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Machines have to be repaired or replaced. Robots are not made because there is plenty of human labour! (Does no one ask: what is the point of all this?) (Well, a lot of people do not ask that on Earth, either.)
There are several parks, each half a mile wide, with soil, plants and illusory sky, clouds and sun. So a more congenial environment could have been constructed. The parks are a relief from metal corridors but why have the corridors in the first place? In Anderson's Harvest of Stars Tetralogy, the Lunarians, genetically engineered to live healthily in Lunar gravity, spend their entire lives inside artificial environments which, however, are not cramped metal but are spacious, colourful, high-energy domains.
In its opening sections, this story seems not to belong to the Psychotechnic History. The social set-up inside the Pioneer suggests that no one has ever heard of applied psychodynamics. However, Friday knows that psychology, the science of human behaviour, had advanced quite far on Earth and wonders why no psychologists were sent in the ship - unless they were but were wiped out early on? The alert ready might begin to wonder whether there is a secret group of psychotechnical manipulators hidden somewhere inside the Pioneer.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
To have so much work done by people instead of robots can make sense! First, it would give many ordinary laborers jobs and something to do. Second, I think it would be wise not to depend too much on computers and robots. What if something happened to those robots and they could not be replaced? You might then only have people who could not do the work at all. Not without, very likely, a dangerously long period of training. Having people do this work makes sense, IMO.
I am not at all sure it's that implausible for the PIONEER to have corridors. A huge STL generation ship is going to be EXPENSIVE to build, hence it would be tempting to cheap out a bit with those corridors. And the ship still had several half mile wide parks!
Ad astra! Sean
Actually I think any habitat in space that is intended to be self sufficient in food is going to be one big greenhouse. There might be corridors, but those corridors will be lined with edible plants. We will also want those plants for absorbing CO2 and producing O2.
I think the greenery would be psychologically helpful too.
I would modify this prediction if there are major advances in synthesizing food by other means than plants.
Kaor, Jim!
Reasonable points, ones I agree with. Esp. for O'Neill habitats and STL generation ships.
Ad astra! Sean
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