Monday, 20 April 2015

Emotion And Intelligence In Four Universes

So many connections keep presenting themselves that I feel as though I will soon become one with the Poul Anderson multiverse and will express it all in one Last Post before disappearing into Valhalla - unless I am already there but do not realize it yet?

What do I have to say about "Emotion and Intelligence in Four Universes"?

(i) In The Time Patrol Universe
"The first part of instruction was physical and psychological. Everard had never realized how his own life had crippled him, in body and mind; he was only half the man he could be. It came hard, but in the end it was a joy to feel the utterly controlled power of muscles, the emotions which had grown deeper for being disciplined, the swiftness and precision of conscious thought."
-Time Patrol (New York, 2006), p. 12.

(ii) In The Immortals' Universe
"'I have the art of controlling sorrow.'"
-The Boat Of A Million Years (London, 1991), p. 63.

(iii) In The Brain Wave Universe
See here and, more generally, here.

(iv) In The "Flight to Forever" Universe
"'...what I saw in both your minds was good - brave and honest, under the little neuroses which all beings at your level of evolution cannot help accumulating. I will be pleased to remove those from you, if you wish.'
"'No thanks,' said Belgotai. 'I like my little neuroses.'"
-Past Times (New York, 1984), p. 261.

Comments
What an amazing collection of fictional universes!
We all need Time Patrol training.
One immortal has learned emotional self-control over twelve hundred years.
The enhanced humanity of Brain Wave takes psycho-physical self-control further than any of the other groups of characters.
I do not like my neuroses.
I would have preferred if one of the time travelers had accepted the telepath's help.
We would then have learned what difference it made.

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