In Heinlein's Future History
Once a year, at the Miracle of the Incarnation, the First Prophet, Nehemiah Scudder, returns from Heaven in the body of the reigning Prophet whose face and voice change in a faked broadcast from the Voice of God TV station. The revolutionary Cabal captures the station and fakes a broadcast of Scudder denouncing current Church leaders and preaching revolution.
In Anderson's Psychotechnic History
Davenant, emotionally overwhelmed by a White American Church sermon, realizes that either supersonics or subsonics are being used to affect the congregation's nervous systems.
Languages
Davenant and his colleagues speak English to the Ganymeadeans, then Basic between themselves when they realize that their apartment is bugged. Then Davenant learns that the Basic-speaking psychotechnicians are controlling the Ganymeadeans.
Basic has been introduced in the inner System but the Engineers can still speak English. Is Basic intended for common use or as a universal second language as hopefully Esperanto will become?
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Apparently, along with many other books, I should reread Heinlein's REVOLT IN 2100!
STILL, this lingering wistfulness for Esperanto! I consider that invented language becoming the common language of the world as being as likely as Tolkien's invented language Sindarin. It's far more likely that a currently existing tongue like English or Chinese (China conquered the world in Wingrove's CHUNG KUO series) will become the global language.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment