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"Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today -- but the core of science fiction, its essence has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all."
- Isaac Asimov
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| Strakh | ||
| The prestige or social prominence which serves as a medium of exchange on the planet Sirene. |
On the Titanic littoral, on the planet Sirene, food and resources are available in such abundance that the finest things of life are available for the taking. The natives of Sirene, rather than pursue material goods, instead put their energy into intricacy.
| Intricacy in all things: intricate craftsmanship... intricate symbolism... and above all the fantastic intricacy of personal relationships. Prestige, face, mana, repute, glory: the Sirenese word is strakh. Every man has his characteristic strakh, which determines, when he needs a houseboat, whether he will be urged to avail himself of a floating palace... or grudgingly permitted an abandoned shack on a raft. There is no medium of exchange on Sirene; the single and sole currency is strakh.
... it would be catastrophic to Sirenese self-respect to gain advantage by means other than the exercise of strakh. |
| Technovelgy from The Moon Moth,
by Jack Vance. Published by Pocket Books in 1976 Additional resources -
|
For example, all Sirenese wear masks to reflect their strakh; you just walk into a maskmaker's shop and pick out what you want. Of course, there's a catch:
"... it's rather important not to take anything from the shops until you know the strakh value of the article you want. The owner loses prestige if a person of low strakh makes free with his best work."
Compare to whuffie from Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (2003) by Cory Doctorow, Jack Vance's social credit system strakh from The Moon Moth (1976) and the sentenced man from Harry Harrison's Robot Justice (1959). See also electronic cash from Heavy Weather (1994) by Bruce Sterling.
"...Wear any mask you like - as long as you can make it stick. This Tarn Bird [which I wear] for instance. I wear it to indicate that I presume nothing. I make no claims to wisdom, ferocity, versatility, musicianship, truculence, or any of a dozen other Sirenese virtues..."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Moon Moth
More Ideas
and Technology by Jack Vance
Tech news articles related to The Moon Moth
Tech news articles related to works by Jack Vance
Strakh-related
news articles:
- RapLeaf, Whuffie and Strakh
- Reputation As Property
- Klout Score Measures Your Influence
- China's Social Credit System - A Facebook-1984 Mashup
- China Requires Social Credit Codes Of Live Stream Users
| Indonesian Clans Battle |
| Liuzhi Process Now In Use In China |
| Animated Tumblebugs On Astounding Cover! |
| Has Elon Musk Given Up On Mars? |
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'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
'The real border was defended by... a swarm of quasi-independent aerostats.'
'I ... set my automatic astronomical instruments to searching for a habitable planet.'
'...haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?'
