Monday 13 April 2015

"Mustn't Touch"

Poul Anderson, "Mustn't Touch" IN NESFA Vol 3 (see previous post).

Interesting Points

(i) "...spaceman's bombillas of tea..." (p. 410)

(ii) "'I say nothing against the Australian Authority - war had to be eliminated somehow...'" (p. 413)

Anderson acknowledges that other nations might wield world power in future, especially in the wake of a nuclear war. In other works, the Maurai and the Swedes.

(iii) Computers have been replaced by "...creatively synthesizing robot brains..." (p. 408), which are "...rational, conscious beings." (p. 410) One character remarks:

" ...we've talked for a long time now about making contact with alien races. But I wonder if we'll ever find any as alien as this one we've built ourselves.'" (p. 413)

Dr Richard Slaughter speculated that, if artificial intelligence is ever created, then it will be the real alien intelligence. He mentioned this idea to Isaac Asimov who replied, "Yes, I might get a story out of that."

Important: See next post.

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