Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site brl-tgr.ARPA Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!brl-tgr!jeffh From: jeffh@brl-tgr.ARPA (the Shadow) Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers Subject: Re: What an advanced race would come far to get.... Message-ID: <109@brl-tgr.ARPA> Date: Tue, 23-Jul-85 16:16:21 EDT Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.109 Posted: Tue Jul 23 16:16:21 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 25-Jul-85 01:31:38 EDT References: <2763@topaz.ARPA> Organization: only the Shadow knows Lines: 41 > Is anyone familiar with any novels or stories in which the taking of human > (or other sentient) slaves by an advanced race is treated with some degree > of depth? > Jeff Rogers > jcr@Mitre-Bedford.ARPA This is probably not quite what you were after, but hopefully still relevant. In SUNDIVER and STARTIDE RISING, David Brin has postulated an interesting idea: the enslavement of an entire race. (Has anyone seen this idea before? If so, where?) The "advanced" races were basically fighting over the "rights" to own the human race. After all, it's silly to allow a violent, un-monitored race to exist. Who knows what they might do? The only reason humanity escaped was that none of the races would allow any other to have them. (flames to /dev/null, please, if my memory is faulty.) Now, this sounds highly plausible to me. Wouldn't humanity benefit from having access to the *entire* scientific, artistic, and philoso- phical output of another intelligent species? And what if they were telepathic? Then what wouldn't we do to control them? Taking it as a given that humans have a different perspective on life, the universe, and everything (sorry, Doug) from our hypothetical aliens, we might have something(s) they would kill (or even cross interstellar space) to get. As to expense; once you collect a sufficient sample, you cart them to your own system, give them a "game preserve," and they will be self supporting. You just quietly skim a few off the top every year to fill your own needs. (Now, does anyone want to discuss the large number of disappearances every year on this planet?) BTW, does any- one know just how many people it would take to "guarantee" a safe gene pool? How about cultural continuity? With luck, they may revere us as gods. the Shadow ARPA: UUCP: {seismo,decvax}!brl!jeffh