I just finished reading The Worthing Saga and wow................................................SPOILER . . . . . . . . . . . I find Capitol and the Somec culture there to be the most fascinating part of this book, the really scary part about all of it is that if we (people today) ever discover a way to create a form so suspended animation, this just might happen to us. Think about it. If the technology was there and the only barrier was funding than the Bill Gates's of the world would no doubt live forever. Even after reading this book where Abner Doon clearly points out all the pitfalls of a society based on Somec. I would still skip across time like a stone on a pond. What do you think? Would you go on a Somec schedule of one year up one year down (doubling your lifespan) if you could?
Posted by Mark (Member # 6393) on :
I actually doubt anyone would really want to do this. I know I wouldn't. I imagine anyone with a family wouldn't either.
I kinda thought of the somec as something of a literary device, just a means of exploring such ideas the evolution of civilizations.
Speaking of Worthering Saga, this is a book I liked just fine when I first read it, but fell in love with it in retrospect. In a philosophy class I took one year concerning things such as the problem of evil, I thought of this book alot. It stays with you.
Posted by Puppy (Member # 6721) on :
I would use it to skip to video game release dates.
Posted by TheTick (Member # 2883) on :
Good idea, Geoff. Of course, you'd then have to go back in your hot sleep for a few more months when you wake up to find it's been delayed AGAIN.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I would use it to skip ahead to . . . okay, no. I can't say it. I was going to say "the next OSC book", but even I am not that much of a fanboy.
Frankly, I wouldn't use somec. It's a terrific idea for a science fiction story, but a miserable damned idea for the real world.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
And yet, in a way, people DO use it. On PARTS of their live instead of the whole thing. But their are parents who so immerse themselves in the empty dream of their careers that they skip right over the lives of their children, for instance; and whether their career sacrifices were "worth it" or not, they can't have that time back.
But don't kid yourself about whether people would do it. If it symbolized power and elite status, people would do it in a heartbreak. It's not more damaging than some of the insane things people already do to assert their power and status.