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"Science fiction operates a little bit like science itself, in principle. You've got thousands of people exploring ideas, putting forth their own hypotheses. Most of them are dead wrong; a few stand the test of time; everything looks kind of quaint in hind"
- Peter Watts
 |
| Procreative Stump | ||
| A woman's torso, kept alive for the purpose of using the womb as an incubator. |
In Hellstrom's Hive, a group of early settlers in America decided to pursue a different evolutionary path. Recognizing the evolutionary success of insects, they sought to emulate them in every way.
If the Hive's interest is best served by maintaining an individual only for the purpose of procreation, why keep and feed all of those unnecessary parts?
| When one of the youngsters asked if they would take the carcass to the vats or try for a procreative stump, he paused for only the briefest reflection before agreeing that they should try for a stump. Perhaps some of that female flesh could be revived and preserved. If her womb could be maintained, she might yet serve the Hive. It would be interesting to see a child of that flesh. |
| From Hellstrom's Hive,
by Frank Herbert. Published by Bantam Books in 1972 Additional resources -
|
Yes, this is a very creepy novel. However, every aspect of the novel is fully realized; the correspondence with modern green movements is eerie. The philosophy part, not the hive part.
Charles Stross uses a similar idea, that of people who are involuntarily and intentionally placed in a paralyzed state, to carry more hosts for the alien horrors from outside space-time.
Compare to synthetic babies from A Biological Experiment (1928) by David H. Keller,
Bokanovski's Process from Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley,
artificial womb from Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley and the
uterine replicator from Shards of Honor (1986) by Lois McMaster Bujold.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Hellstrom's Hive
More Ideas
and Technology by Frank Herbert
Tech news articles related to Hellstrom's Hive
Tech news articles related to works by Frank Herbert
Procreative Stump-related
news articles:
- Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman Taken Off Life Support
| Tsunami Forecasts Improved By Ionosphere Signals |
| EctoLife Concept Video Artificial Womb For Baby Mass Production |
| T. Gondii And The Leaders Of The Pack |
| Alien Eyes - Here On Earth! |
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'THE red tennis robot scooted desperately across the court...'
'The Consul remembered his first glimpse of the kilometer-long treeship...'
'Do you know what window washing used to cost by the hour?'
'Once the target is confirmed, it uses an IR laser to send a coded signal back to the parent, clearing it to attack.'
'I filled your bullet hole with flesh putty and the lattice.'
'... it will be easy to form an alphabet which shall enable us to converse with the inhabitants of the moon.'
'From the tower's huge octagonal base radiate wide silvery strips...'
'It was about five feet long... a black bullet head and red camera eyes.'
'The Law Society has strict rules on the use of pseudo-intelligent software...'
