Month: August 2017

Authors Answer 136 – Living in a Book

I always pick “Voyage from Yesteryear” by James P. Hogan. In it he describes what I essentially view as the perfect society on the planet Chiron. A high tech, moneyless society where skill essentially replaces currency, although no one keeps track. People’s jobs repay society for keeping them fed, there’s a lot more freedom and flexibility in thier work and less defined “careers”.

They also make brief mention of robots doing jobs that people might not be interested in – in one scene a guy who normally runs a power plant is seen painting a house, because he wants to, but also training a robot for the days he doesn’t want to (so you can assume no human unblocks toilets for a job)(…unless they want to).

Curiosity and learning is highly encouraged, but in a way to suit the individual so its not always education per se, and robots (both humanoid and not) are highly integrated into the society.

To quote Wikipedia:

…in the absence of conditioning and with limitless robotic labor and fusion power, Chiron has become a post-scarcity economy. Money and material possessions are meaningless to the Chironians and social standing is determined by individual talent, which has resulted in a wealth of art and technology without any hierarchies, central authority or armed conflict.

The book focuses on a faction coming from Earth and trying to claim Chiron for themselves and install their own capitalist values on Chiron. Personally I’d prefer to be Chiron from birth but all the Earthlings get absorbed into Chiron by the end of the novel anyway.

That’s the book I’d live in 🙂

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

Ever want to give up your life and transport yourself into the book you’re reading? Just completely start a new life and become someone new, living in a new place. It’s quite likely a lot of people do. One of the great things about reading books is the ability of the readers to lose themselves in the book. Some are great to live in, others not. What would we choose?

Question 136 – If you could live in any book, which one would you choose?

Eric Wood

Game of Thrones? To live in dark times where I’d probably die? No thanks. Love the books, don’t want to live there. Harry Potter? To be a wizard would fun, most definitely. Maybe in Terry Brooks’s world in “Kingdom For Sale, Sold“. The main character lives in today’s world but finds a portal to a magical kingdom. I like…

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