Education And The FBI

"The Sensitive Man."

"Even the hulking bodyguard was probably a college graduate, Third Class." (II, p. 138)

The three-tier educational system was explained in "Un-Man." The complex post-World War III civilization needs high numbers of specialists trained from an early age to the limit of their capacity. Education, remaining free for those who continue to pass exams, is highly selective so that twenty year old Ph.D.'s look down on Seconds who look down on Thirds. This is the kind of social friction that the system tries to avoid but nevertheless inevitably generates.

We also learn that the FBI has resumed a broader function after American Security was discredited, then abolished, as a result of the events of "Un-Man." But there are no characters in common between these two stories. We are conscious that we are reading a carefully constructed future history series whereas the later Technic History was not pre-conceptualized but grew organically. We appreciate this contrast.