Human beings act on and understand their environment and can satisfy their material and social needs. In this fictional future, something has gone wrong. Human-made technology has become conscious and intelligent and says:
"As for humans, give them peace, give them abundance, give them informational access to the riches of their past and present, set them free to lead their lives as they see fit." (p. 24)
If we are being given peace, abundance, information and freedom, then we have ceased to act, to understand and to satisfy our needs and therefore have ceased to be human.
The question is asked whether mankind and the "cybercosm" cannot coexist and cooperate but the novel builds to the conclusion that this cybercosm attempts to deceive and mislead and thus contradicts the purpose of technology.
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly, humans in the Solar System had ceased to make the real decisions, to have the final say, wisely or foolishly, on what's to be done. They were just the pampered pets of the cybercosm! (Snorts)
Ad astra! Sean
Eloi.
Kaor, Paul!
Exactly, mere idle and pampered pets. Even the Homo servus bred by Stirling's Draka in DRAKON were better! At least the Draka had these slaves doing real things and real work.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
You wrote that what the cybercosm was doing "contradicts the purpose of technology." Actually, no, technology also provides the means needed for anyone who wishes to do so to exert power, to govern/rule. I would far rather it was human beings who do that governing, wisely or foolishly, badly or well.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I am impressed with the continuing relevance of Wells who predicted heat rays, gas warfare, tanks, the consequences of aerial warfare and the possibility of human devolution into beings like Eloi.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I agree, Wells was one of the two direct founders of modern science fiction, along with Jules Verne. I would also suggest Jonathan Swift (GULLIVER'S TRAVELS) and Mary Shelley (FRANKENSTEIN) as being proto science fiction writers.
Ad astra! Sean
FRANKENSTEIN was the first sf novel according to Brian Aldiss.
Kaor, Paul!
Maybe, maybe not. But definitely at least proto-SF.
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
In the second edition (1993) of Clute/Nicholls THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION, I looked up the entry for Jonathan Swift on pages 1193-94. I'll quote a few bits: "His most famous work, perhaps the most important of all works of PROTO SCIENCE FICTION, is 'Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World in Four Parts...by Lemuel Gulliver' [1726; rev 1735], better known today as GULLIVER'S TRAVELS. The work is in part pure sf, and certainly makes use of and in some cases invents narrative strategies which are now basic to sf. Its influence, both direct and indirect, on subsequent sf has been enormous, as for example on H.G. WELLS's 'The Island of Dr Moreau (1896)." Later in this article: "Book III is set in and around Laputa, an ISLAND floating in the air and largely populated by semi-crazed scientific researchers (the first important appearance of the mad SCIENTIST in literature);...Many of the scientific experiments satirized by JS were to become staples of later sf; though he shows their absurdity, he also has sympathy for the imaginative enthusiasm with which they are carried out." All quotes taken from page 1193.
What I am arguing for is that Swift's GULLIVER'S TRAVELS should legitimately be accepted as proto-SF.
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment