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"At its best, SF is the medium in which our miserable certainty that tomorrow will be different from today in ways we can't predict, can be transmuted to a sense of excitement and anticipation, occasionally evolving into awe."
- John Brunner
 |
| Control Helmet | ||
| A device which causes an entire race of people to think and feel the same as the wearer. |
Slugger Martin is hurled into the unknown by ol' Doc Murtha's field projector and winds up on a distant planet. It seems that every member of the dominant alien race is subject to Control by higher authorities.
When he arrives, he is obviously out of Control, and is taken to see the Controller of their society.
| "There was war here on Calthor, too, many ages ago," Zura said quickly. " People fought, and rioted, and quarreled constantly with one another, because they had different mental attitudes...
"That is why our forefathers originated Control. It is a device to make certain that everyone has the same mental attitude on important questions. The wisest of our race is always the Controller. He wears the sacred Control helmet, the supreme achievement of our science, which amplifies and broadcasts the neuro-electric currents of his brain as a powerful vibration that affects every other human brain, setting up the same currents, the same basic ideas, in them all." |
| From Easy Money,
by Edmond Hamilton. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1938 Additional resources -
|
The Control helmet is never turned on full blast, because then everyone would be an automaton, a slave to the will of the Controller.
Here's what the helmet looked like:
This guy had a queer metal thing on his head, like a big diving helmet, only the front was cut away so his face showed. There were a lot of little screws or knobs on the side of this helmet, and a little ring of glowing white lights on top.
"...his square face was very brooding and heavy and thoughtful, something like an alderman worrying about his ward, only a million times more so."
Compare to the cogitator or Chair of Reflection from Daniel Defoe's 1705 story The Consolidator.
He was sitting on a dais, doing nothing. I knew then he was the big shot, for only a big shot can do nothing but sit and look wise.
(Control Helmet from 'Easy Money' by Edmond Hamilton)
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Easy Money
More Ideas
and Technology by Edmond Hamilton
Tech news articles related to Easy Money
Tech news articles related to works by Edmond Hamilton
Control Helmet-related
news articles:
- TMS Decreases Belief In God, Increases Belief In Immigrants
| Florida Man Felt Harassed By Drone, Shoots It Down |
| Guard Dog Robot Security Check |
| Portsmouth, OH Residents Don't All Favor Drone Surveillance |
| Airport Security Now Using Predator-Style Heat Vision Helmets |
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'Webb Foster had built his space laboratory... It was a great crystal sphere, a thousand feet in diameter.'
'It's illegal to hold back information during a psyche test,' the machine said peevishly.'
Perfect for exploring ancient artifacts on distant planets.
'a walking balloon proceeded with long strides of its aluminum legs over a slant of steep upland.'
'This was as close as a robot could get to a cop in uniform.'
