What do you think about the characters' naivete re technology and basic science?

Use this forum to discuss the June 2019 Book of the month, "Cynthia and Dan: Cyber War" by Dorothy May Mercer.
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Ghost11111
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Re: What do you think about the characters' naivete re technology and basic science?

Post by Ghost11111 »

lisalynn wrote: 21 Jun 2019, 07:17 The characters don't know because the author doesn't know. Write what you know, and if you don't know, research it.
This! There is so much research at the end that it is clear that the author looked a lot of these facts up before writing. It's concerning that a female author had to look up so much information about common sense sex education and then assumed that her audience was as ignorant as herself. Then after the excessive sex research there is no research in regards to the technical aspect of the book and it shows through her writing.
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Post by chiefsimplex »

lisalynn wrote: 21 Jun 2019, 07:17 The characters don't know because the author doesn't know. Write what you know, and if you don't know, research it.
Absolutely! In order to write with any measure of authority on such technocal aspects, there is need for rigorous reseach. However concerning the general cluelessness on everyday things, thats one big illogical flaw.
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Post by SavannaEGoth »

I think it's just a case of the author themselves not knowing much on these topics. Maybe not the pregnancy part, I'm referring more to the very sparse and simple science/technological proficiency in the novel. It's obvious they didn't really understand what they were writing, and hadn't done their research.

Everything else that was extremely basic that the characters couldn't grasp, well, I might just chop that up to the author assuming certain age groups are unaware or ignorant of certain things, though with them being younger individuals in a modern world it doesn't exactly line up. . .
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Post by SA2090 »

Nisha Ward wrote: 13 Jun 2019, 16:32 In reading this book, I've found some very weird bits that don't make sense in a modern context. When Sky first meets Cynthia, he assumes that she doesn't know what a smart phone is and then Cynthia doesn't seem to understand basic things like sex leading to pregnancy and what Plan B is and how abortificents work. Furthermore, I've also found this with Tim, who's supposed to be this geeky, nerdy guy into computer science and technology not knowing how to hide IP addresses or how computers can connect wirelessly.

In the context of the book, neither of these things make any sense. What do you guys think? Were there other examples of this?
I agree with you. It annoys me and makes the characters seem highly unrealistic. However, it also depends on whether the lack of knowledge affects the plot in any way.
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Post by Thundershake »

Nisha Ward wrote: 21 Jun 2019, 08:24
Ferdinand_otieno wrote: 21 Jun 2019, 07:33
Nisha Ward wrote: 13 Jun 2019, 16:32 In reading this book, I've found some very weird bits that don't make sense in a modern context. When Sky first meets Cynthia, he assumes that she doesn't know what a smart phone is and then Cynthia doesn't seem to understand basic things like sex leading to pregnancy and what Plan B is and how abortificents work. Furthermore, I've also found this with Tim, who's supposed to be this geeky, nerdy guy into computer science and technology not knowing how to hide IP addresses or how computers can connect wirelessly.

In the context of the book, neither of these things make any sense. What do you guys think? Were there other examples of this?
I think the author tried to push the story along without paying attention to the character profiles.
Pretty much and it was the wrong move because in doing so it just highlighted all of the book's flaws.
I agree
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Post by Tomah »

Indeed, I have to wonder what was even the point of getting Tim aboard given how clueless he is. The extreme competence and caution he displayed in his first meeting with Cynthia makes him far more suited to be a spy than a hacker, but neither makes much sense if you consider his background in computer science (with a specialization in game development, not computer security or anything remotely close) and history. Even then, the fact that he seems surprised about things like automated Twitter accounts is quite absurd.
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Post by RoxieReads »

What annoyed me was how Cynthia is supposed to be very smart but doesn’t know about simple things and lacks common sense! It was very frustrating to read about.
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Post by Nisha Ward »

Tomah wrote: 21 Jul 2019, 09:10 Indeed, I have to wonder what was even the point of getting Tim aboard given how clueless he is. The extreme competence and caution he displayed in his first meeting with Cynthia makes him far more suited to be a spy than a hacker, but neither makes much sense if you consider his background in computer science (with a specialization in game development, not computer security or anything remotely close) and history. Even then, the fact that he seems surprised about things like automated Twitter accounts is quite absurd.
What makes it even more frustrating is that all of this seems unnecessary. Cynthia could easily have persuaded the senator to get Twitter on board with working with them to bring down the accounts.
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Post by Paige Alvarado »

I agree! Cynthia seemed to be in a fantasy world about this pregnancy. "Oh, I'm too tired to worry about it. I'll take a test some other time" *pours glass of wine and gets in a hot bath*

I can't stand her.
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Post by LeeleeByoma »

All the responses here are hilarious. All those things are incredulous, of course. When characters are created, authors should remember to keep those characters true to themselves. They can't be worldly one minute, then naive the next. One then gets confused about who the character is, and if you don't know a character, how can you root for her/him?
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Post by DD129 »

I was reading this topic and the one about using sources together since they seemed to tread along the same lines. It's clear that the author did research, using the bibliography as evidence, but the writing did not reflect that fact. Certain characters being oblivious to basic things they should know completely contradicts who they are supposed to be, which creates a disconnect.
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Post by Aditi Sapate »

All I really can say about this is that writing a book is really a complex task. The authors have to know and feel their characters before writing them. However, it is possible that some things were left unsaid which lead to misunderstandings. I don't think we should be too quick to judge.
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Post by RachelRovere »

Nisha Ward wrote: 13 Jun 2019, 16:32 In reading this book, I've found some very weird bits that don't make sense in a modern context. When Sky first meets Cynthia, he assumes that she doesn't know what a smart phone is and then Cynthia doesn't seem to understand basic things like sex leading to pregnancy and what Plan B is and how abortificents work. Furthermore, I've also found this with Tim, who's supposed to be this geeky, nerdy guy into computer science and technology not knowing how to hide IP addresses or how computers can connect wirelessly.

In the context of the book, neither of these things make any sense. What do you guys think? Were there other examples of this?
I thought the same thing! It struck me as odd that she has a job that requires her to stay very current with technology, but that currency wasn't demonstrated in her character outside of the office. She checks her bosses office for bugs every day but when someone keeps showing up out the blue wherever she is she doesn't even consider she's being tracked? It seemed a little sloppy.
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Post by Falling4Ever »

The total lack of common knowledge on Cynthia's part is totally inexcusable. Unless she didn't go to a high school, I'm pretty sure the curriculum covers how a women becomes pregnant.
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Post by Hiruni Hansika »

Nisha Ward wrote: 13 Jun 2019, 16:32 In reading this book, I've found some very weird bits that don't make sense in a modern context. When Sky first meets Cynthia, he assumes that she doesn't know what a smart phone is and then Cynthia doesn't seem to understand basic things like sex leading to pregnancy and what Plan B is and how abortificents work. Furthermore, I've also found this with Tim, who's supposed to be this geeky, nerdy guy into computer science and technology not knowing how to hide IP addresses or how computers can connect wirelessly.

In the context of the book, neither of these things make any sense. What do you guys think? Were there other examples of this?
Exactly my concerns :lol2: Also did you notice how Cynthia forgot whether it was Friday or Saturday? One time she was checking all the corners of the Senator's room for spying devices and installing maximum security and next she could not remember what day it was, didn't even check the calendar, assumed it was Saturday and decided to chill and turns on the TV :lol2:
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