The Fleet Of Stars III

In Poul Anderson's "Harvest Of Stars" Tetralogy, a community of human beings and intelligent seals populates Pacific islands and floating cities. This reminded me, a little, of human beings and alien Ythrians jointly colonizing a planet in Anderson's Technic History especially when one seal tells a human being of another culture, or "Dao," that what he will say "...may be no fair wind for you..." (The Fleet Of Stars, New York, 1997, p. 48). Winged Ythrians, of course, often refer to "winds" in more than a literal sense and, like the seals, they are intelligent but remain hunters.

The issue in the Tetralogy becomes which is better: conflict or contentment? That sounds like the issue in Brave New World except that, in that novel, every member of society is conditioned to welcome and enjoy his or her contented lack of freedom. (Also, I cannot help thinking that the World Controllers have to be intelligent and informed enough that one of them might be tempted to sabotage the system just to see what results?) Human beings in Anderson's Tetralogy are educated, although sometimes misinformed, but not conditioned. Their main problem, not always perceived as such, is lack of options.

Huxley suggested in his Introduction to later editions of Brave New World that a third option, cultivation of sanity, is feasible. I am always inclined to make a similar comment about any sharp dichotomy presented in a work of fiction.

Anderson's extra-solar colonists have got it right. They are fulfilled, not content. Their lives are determined by themselves, not by computers. Their conflict is with the inorganic universe, not with each other. Their technology serves their ends and does not deprive them of ends. In fact, the cybercosm should be able to realize that this fullest expression of organic life is to be acknowledged, not controlled.