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"Generally, the human race avoids doing anything radical until forced into it."
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In Methuselah's Children, a significant part of the population has achieved a relatively long lifespan; as long as 200 years. These people are hidden among the general population, their secret having been kept hidden.
After some years, a small number of this group decided to reveal themselves and their capacity for long life. The political leaders of the general population decide to take the secret of long life from this group by force.
Hypnosis has a surprising long history. The ancient Egyptians used it in temples; a 3rd century (CE) manuscript has this interesting procedure:
The modern history of hypnosis begins with a student of Franz Anton Mesmer used some of his techniques of "animal magnetism" to place people in an unusual state in the early 1800's. It looked like sleep, but the person could still respond to questions or commands. The term "hypnotism" was coined in 1843 by James Braid, a Scottish surgeon.
The idea of using hypnosis to plant a deep inhibition against revealing information is also explored in the novel the stars my destination by Alfred Bester, published in 1957 (see sympathetic block). Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This | Additional
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Science Fiction
Timeline
SpaceX Intros Extravehicular Activity Suit
'Provision had been made to meet the terrific cold which we knew would be encountered the moment we had passed beyond the atmosphere.'
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
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