Vault Of The Ages, Chapter 3.
Ronwy to Carl and his companions:
"'Yes, [the ancients] were cruel and foolish and brought the Doom on themselves. But why can we not learn from their mistakes? Why can we not use their science to live as they did, and at the same time be kinder and wiser? The world today is a world of want, and therefore a world of war; but we could build a world in which there was no hunger, no fear, no battle against man and nature. Think it over, boys! Think it over!'" (p. 38)
An excellent speech! We are certainly capable of learning from mistakes, especially from mistakes on the scale of the Doom. A similar learning process occurs in Poul Anderson's Psychotechnic History although, in that case, initial gains made are soon overwhelmed by deeper rooted problems. Some human beings, at least in this generation, might be irredeemably foolish but we can certainly be less cruel, especially if the wisdom of the ancients, which we call science and technology, is used to eliminate want for everyone on Earth, not just for some as against others. I say "in this generation" because I am hopeful of a general rise in understanding and intelligence with improvements in material conditions and social interactions.
These are Wellsian themes. In The Time Machine, as in Anderson's Genesis, mankind degenerates because it has won its battle against nature but that is a mistake that can be guarded against. Sf authors can write utopias - as well as dystopias and everything else. Some potential mistakes can be anticipated, as Wells did. (He also anticipated the consequences of the use of aircraft in warfare.) There is no blueprint for a better future except - people, individually and collectively, must have the freedom and capability to build their own better future. Isaac Asimov's Machines, giant robotic brains controlling the global economy and ecology, reasoned that self-determination was the highest human good and therefore phased themselves out. But genuine self-determination requires a level playing field as David Falkayn - not Nicholas van Rijn - realized in "Lodestar."
These fictional characters are with us through all our present conflicts.
1 comment:
Humans don't -get- kinder and wiser. They just accumulate more knowledge and power.
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