Rate of Change

In the Ekcolir Reality.
Original cover art by Hans Wessolowski

Here at the end of 2019, I am currently involved in my annual rituals of 1) looking back at the past year of Sci Fi blogging and story writing and 2) getting ready to celebrate the writing of important science fiction writers who were born 100 years ago. On January 1st 2020, I will post some commentary on Frank Herbert's (October 8, 1920 – February 11, 1986) 1963 story "Dune World". On January 2nd 2020, I will post some commentary on Isaac Asimov's (January 2, 1920 – April 6, 1992) 1952 story "The Currents of Space".

Galactic Empires
Before there were interstellar empires such as those depicted in Asimov's Foundation Saga (starting in 1942) and "Dune World" there was the evil Boskonian Empire as imagined by Edward Smith. As depicted in Ed Smith's 1937 story, "Galactic Patrol", the Boskonians were part of a vast intergalactic empire that was under the control of ancient aliens: the Eddorians. 

                                             Good vs. Evil
The Boskonian Empire was built around the kinds of governing principles that we might associate with a crime syndicate or 20th century fascism.

When "Galactic Patrol" was first published, Asimov was just starting to write science fiction stories that he hoped to publish in Astounding magazine. Asimov read "Galactic Patrol" and along with the rest of Sci Fi fandom, he was enthralled by the idea of interstellar space travel and life on distant exoplanets. A few years later, after Asimov had read Edward Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he decided to model his own imaginary Galactic Empire on the Roman Empire.

mind control

Telepathy and Empire. About the same time that I first read the Foundation Trilogy, I also real the entire Lensman Series by E. E. "Doc" Smith and his earlier Skylark Series. Unlike Smith, who glorified mindless conflict between the evil telepathic Eddorians and the saintly Arisians (who could predict the future just by using their gigantic brains), Asimov depicted a balancing act between the First Foundation, which was devoted to physical science, and the Second Foundationers, who wielded their telepathic powers of emotional control. The Second Foundationers also wielded the imaginary science of Psychohistory, which Asimov depicted as the basis of their ability to predict the future.

Trantor: a planet covered by a single gigantic city.

When I discovered Asimov's Foundation trilogy in the 1970s, I was charmed by the quaint habits of the folks who lived in Asimov's imagined empire of the future. For example, they all smoke tobacco in the future! It was easy to see (but hard to accept enthusiastically) how Asimov had transplanted human behavior that was appropriate for ancient Romans to the future Imperials who ruled the galaxy from the planet Trantor. Asimov grew up in New York City and he imagined a capitol world for his empire that was a single gigantic city of 45 billion residents.

The Mule

1945

One of Asimov's great literary inventions is the megalomaniacal Mule, who has "mentalic" powers. Asimov used the term "mentalics" to refer to the ability of both the Mule and the Second Foundationers to alter the emotional make-up of human minds. The Mule was nearly able to take control of the entire galaxy by using his telepathic powers of mind control. In addition to making his subjects incredibly loyal, he could induce in his enemies debilitating depression and self-doubt. 

For me, what was most intriguing about the Mule was his ability to alter the minds of scientists and unleash their inventiveness. Asimov depicted his Galactic Empire, tens of thousands of years in the future, as being a place where the residents could barely keep their existing technologies running. There was essentially no social structure for scientific study and technological advancement. 

source

In Asimov's imagined Galactic Empire, even the idea of making an encyclopedia to document existing technology is unthinkable to all the trillions of inhabitants of the galaxy, except for "the great" Hari Seldon.

"How could the future be dominated by an 'empire'?" -David Berri 

Economics 10101010101

In an article ("Highly Illogical: What Sci-Fi Writers Get Wrong About the Future") from 2015 that was published in Time magazine, David Berri argued that an empire "would not generally promote the technological change necessary to settle and connect millions of planets".

In the fictional future imagined by Jack Vance, he depicted two eras of "future history" among the stars. When humans were first spreading outward from Earth, there was no central government. Later, in the twilight of the galactic era, Alastor Cluster was ruled by a single man, the Connatic, a kind of enlightened despot. Interestingly, as seen in Asimov's Galactic Empire, Vance's future does not feature significant technological progress.

extracting valuable kyrt from Floriana

Is the near-absence of scientific research and technological progress that Sci Fi fans often find in future Galactic Empires due to the fact that empires are simply not conducive to progress? Berri asserted that historically on Earth, empires have tended to feature "extractive institutions" much like what Asimov depicted for exploitation of kyrt on the planet Floriana (in The Currents of Space) and what Herbert depicted as the method by which House Harkonnen extracted spice from the planet Arrakis. However, Asimov depicted a kinder and gentler Trantorian Empire that worked against the Squires of Sark during the creation of his Galactic Empire.

I don't think that envisioning a Galactic Empire is an automatic fail for Sci Fi story tellers; I made my argument for this back in 2010. There is good reason for science fiction story tellers to want technological stagnation in their galactic civilization.

Extinction Curve; technology is dangerous.

Recognizing that it would take thousands of years to colonize millions of planets scattered through the galaxy and recognizing that over the course of thousands of years advancing technology could vastly alter human society (if not the genetic foundation of human species itself), why not make use of a rigid Imperial government to impose technological stagnation?

Foundations of Eternity

In the case of Asimov's Galactic Empire, he eventually depicted the positronic robot R. Daneel Olivaw as being in control of the Empire. It is easy to imagine that Daneel actively suppressed human technological progress during most of the Space Age. The Mule could reverse that imposed "suppression" and after the First Foundation took control of the galaxy, a new era of scientific study and technological advance suddenly began. Jack Vance imagined the Institute as an organization that systematically suppressed technological advancement.

For the Exode Saga, I imagine that there can be great dangers arising from rapid technological advances. Tool using primates might be their own worst enemy.

How can you adjust the rate of technological change?

in the Ekcolir Reality

In the December 1952 issue of Astounding Science Fiction, (along with Asimov's The Currents of Space) is a Raymond Fisher Jones story "Noise Level" which deals with the question of how to speed up the rate of scientific discovery.

I suppose "Noise Level" was a natural story idea for Jones who had training in "radio engineering" and also had experience working on equipment in the USA telephone system. In this story, to speed up the pace of scientific advancements all you need to do is provide scientists with a high level of "noise" (such as imaginative stories about levitation) and then apply an appropriate "filter". In "Noise Level", the filter used is to tell a team of physicists that antigravity has already been invented and they only need to turn it into a practical technology. Within a few weeks, the research team has a working antigravity device!

Phari endosymbionts

For the Exode Saga, I imagine that humans are hybrid beings, partly biological but also with minds that are partly composed of zeptite endosymbionts. While the pek were busy creating a replacement for humans (the Prelands), humans on Earth could be prevented from developing new technologies. The creativity and inventiveness of humans could be blocked by the zeptite components of their brains.

femtobiology

Lucky for we humans, there was a way to prevent our species from being replaced by the Prelands. This involved a "femtobot hack" and help from the ancient Phari.

Investigation 901

Related Reading: control of the pace of technological discoveries in the Asimov Reality
Also: The Yerophet Experiment
AND: more R. F. Jones
Next: 2019 Nuggets

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A Lost Flame

cover art by Edmund Emshwiller

Theoretically, this blog post is a retro-review of a Stanley G. Weinbaum story called "The Black Flame". However, I'm most interested in the role that Weinbaum played as a link between older style adventure stories and the new literary genre of science fiction that was being created during the short period of time when Weinbaum was actively publishing his stories. "The Black Flame" is a story that was rejected by publishers during Weinbaum's lifetime, but it was eventually published after his death. It is fun to imagine reasons why editors originally refused to publish "The Black Flame".

The Science Fiction Hall of Fame

Weinbaum is famous for his stories such as "A Martian Odyssey" that include alien creatures from other planets. I suspect that I first read "A Martian Odyssey" in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame (although it may have been in this anthology). I don't think I bought that book, but I probably read just the first story (which was "A Martian Odyssey") while standing in a book store. I've previously mentioned some stories that I first saw in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame volume IIA and IIB.

on Mars in 1934, click to enlarge

I still (more than 40 years later) remember my distaste for "A Martian Odyssey". I felt that Weinbaum's depiction of Mars and life on Mars was absurd, silly and at the outer fringes of science fiction. Of course, opinions of what constitutes science fiction vary from person to person. What did people think about science fiction back in 1934?

An editorial from the July 1934 issue of Wonder Stories that included "A Martian Odyssey"

July 1934

This editorial (above) suggests that science fiction is educational and it introduces new ideas that can lead to scientific advances. I'm not sure that those lofty ideals apply to the works of Weinbaum, a man who apparently began a pursuit of an engineering education but dropped out of college. Weinbaum's 1934 imagined account of life on Mars was completely unbelievable by the time I read it 30 years after its publication.

I found "The Black Flame" the be an odd mixture of fantasy, romance and science fiction. It would be interesting to know which pulp magazines rejected the story; it was finally published after his death when fans were lamenting Weinbaum's loss and publishers were willing to alter their standards and publish anything that Weinbaum had ever written.

1949

"A Martian Odyssey" begins with the crew from the first ever expedition to Mars learning about the alien beings who reside on the surface of Mars. After landing on the planet, it is their job to fly around and do aerial photography. In contrast, for "The Black Flame", Weinbaum imagined a future in which giant Earthly telescopes had been able to obtain high resolution images of the surface of Mars long before an expedition was ever sent from Earth to Mars.

includes "A Martian Odyssey"

Of course, Weinbaum, living in the pre-computer age, never imagined that automated spacecraft would be sent to Mars and obtain high resolution images of the surface by means of digital photography from orbit. And certainly "The Black Flame" came closer to reality than did "A Martian Odyssey", which reads just like some old-fashioned adventure story in which white explorers go to deepest darkest Africa, find a man Friday and plunder the precious jewels of the native tribe. I have to say, I feel that "The Black Flame" is a better science fiction story than "A Martian Odyssey", so I need to explain why it was that "A Martian Odyssey" got published and "The Black Flame" got rejected.

1939

I feel that "The Black Flame" is essentially an early story about what we call the "technological singularity", the idea that scientific discoveries and technological advances are coming at increasingly fast rates and sometime soon we will reach a discontinuity after which the world will be completely transformed by technology and will then exist in a new domain, distinct from all previous human history. Today, most people who predict the imminent arrival of such a "technological singularity" usually predict that humans will produce super-intelligent artificial lifeforms who will then dominate Earth and be cognitively as far above we humans as we are above ants. Weinbaum imagined a different kind of future for human advanced technology development, one that I find more interesting than the current craze for shouting "Super-intelligent A.I. is coming; it is the end of the world!".

1969

I believe that the likely reason for why editors rejected "The Black Flame" is that Weinbaum did not have an original idea for how to get his story started. In fact, I can understand if pulp magazine editors thought Weinbaum had inexcusably stolen too many plot elements from other authors. Rather than just write a story about an imagined future of Earth with advanced technologies, Weinbaum wanted to provide a direct connection between his readers in the 20th century and the world that he imagined existing 1000 years in the future. He did this by putting the hero of the story (Thomas, a man from the 20th century) into suspended animation.

Suspended animation
Suspended animation has long been a popular plot element of stories. I was first exposed to the idea of a "long sleep" by the story Rip Van Winkle in which a man drinks something magical and falls into a long sleep.

Han rocket and
disintegrator beams

The story "Armageddon 2419 A.D." (published in 1928 in Amazing Stories) by Philip Francis Nowlan (1888 - 1940) introduced Anthony Rogers, who eventually became Buck Rogers. Anthony miraculously "arrives in the future" just when the Americans are ready to revolt and get rid of the "Han Airlords" and their leader (who is known as "the Most Magnificent"). The "Han Airlords" are invaders from Asia who reside in 15 cities while the defeated Americans still have most of the land in North America. Rogers arrives in 2419 A.D. through accidental suspended animation. The magical mechanism: he gets trapped in a mine with radioactive gas that puts him into suspended animation. In Nowlan's story, Rogers has to fight the Second Revolutionary War in order to liberate the Americans from the Han invaders. I suspect that when editors received "The Black Flame" as a new story from Weinbaum, they could not publish it due to its many plot similarities to Nowlan's famous "Buck" Rogers saga.

big hair in 1953

The closest I've come to buying a magazine so that I could read a Sci Fi story was when I bought a few issues of Omni magazine back in the late 1970s during the period of time when Ben Bova was the fiction editor for Omni. These days, we can download PDF copies of the old Sci Fi magazines like Amazing Stories.

1995

When I first saw the drawing in Amazing Stories of an immortal Jules Verne coming out of his grave (see below), I was creeped out. I suspect that Weinbaum was inspired to sit down and write the first few pages of "The Black Flame".

For "The Black Flame", Weinbaum imagined that an electrocuted man could be inadvertently put into a state of suspended animation. He wakes up 1000 years later, at which point he has been reduced to little more than a dried-up walking skeleton.

the immortal Jules Verne in Amazing Stories

future war: 2419 A.D.

I Died, But I Got Better
The version of "The Black Flame" that I've read is the one published in 1939. I've never seen an expanded version that apparently is some 18,000 words longer.

At the start of "The Black Flame", we are provided with a sickening account of the near-skeletal body of Thomas being eroded out of an old cemetery, a thousand years after his death. Thomas Connor was electrocuted as punishment for killing his soon-to-be wife's lover in a fist fight. Weinbaum did not expend much effort providing a fictional science explanation for how someone could survive being buried for a thousand years.

"A Tribute to the Late Stanley G. Weinbaum" by Otto Binder

Masterpiece
In the 1939 issue of Startling Stories where "The Black Flame" was first published, there was also a tribute article written by Otto Binder. Binder wrote that "The Black Flame" might be Weinbaum's masterpiece.

Since 1920 when Arthur Eddington proposed the idea that stars might get energy by fusing hydrogen nuclei into helium nuclei, there had been speculation about fusion power. One of  Weinbaum's imaginary future technologies in "The Black Flame" is fusion power, both for industrial use and for powering spaceships. I'd be interested to know if there was any earlier fictional account of using hydrogen fusion as a power source.

In the first page artwork for "The Black Flame" (shown below) there is a triangular fusion-powered spaceship just below the "L" in "FLAME". Also visible on the coin that partially covers the "B" in "BLACK" is the Black Flame herself, who becomes part of a love triangle with Thomas (image to the right) and Evanie (image to the left).

Evanie and Thomas fight to depose The Master (click image to enlarge). Interior art by Hans Wessolowski

Ruler of Earth

The Black Flame is the sister of The Master, ruler of Earth. The Black Flame gives Thomas a ride in her spaceship, but since she only has an hour to spare out of her busy schedule, they only get into Earth orbit. However, readers learn that humans have visited the Moon. Given the availability of fusion-powered spaceships, I was left wondering why there had been no trip to Mars or even more distant destinations.

The center of the universe
St. Louis is the center of the universe. Not only does our hero, Thomas, get buried there, but he "wakes up" at exactly the right time to join Evanie in her revolt against The Master. Evanie's father previously tried to lead an insurrection against The Master, but he was killed for his attempt to depose The Master. AND, as further proof that St. Louis is the center of the universe, one day while Thomas is recuperating from his death and walking on the outskirts of town, the Black Flame, out randomly slumming in the wilds (and first seen gazing lovingly at her own reflection in a pond), bumps into our hero.

Thomas tries to kill The Master.

Mutants
Evanie is the first woman that Thomas meets in the future and he thinks she is "gloriously beautiful". However, Evanie has a dark past: she is part mutant. While trying to genetically engineer immortal humans, several types of mutated humans were created, and Evanie carries some mutant genes. Evanie's mutant genes are supposed to explain why such a gloriously beautiful woman is single and available to become Thomas' girl friend.

The Black Flame and The Master are also mutants: two of the Immortals. There are only about 50,000 Immortals, most of them the nerdy scientists who The Master has deemed worthy of being made immortal. The Master became ruler of the world when his friend, an uber-scientist, discovered the secret of immortality. With his cadre of immortal scientists working for him, The Master has the technological power to rule the world. In this technological singularity story, it is not an evil A.I. that takes over Earth, but the Immortal Master.

The Black Flame takes Thomas for a ride in her spaceship.

Thomas thinks that the Black Flame is endowed with "goddess-like beauty". Eventually Thomas ditches Evanie and hitches up with the Black Flame. Sadly, one limitation of immortality is that it causes infertility. However, (as Weinbaum patiently explains to readers) Thomas and the Black Flame must mix their superior genes and make a batch of babies, so she will allow herself to become mortal again, for a time. The plan: after they've had children, both Thomas and the Black Flame will be given immortality.

drone attack

What about the dumped girlfriend, Evanie? After her revolution against The Master fails and her attempt to kill the Black Flame with a nuclear weapon fails, she decides to live happily ever after with her long-time admirer, Jan Orm, who is willing to ignore her mutant genes.

Why does the Black Flame fall in love with Thomas? After a few good meals, Thomas recovers from his death and regains his normal manly proportions. But "normal" for the 20th century is unusual compared to the small, effeminate men of the future. Also, the Black Flame tries to intimidate and scare Thomas, but unlike the men of the future, he acts tough and unafraid; The Black Flame swoons. So much for the "triangles", both nuclear powered and romantic in Weinbaum's story.

artificial life

In my view, what makes this an interesting science fiction story is the "technological singularity" depicted by Weinbaum. Yes, The Master rules the world, but he is actually a benign and enlightened dictator.

One of the Master's Hi Tek™ tools for keeping control of the world is his drone surveillance system. When Evanie and Thomas and their gang of incompetent revolutionaries attack The Master's palace, they discover that their lame plot is known to The Master and their actions have been anticipated. When the revolutionaries storm The Master's palace, the palace guards are safe behind a hi tek deflector field. Evanie and Thomas run off after their coup fails, but they are tracked down by The Master's drones and returned to the palace. There, Thomas tries to shoot The Master as he sits on his thrown, but The Master is also safe behind a deflector screen. By this point, The Master is losing his patience and is ready to kill Thomas, but the Black Flame intercedes to save Thomas; after all, she's bored with her endless life and views Thomas as a manly man from the ancient past who might enliven her tedious existence.

Most people in this futuristic, post-scarcity Earth are happy. Advanced technologies have been used for projects such as irrigating the Sahara desert (image to the left). Nuclear-powered factories provide enough Stuff to meet everyone's material needs. Only a few malcontents like Evanie want revolution, for reasons that she has difficulty expressing. Thomas eventually develops a man-crush on The Master and decides to move into the Palace and live forever with The Master's sister. It is easy to imagine that Weinbaum, had he lived longer, might have written a sequel to "The Black Flame" in which Thomas and his wife would go off together in a fusion-powered spaceship to explore outer space.

Logarithms
The funniest part of "The Black Flame" comes when Thomas must divulge what he knows about lost knowledge from the 20th century. Here, Weinbaum's engineering education shines through and he has Thomas carefully explain logarithms to an enthralled Black Flame. She gushes, "We must have ten-place logarithm tables worked out".

Related Reading: Weinbaum in an alternate Reality

Thrilling Wonder Stories, June 1939 includes the S. G. Weinbaum story "Dawn of Flame"

Next: telepathy

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