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"I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development."
- Arthur C. Clarke
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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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'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'
'...the spreading beam of the deranging ray struck them, and Then one toppled and fell. Then another.'
'Within seconds the material was spread out over fifty yards, in a matter of hours it might occupy several cubic miles of space...'
'The men are dead, but their acquired wisdom lives on and I am the beneficiary.'
'Young people found the driverless car admirable for petting.'
'After twenty generations of shillyshallying...'
