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"The trouble with too much genre SF is that it's so obviously the product of the conscious mind."
- William Gibson
 |
| Probe Screen Hood | ||
| A device that blocks attempts to see into the contents of the brain mind. |
When some humans gain telepathic abilities, they try to subjugate the normals. Should people with the power to determine with certainty the contents of your mind also have the political power to control you and control society?
| He had done nothing disloyal. Nothing, except open the morning mail, find the hood, deliberate about it, and finally put it on. He remembered the small instruction tag:
GREETINGS! This probe screen is sent to you with compliments of the maker and the earnest hope that it will be of some value to you. Thank you. ...Should he wear it? He had never done anything. He had nothing to hide - nothing disloyal to the Union. But the thought fascinated him. If he wore the hood his mind would be his own. Nobody could look into it. His mind would be long to him again, private, secret, to think as he wished, endless thoughts for no one else's consumption but his own... There was some sort of an Anti-Immunity bill up in Congress to make wearing of a probe screen a felony, but it hadn't been passed yet- |
| Technovelgy from The Hood Maker ('Immunity'),
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Imagination in 1955 Additional resources -
|
Here's another bit:
"Teeps" are telepathic humans.
This is a very early reference to the idea of a "tin foil hat." I can find quotes for the opposite idea - see the entry for the Control Helmet from a 1938 story by Edmund Hamilton. Can you find an earlier reference?
He tapped his hood. "This alloy - opaque to probes. Discovered by accident, by one of these men. Teeps came after him instantly, but he escaped.
"The teeps can't file a framed report on a man whose mind is opaque to probes... The teeps have to get the hoods off... If a man is innocent why shouldn't he want his mind probed? The bill makes wearing a probe shield a felony."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Hood Maker ('Immunity')
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Hood Maker ('Immunity')
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Probe Screen Hood-related
news articles:
- 'Brain Breathalyzer' For Astronauts
- Thought-Screen Helmets A Classic American Craft
| A System To Defeat AI Face Recognition |
| Smart TVs Are Listening! |
| Police Drones In China Would Like To Have A Word With You |
| Detecting Drones In Ukraine With Candy (Sukork) |
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