristic
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