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"I don't know why I write science fiction. The voices in my head told me to!"
- Charles Stross
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| Ethical Suicide Parlor | ||
| A comfy environment in which you might commit ethical suicide, and thereby serve society. |
| There was a Howard Johnson's next door to every Ethical Suicide Parlor, and vice versa. The Howard Johnson's had an orange roof and the Suicide Parlor had a purple roof, but they were both the Government. Practically everything was the Government...
All Hostesses were virgins. They also had to hold advanced degrees in psychology and nursing. They also had to be plump and rosy, and at least six feet tall... Their uniforms were white lipstick, heavy eye makeup, purple body stockings with nothing underneath, and black-leather boots... In a really good week, say the one before Christmas, they might put sixty people to sleep. It was done with a hypodermic syringe. |
| Technovelgy from Welcome to the Monkey House,
by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Published by Not known in 1958 Additional resources -
|
In 1882, Anthony Trollope wrote a futuristic novel, ''The Fixed Period,'' in which he foresaw retiring large numbers of old men to a place where they would be encouraged to enjoy a year of contemplation, followed by a peaceful chloroforming.
Jack Williamson used this idea in science fiction much earlier; see the Halls of Euthanasia from One Against the Legion (1939).
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and Technology from Welcome to the Monkey House
More Ideas
and Technology by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
Tech news articles related to Welcome to the Monkey House
Tech news articles related to works by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
| Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth? |
| Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke |
| SensorWake Scent-Based Alarm Clock |
| Ulm Sleep Pods For The Homeless |
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'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
