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"it slowly dawned on me that the landscape of science is maybe what interests people a great deal in science fiction."
- Gregory Benford
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| Probe Screen Hood | ||
| A device that blocks attempts to see into the contents of the brain mind. |
When some humans gain telepathic abilities, they try to subjugate the normals. Should people with the power to determine with certainty the contents of your mind also have the political power to control you and control society?
| He had done nothing disloyal. Nothing, except open the morning mail, find the hood, deliberate about it, and finally put it on. He remembered the small instruction tag:
GREETINGS! This probe screen is sent to you with compliments of the maker and the earnest hope that it will be of some value to you. Thank you. ...Should he wear it? He had never done anything. He had nothing to hide - nothing disloyal to the Union. But the thought fascinated him. If he wore the hood his mind would be his own. Nobody could look into it. His mind would be long to him again, private, secret, to think as he wished, endless thoughts for no one else's consumption but his own... There was some sort of an Anti-Immunity bill up in Congress to make wearing of a probe screen a felony, but it hadn't been passed yet- |
| Technovelgy from The Hood Maker ('Immunity'),
by Philip K. Dick. Published by Imagination in 1955 Additional resources -
|
Here's another bit:
"Teeps" are telepathic humans.
This is a very early reference to the idea of a "tin foil hat." I can find quotes for the opposite idea - see the entry for the Control Helmet from a 1938 story by Edmund Hamilton. Can you find an earlier reference?
He tapped his hood. "This alloy - opaque to probes. Discovered by accident, by one of these men. Teeps came after him instantly, but he escaped.
"The teeps can't file a framed report on a man whose mind is opaque to probes... The teeps have to get the hoods off... If a man is innocent why shouldn't he want his mind probed? The bill makes wearing a probe shield a felony."
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Hood Maker ('Immunity')
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to The Hood Maker ('Immunity')
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Probe Screen Hood-related
news articles:
- 'Brain Breathalyzer' For Astronauts
- Thought-Screen Helmets A Classic American Craft
| Goodness Gracious Me! Google Tries Face Recognition Security |
| Live Stream With Meta-Ban Multimodal Smart Glasses |
| Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions |
| Amazon One Is Frank Herbert's Palm Lock |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
