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"[Science fiction is] an integration of the mood and attitude of science (the objective universe) with the fears and hopes that spring from the unconscious."
- Gregory Benford
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| Organic Thinking Machines | ||
| An artificially constructed and designed being capable of intelligent thought. |
A large cylinder is sent to Earth; when people look inside, they find odd organic beings:
Later on, the explorers ask about them.
The three investigators climbed in and gazed about them. Evenly distributed about the small room were beings lying as though dead. The general appearance of each was that of a quadruped, in size about as large as a big bulldog. The rest of the body was perfectly smooth and nearly the shape of an egg.
| "I would like to inquire about the organic individuals you sent to Earth in the cylinder you sent us. They are a species found here?" Jameson put his question to Alkad.
"They were a type of intelligence which we developed for our own use. Literally they are organic thinking machines. Doubtless you of earth possess mechanical thinking machines — (calculators, slide rules, integrators) which take much of the dry everyday grind out of your complicated calculations. Just so do we have thinking machines, except that ours are organic and have a partial intelligence of their own. We developed this type of life to aid us in the more simple lines of thought. The thinkers may be educated to function in almost any intellectual field. Those sent to you were specially educated on space navigation, and all the necessary mechanical and electrical knowledge necessary for this trip you have made. To be quite frank, we consider the thinkers to be capable of quite as much real intelligence as any of you earth men. The difference is that you are able to cover many fields while a thinker is trained in one field only." |
| Technovelgy from Cosmic Steeple-Chase,
by Robert A. Wait. Published by Amazing Stories in 1932 Additional resources -
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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
