Laurinda, conversing with Terra Central, thinks:
"What am I, that you are mindful of me?" (p. 54)
This is Psalm 8:4, which gave Asimov the title of one of his robotic culminations, and is another use of the Bible by Poul Anderson.
Terra Central thinks that the human race is mad - instinct in conflict with intellect, animality with something beyond it - and further that, unguided, the race will kill itself. This protean enemy of Anderson's Psychotechnic History perpetuates itself through alternative future histories and through history.
Anderson's future histories progressed from the Psychotechnic and Technic Histories to the Harvest of Stars Tetralogy and Genesis and it will be a long time, if ever, before that culminating single-volume future history becomes dated or is surpassed.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Terra Central's diagnosis of the human condition is very arguably correct. But I absolutely disagree with it's solution: gradually removing human beings from shaping and choosing the destinies of their countries, civilizations, the race itself. And making humans the impotent, powerless, pampered, idle pets of the AI actually ruling Earth.
Ad astra! Sean
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