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"The permanent government now is the anchorpeople. They don't get elected, and year after year they're responding emotionally to this or that."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Sparkers | ||
| A device used to deliver small amounts of electric current to chirpsithra, who use it for the same reason humans use alcohol. |
What will you have? Everyone has their favorite drink, I suppose. Electrical stimulation of the appropriate brain area would probably be cheaper for humans, too, when they learn how to do it. As a matter of fact, I seem to recall that Niven and Pournelle have written about this very thing in other novels like Ringworld Engineers (see droud).
| I have to keep facilities for a score of aliens. Liquors for humans; sparkers for chirps; flavored absolute alcohol for thtopar; spongecake soaked in a cyanide solution, and I keep a damn close watch on that… |
| From Niven's Laws,
by Larry Niven. Published by Owlswick Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
In this story, another in the Draco Tavern series, Niven provides a classic alien viewpoint story. Unfortunately, I can't say much more about it without spoiling the story. The quote comes from Assimilating Our Culture, That's What They're Doing! From the collection listed below.
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- Mass Production Of In Vitro Meat From One Sample
| Spicy Tomatoes Created With Genetic Engineering |
| Shrimp Actually Made Of Algae Is A New Wave Food |
| Nova Meat Can 3D Print Your Dinner |
| Farming In Space Starts With Mycorrhiza |
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