They Take Themselves With Them

The Boat Of A Million Years, XIX.

There are three relevant passages, at least as far as I have reread so far this time.

First, Svoboda says:

"'We do need something to lift us out of ourselves. It's wrong to carry our pettiness along to the stars.'" (12, p. 499)

Hanno replies:

"'We will, though,' he said. 'How do you escape being what you are?'" (p. 500)

That is a big question to which different answers have been given but, before we return to it, let us consider an exchange between two other Survivors. Wanderer and Tu Shan share a virtual simulation of Phaeacia, the planet that they hope to colonize. They disagree about whether a particular kind of site should be farmed:

"Tu Shan scowled. 'How much of the planet do you want to keep for your private hunting preserve, forever? '

"It shocked Wanderer: Have we carried the enmities of our forefathers through all these centuries and now through these light-years?" (16, p. 509)

There is a prima facie solution in an earlier chapter:

"'The whole organism is pliable, including the brain. You can have your psyche altered.'" (3, p. 463)

We know without being told that Hanno would refuse such a deal but it is there. A similar offer is made and rejected in Anderson's "Flight to Forever."