The Mermaid Tavern

I need a break from reading about SM Stirling's Draka!

Another of Poul Anderson's colorful inns is the underwater Mermaid Tavern in "The Sensitive Man," with its aquarium, coral pillars and grottos, swordfish and murals of Neptune on the walls and windows showing nothing but green-blue seawater.

SM Stirling's Conquistador quotes a song that refers to the Mermaid Cafe.

Simon Dalgetty, whom we first meet in the Mermaid Tavern, was trained in sensitivity by an Englishman who lived in an old house in Maine. This recalls Professor Xavier and the X-Men.

Dalgetty's apparent telepathy is the hearing and interpretation of subvocalized thoughts but do most people subvocalize in this way and would it really be possible to discern and interpret the vibrations?

I can only manage brief posts at present but they are intended to provoke thought.

Future History Continuity

In "Un-Man":

"...Sofie [was] an engineer on the Pacific Colony project..."
-Poul Anderson, "Un-Man" IN Anderson, The Psychotechnic League (New York, 1981), pp. 31-129 AT p. 49 -

- and, in "The Sensitive Man," published later the same year, 1953, the narrative begins in the Mermaid Tavern which is in deep water under the caissons of one of the gyro-stabilized stations of the floating city called "the Pacific Colony," near the main anchor cable. An elevator takes the title character up from the tavern past storehouses, machine rooms, kitchens etc to a kiosk opening onto an upper deck thirty feet above the surface with a view of tiers descending to the main deck where there are people and a small park.

This "Pelican Station," holding shops, theaters, restaurants, services and entertainment is linked by bridges and boat traffic to other stations, where there are mineral-extracting plants, fisheries and experimental and research facilities. Nearby are a sea ranch and the undersea settlement of oil wells, mines, and exploration tanks.

Sofie says:

"'I remember the tail-end of the Years of Hunger, and then the Years of Madness, and the Socialist Depression...'" (p. 51)

We saw the "Years of Hunger" in the first Psychotechnic History story, "Marius," but, since "Un-Man" is only the second story, we must understand that the Madness and the Depression have meanwhile happened off-stage.

A man called Stefan bursts through a window near the end of "Marius." A man called Stef has died on Mars before the beginning of "Un-Man." We learn:

that "Stef" was "Stefan";
that his full name was Stefan Rostomily;
that he was the original of the cloned "Un-Men."

POVs In The Mermaid Tavern

"The Sensitive Man."

The opening paragraph is an objective description of the Mermaid Tavern. The second paragraph introduces a viewpoint character:

"The sensitive man paused for a moment in the foyer, sweeping the big circular room with a hurried glance. Half the tables were filled." (p. 131)

This is definitely the sensitive man looking at the room, not anyone else looking at him. This paragraph concludes by telling us his surname:

"Dalgetty typed [the people in the bar] as he watched." (ibid.)

The pov (point of view) stays with Dalgetty except for once briefly while he is in the company of a rec girl:

"A young man, she guessed..." (p. 135)

Poul Anderson did not have full pov control while writing these early instalments of his first future history series.

In The Mermaid Tavern

"The Sensitive Man," I.

Dalgetty assesses the people in the Mermaid Tavern:

engineers
rec girls
a biochemist
a clerk
caissoniers
a maintenance man
a computerman
a tank pilot
a diver
a sea rancher
stenographers
tourists
chemists
metallurgists
others unclassifiable
the group with the man that he has come to spy on

The sensitive man discerns Bancroft's group in their darkened coral grotto by distending his pupils, thus transforming the Tavern's muted light into a harsh glare that gives him a headache which he blocks from consciousness. Sitting in the empty grotto next to Bancroft's, Dalgetty:

leans back against the coral;
closes his eyes;
makes an effort of will;
directs his mind along required paths;
hears voices and other sounds increase to a crescendo;
filters out most of the racket;
hears Bancroft's group;
eavesdrops;
is startled by "'HELLO, THERE, MISTER!!!'" (p. 105) when a rec girl joins him.

In The Pacific Colony

Poul Anderson, "The Sensitive Man" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 1 (Riverdale, NY, 2017), pp. 103-157.

In a Heinlein-model future history series, later stories are built on earlier stories like the higher on the lower levels of a pyramid. Thus, after two references to Pacific Colony in "Un-Man," (see The Daily Life Of The Future) the next story, "The Sensitive Man," begins inside this Colony, in its Mermaid Tavern. Also, there is no character continuity. Thus, the new viewpoint character is not an Un-man called Naysmith but a "sensitive man" (p. 103) called Dalgetty.

We are told that the Tavern is elaborately decorated:

pillars and booths of hewn coral;
stripers and swordfish on the walls;
murals of Neptune;
an aquarium behind the bar;
windows showing only seawater because the Tavern is under water.

Dalgetty looks around the bar and we gain a little more insight into the daily life of the future even though this man with enhanced senses turns out to be on yet another espionage mission.

The Mermaid Tavern In Pacific Colony

Poul Anderson, "The Sensitive Man" IN Anderson, The Psychotechnic League (New York, 1981), pp. 31-129.

"The Mermaid Tavern had been elaborately decorated..." (p. 131)

And we read a description of the decorations which I am sure that I have summarized before (see here): a colourful beginning to a new story.

This is in Pacific Colony which was mentioned twice in the previous story. The accumulation of future history background details continues but that is all that I have time for this morning because Saturday activities in Lancaster beckon. Yesterday evening at a concert, disco and art auction, we raised nearly £2000 toward a solar-powered well in a deprived part of the world. Onward, Earthlings.

The New Quest

In the Mermaid Tavern, a Catholic Prince and a Jewish merchant plan an expedition to help the magic-sword-wielding Wiccan Crown Princess of Montival and her ally, the Empress of Japan, to retrieve the Shinto magic sword, Kusanagi. I can only comment, "Ye gods!"

Since the Hebrew and Catholic deities are Biblical and since the Bible is monotheist, these two deities are notionally identical - unless they have bifurcated? That has happened at least conceptually if not also ontologically. The adverb, "theologically," would be ambiguous, referring either to God (indivisible) or to ideas about God (perpetually divisible). Prince John locates the Hebrew/Catholic God at the apex of a feudal hierarchy:

"'Same ultimate overlord, different chain of vassalage...'"
-SM Stirling, The Golden Princess (New York, 2015), Chapter Fifteen, p. 374.

(One principle of feudalism is: "My lord's lord is not my lord.")

Since Wicca is neo-pagan, it recognizes Shinto gods as aspects of divinity. It is the fitting of Judaism, Christianity, Wicca, Shinto etc into a common conceptual framework that is the tougher theological assignment. Stirling manages this task with a multi-faceted, emergent deity that is ultimately incompatible with Christianity although it seems that the Catholics will continue to be granted experiences apparently validating their beliefs and, further, that there is something about all this that human beings cannot understand.

If there is a hereafter, then maybe it is not such a serious matter to end a human life? (Krishna says this in the Bhagavad Gita.) I am thinking about what God/the gods did at the Change. Also, maybe gods may morally end lives when we cannot?

Rereading While Blogging

I have three stages of engagement with a text by Poul Anderson:

(i) reading it;
(ii) rereading it (more than once);
(iii) rereading it while blogging about it.

(iii) differs from (ii) because (iii) involves rereading very closely, pausing at every significant passage, phrase, word or idea. It is unpredictable when I will become sufficiently attuned to a text for (iii). Recently, I turned back to The People Of The Wind and "Flight to Forever" and currently "The Sensitive Man."

Reading about the politics of SM Stirling's Draka led to thinking about politics in other futuristic sf, including "The Sensitive Man." Then, wanting a change from the systematic brutality of the Draka, I turned to rereading "The Sensitive Man," drawn in by its colorful opening in the Mermaid Tavern. This might lead to rereading and blogging about other early installments of the Psychotechnic History.

Baen Books need to publish a uniform edition of the complete Psychotechnic History. Such a publishing event might lead to me rereading the entire History, as happened with The Technic Civilization Saga. Meanwhile, the Draka wait patiently.

Human Behavior, Mass And Individual

"The Sensitive Man," II.

Valti's "new mathematics," "symbolic sociology" and "sociosymbolic logic" predict mass events, like a nuclear war fifty years hence. See The New Mathematics and World War III. Dalgetty's senses and mental processes have been enhanced. See In The Mermaid Tavern and In The Grotto. Thus, so far, there are two new sciences: of society and of  individual psychology, respectively.

Next, they begin to be connected:

"'...the new science of human behavior, mass and individual, is achieving rigorous formulation. It's becoming the most powerful tool man has ever had - for whoever controls the human mind will also control all that man can do. That science can be used by anyone, mind you. If you'll read between the lines, you'll see what a hidden struggle is shaping up for control of it as soon as it reaches maturity and empirical usability.'" (p. 113)

But Valti's equations have already worked, at least on the mass scale.

A science of human behavior should be used not to control the human mind but to enable human beings to understand and control themselves. Is the struggle for control of the new science a struggle for control of the human mind or a struggle between those who want to control others and those who want individual and social freedom?

"The Sensitive Man," Chapter II

"The Sensitive Man," II, pp. 108-116. 

This chapter presents some daily life in Pacific Colony and a political conversation.

The Mermaid Tavern is in deep water under the caissons of Pelican Station, beneath storerooms, machine rooms, kitchens etc. Above the ocean surface, the main deck holds animated signs, a park and pedestrians under tiers ascending to an upper deck. This station houses the shops, theatres, restaurants and entertainment of the Colony. The Californian coast is visible. There are bridges and boats between the stations, which include:

a sea ranch cultivating edible seaweed;

mineral-extracting plants;

fishery bases;

experimental stations;

research stations.

The underwater settlement has oil wells, mines and submarines exploring the cold dark deep, comparable to space exploration.

Another Inn

We can add another inn to our collection. (See Ysan Inns, The Old Phoenix, The Mermaid Tavern, The Time Patrol Lodge, The Inn Of The Worlds' End etc.)

The Wild Rose Chance tavern:

is in the Nantucketers' mainland outpost of Fogarty's Cove;

is a log cabin with logs a hundred feet long and a yard thick;

has a big taproom with long trestle tables and benches and a fire in a  "...long iron-backed field-stone hearth" (SM Stirling, Against The Tide Of Years, Chapter Four, p. 56);

serves breakfast, including hot wholewheat bread with melting butter, to twenty people or more.

Eating breakfast from a loaded plate, Alston reflects that weight is not a problem when a fifteen mile journey means half a day on a horse instead of fifteen minutes in a car.

On Mars

The Fleet Of Stars, 5.

CS Lewis wrote somewhere that only the first visit to another planet is of interest to imaginative readers. When the planet has become familiar to the characters, why read about it? Well, Hermes, Avalon, Dennitza etc are new to us the first time we read about them and remain interesting on rereading.

It follows that Lewis would be uninterested in Poul Anderson's account of Mars when human beings have lived there for centuries. Economic reasons for continuing to live on Mars have declined although social reasons persist, a plausible scenario.

The desert terrain and the presence of armed freedom fighters (see Inrai) make this version of Mars sound like a future Middle East.

Kinna Ronay, brought up on Mars, is educated about the outer universe and has even had a virtual experience of the Mermaid Tavern. For other Mermaid Taverns, see here.

"The Sensitive Man" Revisited

I am rereading Poul Anderson's "The Sensitive Man."

See:

The Sensitive Man
The Psychotechnic Institute II
Future History Continuity
Mankind
Synthesis And Sensitivity
More Background Details
Some References In "The Sensitive Man"
Comments On A Debate About The Future
The Old House
SF Super Heroes
A Note On Draka And Psychotechnic Politics
The History Of The Science Of Society
The Mermaid Tavern

More than I thought, already.

In Pacific Colony

Poul Anderson, "The Sensitive Man" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League (Riverdale, NY, October 2017), pp. 103-157.

In "Un-Man," Sofie was "...an engineer on the Pacific Colony project..." (p. 36) True to future historical form, "The Sensitive Man" takes us inside Pacific Colony where, in the Mermaid Tavern, the title character sees engineers with rec girls, a biochemist with a clerk, caissoniers, a maintenance man, a computerman, a tank pilot, a diver, stenographers, tourists, chemists, metallurgists, others less identifiable and the group that he has come to spy on. We are still in a scenario where special agents defend the UN whereas some influential but misguided individuals seek to overthrow it and meanwhile we get some glimpses of everyday life in "the future" - now 2009, according to Sandra Miesel's Chronology.

The Mermaid, Newport

In Newport, we enter another Mermaid Tavern. This one has:

writhing crabs in whicker baskets;
smells of roasting, frying, stewing, wine, beer and tobacco;
ships' captains and officers and business people;
souvenirs on the walls - floats, nets, weapons, a crocodile skull, a feather cloak, a mask of painted coconuts and seashells;
both body heat and kitchen heat;
smoke and noise;
a merchant reading the Newport Commercial Bulletin, subtitled Salve Lucrum, meaning "Hail, Profit."

This is another of the many fictional inns that we would like to visit.

Life On Mars II

The Fleet Of Stars, 5.

We want to extract more information about life on Mars from Chapter 5 before returning to our by now recurring character, Fenn, in 6.

There is a brief list of other places on Mars:

polar ice dunes;

marts and monuments in Crommelin;

cities clustered in Schiaparelli.

Kinna Ronay's information sources:

telecommunicaton with Martian friends;

occasional beamcasts from Earth;

the public database;

vivifer virtualities;

dreambox.

A vivifer is a programmed virtuality of a real place, e.g., on Earth, in the Habitat or on Luna, whereas the dreambox presents fictional experiences devised by each individual experiencer. Kinna remembers:

a day in Avalon;

an evening in the Mermaid Tavern;

being an eagle, an owl, a planetary system and a molecule.