An Appropriate Epitaph?

Since I have mentioned Latin a few times, how does this grab anyone as a Latin epitaph for Poul Anderson: Multa docuit multos, "He taught much to many"?

First, Anderson's many novels and short stories have been read by many people.

Secondly, to teach is not only to impart information but also to introduce issues and to inspire inquiries.

Anderson's works:

impart information on cosmology, planetology, mythology, technology and history;

address fundamental issues about humanity and society;

encourage their readers to consider both the information and the issues and therefore to inquire further.

That last part is down to us but Anderson has certainly given a lead. This is an epitaph that applies to some others - I wrote it in the memorial book at the funeral of Ninian Smart - but certainly not to all others! How many of our acquaintances teach us anything? And how many writers of popular fiction have taught their readers on anything like the scale of Poul Anderson?

More On Unpredictability And Intelligence

Regarding unpredictability, Ninian Smart, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster, presented an elegant argument for the inherent unpredictability of scientific discoveries.

Anyone who had announced in advance that a man called Einstein was going to formulate a "Theory of Relativity" would have predicted merely the name, not the content, of the new theory. However, to announce instead the content of the theory would have been not to predict the discovery but to make the discovery. Therefore, discoveries cannot be predicted. I cite this here because it is relevant to the unpredictable technological innovations mentioned in the previous post and therefore also to their equally unpredictable effects on the economy.

The other problem with Technate civilization in Poul Anderson's The Long Way Home (St Albans, Herts, 1975) is its Ministers' attitude to their population:

"'It isn't possible to have equality...by definition, half the people always have below-average intelligence; and the average is not high.'" (p. 64)

"'Look around you - think these apes are fit to decide public policy?'" (p. 65)

I would say that they are at least as fit as their rulers who are heading towards more genocidal wars. These apes, human beings, built civilization in the first place. Their low intelligence is a self-fulfilling prophecy because their schooling comprises, "...a few years including hypnotic indoctrination...enough to teach the basic rudiments..." (p. 65), but not enough to teach anything about public policy.

Learning is life-long and includes neither hypnosis nor indoctrination. I think that a fully informed world population able both collectively and individually to control its own productive, creative and leisure activities is, with modern technology, a realistic educational goal.