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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
- Peter Watts
 |
| Padre Booth | ||
| Device that provides religious aid and comfort on demand. |
Getting ready to leave Earth, Joe Fernwright is seized by doubt. Who could he consult at a moment's notice in any spaceport?
| Getting to his feet he crossed the waiting room to the Padre booth; inside he put a dime into the slot and dialed at random. The marker came to rest at Zen.
"Tell me your torments," the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion. And slowly; it spoke as if there were no rush, no pressures. All was timeless. Joe said "I haven't worked for seven months and now I've got a job that takes me out of the Sol system entirely, and I'm afraid. What if I can't do it? What if I've lost my skill? The Padre's weightless voice floated back reassuringly to him. "You have worked and not worked. Not working is the hardest work of all." That's what I get for dialing zen, Joe said to himself. Before the Padre could intone further he switched to Puritan Ethic. "Without work," the Padre said in a somewhat more forceful voice, "A man is nothing. He ceases to exist." |
| Technovelgy from Galactic Pot-Healer,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Berkley Publishing in 1969 Additional resources -
|
Following this effort, Joe tries Roman Catholic, Muslim and Jewish versions of the Padre, finally being told to have some Martian fatworm soup, the most nourishing soup in the solar system, by the Jewish version.
Compare to the robot pope from Good News From the Vatican (1971) by Robert Silverberg and the proselytizing robot from Cities in Flight (1951) by James Blish.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Galactic Pot-Healer
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to Galactic Pot-Healer
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Padre Booth-related
news articles:
- Xian'er Buddhist Monk Robot
- 'Electronic Mufti' May Issue Machine Fatwas
- Fortune-Telling Robotic Vending Machine
- Confession App For iPhone Catholic Church Approved
- Amazen ZenBooth Dispenses Serenity At Amazon
- Robot Buddhist Priest Chants, Drums
- Mindar The Robot Buddhist Priest Offers A Blessing
- A.I. Jesus Proclaims Machine Gospel
- Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
- BibleGPT - King James Version Padre Booth, ala Philip K. Dick
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| Poul Anderson's 'Brain Wave' |
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'...the rocket’s landing-arms automatically unfolded.'
'...points and patches of light... sliding all over their faces in a programmed manner that had been designed to foil facial recognition systems.'
'...the combined Wind-Suncatcher, like a spray of tulips mounted fanwise.'
'I went to the control room where the three other men were manipulating their mechanical men.'
'The low-slung monorail car, straddling its single track, bored through the shadows on a slowly rising course.'
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'
'... he thrust in his charging arm to replenish his store of energy.'
'...the terrible Jovian gravity that made each movement an effort.'
