In The Growth Of An Idea III and The Growth Of An Idea IV, I argued that a "time traveler" who prevents the future in which he would have originated has not really traveled from anywhen and therefore is not really a time traveler. However, in "All Is Flux," I reverted to describing such apparent time travelers merely as "time travelers." It is difficult to think consistently about Anderson's "variable reality."
Like all philosophers, Heraclitus valued consistent thought. Like many philosophers, he understood reality as change. But there are kinds of change: cyclical or historical; evolutionary or revolutionary; quantitative or qualitative. A Taoist sage, asked how he would survive under Maoism, replied, "Would it not be laughable if a life-long follower of Lord Lao were to fear change?" But Lao Tzu's change was seasonal, not political. However, the Time Patrol perspective is that all of human history:
"'...does at last take us beyond what our animal selves could have imagined.'"
-Poul Anderson, The Shield Of Time (New York, 1991), 1990 A.D., p. 435.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I'm skeptical that kind of transcendence or "transhumanism" is even possible. Exactly what does it MEAN to "...take us beyond what our animal selves could have imagined"? Do we really want to be no longer HUMAN?
Sean
By definition, it's unimaginable and you can only hint at it! This is very convenient plot-wise; I used it in the Change series.
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