Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Science fiction has a lot to answer for.
Science fiction stories are a wealth of fantastic ideas and technologies strung together in a myriad of ways.
For all their attention to detail, authors often overlook certain aspects of the technologies and powers they create in their stories.
One such example is "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham.
***SPOILER ALERT***
There are a bunch of kids who are all telepathic and they are very keen to hide this from their zealous neighbors who view any kind of deviation as cause for death. The main character David is surprised to discover that his little sister Petra is an incredibly powerful telepath. She can inadvertently command all the local telepaths and even project her mental voice to New Zealand. Eventually the telepaths are rescued from their precarious position and taken to New Zealand where telepaths are accepted and encouraged and form a large percentage of the population. Petra's delight at seeing the city is painful for everyone around even though she is trying to hold back. Turns out that she is more powerful than any previously encountered telepath.
What happens when this little girl grows up and gets her first orgasm? Nearby telepaths would collapse bleeding from the ears with a giant grin on their faces. Trains, planes and cars would crash as their drivers lost control. The entire country would go weak at the knees if they didn't die first. All the survivors would know exactly what had happened...at least until they were killed by a colossal wave of shame and embarrassment that would come from Petra once she realised what had happened.
For all their attention to detail, authors often overlook certain aspects of the technologies and powers they create in their stories.
One such example is "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham.
***SPOILER ALERT***
There are a bunch of kids who are all telepathic and they are very keen to hide this from their zealous neighbors who view any kind of deviation as cause for death. The main character David is surprised to discover that his little sister Petra is an incredibly powerful telepath. She can inadvertently command all the local telepaths and even project her mental voice to New Zealand. Eventually the telepaths are rescued from their precarious position and taken to New Zealand where telepaths are accepted and encouraged and form a large percentage of the population. Petra's delight at seeing the city is painful for everyone around even though she is trying to hold back. Turns out that she is more powerful than any previously encountered telepath.
What happens when this little girl grows up and gets her first orgasm? Nearby telepaths would collapse bleeding from the ears with a giant grin on their faces. Trains, planes and cars would crash as their drivers lost control. The entire country would go weak at the knees if they didn't die first. All the survivors would know exactly what had happened...at least until they were killed by a colossal wave of shame and embarrassment that would come from Petra once she realised what had happened.
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