Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"One can see the free software movement as a precusor for a "free hardware" or "free wetware" movement--one that will provide free libraries of designs for biological or nanotechnological products that replicators can be programmed to churn out."
- Charles Stross
 |
| 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:
"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."
"Teeps" are telepathic humans.
I can find quotes for the opposite idea - see the entry for the Control Helmet from a 1938 story by Edmund Hamilton.
Compare to the Tin Foil Hat (Tin Pulpit) from The Tissue-Culture King (1927) by Julian Huxley, which is apparently the original story from which the "tin foil hat" idea is taken. See also the thought screen helmet from Gray Lensman (1942) by E.E. 'Doc' Smith
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.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
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
| India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking |
| LingYuan Vehicle Roof Drones Now Available, ala Blade Runner 2049 |
| Chameleon Personalized Privacy Protection Mask |
| Spherical Police Robot Rolls In China |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
