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When I originally read the Ender's Game series yeas ago, I was absolutely fascinated with the beauty of the theory of philotic physics as presented in Xenocide. Recently in my philosophical studies I have begun reading about Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz's monadic theory. The similarities between this theory and the fictional concerns of the characters in Xenocide are remarkable. My question for Orson is, are you familiar with monadic theory and were you conscious of it in any capacity when developing your fictional theory for Xenocide?
OSC REPLIES:
I have never read Leibniz. The philotic "physics" (really metaphysics) came out of my own head, strongly influenced by Joseph Smith's teachings about the fundamental units of being. Though Leibniz was prior to JS, I sincerely doubt that there was any influence there -- Smith being very little educated. So it's an interesting coincidence, to the degree that my philotic ideas resemble Leibniz's monadic theory.
And it's worth remembering that the philotic metaphysics in the later Ender books are devices in fiction to advance the story, not serious philosophy about the workings of the world.