In Poul Anderson's Time Patrol, a twentieth century engineer is recruited by a time travelling organization founded in the future by our evolutionary successors. The Patrol addresses those "...curious possibilities of anachronism and of utter confusion..." that Wells' outer narrator had only hinted at.
Although Wells and Anderson are not the only sf writers to address the concept of time travel, the treatment of this idea by these two authors is extremely comprehensive. This is my last thought of the day after the completion of a rereading of Anderson's Wellsian narrative, "Flight to Forever."
What comes next? (We don't know yet.)
Good night.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I'm not satisfied with "devolve" as the word to use for issues touching on or relating to species degeneration. I would argue that "de-evolve" is more clearly applicable to such concepts.
I happened to have recently reread Stirling's BLACK CHAMBER and have started rereading his THEATER OF SPIES. And now I wonder if I should also reread Anderson's IS THERE LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS?
Ad astra! Sean
I don't find the Eloi very credible. There's too much competition for top spots: even in the Middle Ages, people forced their way into the gentry/nobility fairly often.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Ha! Meaning it would be more accurate for the Morlocks to be lolling around in luxurious idleness while the Eloi did the grunt work?
I suppose Anderson's "The High Ones" and "In Memoriam" comes closest, in his works, to ideas about what degeneracy for intelligent races might turn out.
I agree, being political minded beings, humans will struggle and compete for power and status. What stable societies needs to do is channel this innate drive for power in ways enabling ambitious men to gain office/status in ways that does the least harm possible.
Ad astra! Sean
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