Ivar Frederiksen relaying Jaan's message in a letter to Tatiana Thane:
"'Just as it took few starfaring races to start many more on same course, irreversible change, so it could take a few new races who go over to wholly new way of evolution for rest to do likewise eventually.'" (p. 213)
See Uneven But Combined Development.
Additionally, just before that, Ivar asks Tatiana to imagine that she is trying to make a life-changing decision. She is reasoning and struggling with her emotions while, at the same time, on her cellular level, white blood corpuscles and antigens fight invaders and that fight might determine the outcome of her mental struggle.
Analogously, "'What intelligent life...does is crucial. And one tiny bit of one galaxy, like ours, can be turning point.'" (ibid.)
We can move ourselves and others toward either transcendence or oblivion.
Jaan's message as such is a lie told by Aycharaych. Nevertheless, it matters what we do here and now. If ours is the only intelligence in the universe, then all the more reason to preserve it.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, it was all lies and propaganda fed by Aycharaych to the luckless Jaan. I do agree that it matters what we do in the here and now, for both good or ill. And I certainly hope, as I don't believe is he case, that ours is not the only planet with organic intelligent life.
The sooner a FTL drive is invented, so we can find out, the BETTER!!!
Ad astra! Sean
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