The Supreme Council of United Free Europe, representing Free France, the Nordic Alliance, Italy, Poland and Germany, meets in Strasbourg where:
"The University was almost unscathed, and so became the headquarters of Jacques Reinach. His men prowled around on guard; one wondered what Goethe would have thought could he have returned to the seat of his student days." (p. 15)
(Reinach is "...the Commandant, Chairman of the Council." (p. 16))
In my student days, I read about someone that I thought was called "Go-eth" and heard about someone that I thought was called "Gurter." Fortunately, I realized their identity before I spoke the name. This story also refers to Rouget de l'Isle, Hitler, de Gaulle, Marius and Caesar. Future history is rooted in past history.
This future history includes Professor Eino Valti:
"...Valti's matrices were not concerned with a man's heart. They simply told you that given such and such conditions, this and that would probably happen." (p. 16)
Is "probably" good enough?
(Going out for the evening.)
13 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And I don't believe at all in those "matrices." These so called predictive sciences of society can't predict utterly unpredictable things like Archduke Francis Ferdinand's driver making that fatal wrong turn.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I don't think we are supposed to believe in them! This was an sf premise, no more.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I know, I agree. But I've gotten the impression there are people who wish there was a real predictive "science of society."
Ad astra! Sean
At the time, there was a widespread (if not universal) belief that a "science of history" with predictive power was -possible-. That has declined, thankfully.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Unfortunately, too many millions of people needlessly died because of such lunatic ideas.
Ad astra! Sean
Humans have a deep resistance to accepting how much of life is either sheer accident, or beyond any control they can exercise, or both.
Many want to believe that there is an omnipotent evil conspiracy or secret world government merely because that would at least give them the satisfaction of understanding why their lives are so bad and also paradoxically console them with the conviction that it is not worth their while to try to do anything about it.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling and Paul!
Mr. Stirling: Absolutely true! I vote for the GOP, because for all its flaws, that party represents a far better alternative to radical leftist, woke Democrats.
Paul: Life is often bad because all human beings are flawed, imperfect, just plain bad, and all too prone to making dumb decisions/mistakes.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Life is bad because there is competition for profit instead of cooperation for need.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Incorrect. Free enterprise economics uses the human urge to be competitive for allowing manufacturers and providers of services all kinds to cooperatively exchange what they need or desire in mutually beneficial ways.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Incorrect. Free enterprise will be redundant when production is abundant.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And that has not happened yet, and none of us knows when or if a post scarcity economy is even possible. And even that will not eliminate the human drive to be ambitious and competitive.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Of course the future has not happened yet. We do know that a post-scarcity economy is possible. Why not? Automation. AI. New technology. Do away with all the wasteful and dangerous weapons production.
There is not an inherent human drive to be ambitious. Certain societies provide an economic hierarchy and a pecking order and encourage some individuals to express their energy and motivation in terms of social ambition. That is not necessary. Sporting competition is healthy. Economic competition exists only in profit-based economies that can be made redundant.
Paul.
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