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"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'Science Fiction' and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
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| Scientific Reincarnation | ||
| Technology to allow a person to transfer themselves to a new, healthy body. |
In this excellent Hugo award-winning novel, Zelazny describes a planet that is set up on the same social structure as the Hinduism of 2,000 years ago. Except that, thanks to the technology brought with them to the planet, a pantheon of "gods" controls actual reincarnation for the populace.
The newly-incarnated Mahasamatman (Sam, to his friends), was determined to break the power of the ruling group, and stole the reincarnation technology.
| He burned his old body, along with all the others... While the banks of sperm and ova, the growth tanks and the body lockers could not be transported, the transfer equipment itself was dismantled... and its components were loaded under the horses of those who had fallen in the battle. |
| Technovelgy from Lord of Light,
by Roger Zelazny. Published by Doubleday in 1967 Additional resources -
|
In the story, people who support the ancient social structure, which deliberately stifles innovation, are well-served when they present themselves (old and gray) at the Hall of the Masters of Karma. They receive a healthy, young body of their choice.
However, people who have committed crimes against the ruling order can be sure to be reincarnated as animals (like dogs and apes) or be given bodies with genetically engineered defects, like epilepsy.
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Tech news articles related to Lord of Light
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news articles:
- China To Control Reincarnation Of Tibetan Buddhists
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| MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking |
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'He found a barber shop which, he thought, would be good for an idle hour.'
'Thirty rounds of fighting is tough work. Even for machines.'
'...the excavations were already in progress, for he saw gray slopes of rubble.'
'...the walking mills of Puffy Products began to tread delicately on their centipede legs across the wheat fields of Kansas.'
'Here is a Clerk that would work incessantly, and neither eat, sleep, want payment, or grumble.'
'ZARNAK, YOU'RE TO COMMAND A SCOUTING EXPEDITION --- FIND OUT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT!'
'These are your rudimentary seed packages... Some will combine in place to form more complicated structures.'
