Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction
by Isaac Asimov (Editor), Martin Harry Greenberg (Editor), Charles G. Waugh (Editor)
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Twelve science fiction stories which explore the complexities and limitations of the human mind as it responds to unusual situations, bizarre societies, and unorthodox problems. Includes a brief analysis of each story.Tags
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A science fiction story geared to the juvenile market of 1985, it is perhaps interesting because it contains some of the themes that would appear in 'Nemesis' only four years later although these are themes that appear throughout his work in some form or another, notably the all-knowing machine intelligence central to the story.
In both, young scientific 'space cadets' find themselves allocated (Hallucination)/allocate themselves (Nemesis) to a planet where a nearby star is asset for (H)/threat to (N) humanity. The humans live in a dome despite the outside apparently being safe. Institutional politics stand against intellectual and personal integrity in both.
Asimov is certainly fixated on omniscience and collective intelligence. Here we show more have both machine intelligence and collective planetary intelligence with the implication that the first has chosen a young human to intermediate with the second in order to work towards a project that may collectivise human intelligence.
Asimov's 'utopianism' is generally based on humans striving to become the agents of continual expansion not only into the furthest reaches of space but also into the furthest reaches of knowledge. There is a constant implication that humanity's destiny must be to know all things and that benign collective intelligence must provide the model.
There are threats of madness and both story and novel have the youngsters 'cracking' a problem of collective alien intelligence that has eluded the adults. In both cases, the youngster becomes prime interpreter of a situation involving what amounts to respect for an alien ecology. Not a masterpiece but one for Asimov completists. show less
In both, young scientific 'space cadets' find themselves allocated (Hallucination)/allocate themselves (Nemesis) to a planet where a nearby star is asset for (H)/threat to (N) humanity. The humans live in a dome despite the outside apparently being safe. Institutional politics stand against intellectual and personal integrity in both.
Asimov is certainly fixated on omniscience and collective intelligence. Here we show more have both machine intelligence and collective planetary intelligence with the implication that the first has chosen a young human to intermediate with the second in order to work towards a project that may collectivise human intelligence.
Asimov's 'utopianism' is generally based on humans striving to become the agents of continual expansion not only into the furthest reaches of space but also into the furthest reaches of knowledge. There is a constant implication that humanity's destiny must be to know all things and that benign collective intelligence must provide the model.
There are threats of madness and both story and novel have the youngsters 'cracking' a problem of collective alien intelligence that has eluded the adults. In both cases, the youngster becomes prime interpreter of a situation involving what amounts to respect for an alien ecology. Not a masterpiece but one for Asimov completists. show less
Isaac Asimov,Jerome Bixby,Roald Dahl,J. T. Mac Intosh,Donald E. Westlake,Christopher Anvil,Robert Silverberg,Henry Kuttner,Fred Saberhagen,Randall Garrett,John Brunner,Edward W. Ludwig
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Isaac Asimov was born in Petrovichi, Russia, on January 2, 1920. His family emigrated to the United States in 1923 and settled in Brooklyn, New York, where they owned and operated a candy store. Asimov became a naturalized U.S. citizen at the age of eight. As a youngster he discovered his talent for writing, producing his first original fiction at show more the age of eleven. He went on to become one of the world's most prolific writers, publishing nearly 500 books in his lifetime. Asimov was not only a writer; he also was a biochemist and an educator. He studied chemistry at Columbia University, earning a B.S., M.A. and Ph.D. In 1951, Asimov accepted a position as an instructor of biochemistry at Boston University's School of Medicine even though he had no practical experience in the field. His exceptional intelligence enabled him to master new systems rapidly, and he soon became a successful and distinguished professor at Columbia and even co-authored a biochemistry textbook within a few years. Asimov won numerous awards and honors for his books and stories, and he is considered to be a leading writer of the Golden Age of science fiction. While he did not invent science fiction, he helped to legitimize it by adding the narrative structure that had been missing from the traditional science fiction books of the period. He also introduced several innovative concepts, including the thematic concern for technological progress and its impact on humanity. Asimov is probably best known for his Foundation series, which includes Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. In 1966, this trilogy won the Hugo award for best all-time science fiction series. In 1983, Asimov wrote an additional Foundation novel, Foundation's Edge, which won the Hugo for best novel of that year. Asimov also wrote a series of robot books that included I, Robot, and eventually he tied the two series together. He won three additional Hugos, including one awarded posthumously for the best non-fiction book of 1995, I. Asimov. "Nightfall" was chosen the best science fiction story of all time by the Science Fiction Writers of America. In 1979, Asimov wrote his autobiography, In Memory Yet Green. He continued writing until just a few years before his death from heart and kidney failure on April 6, 1992. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Charles Waugh is an associate professor of English at Utah State University and the editor and translator (with Nguyn Lien) of Family of Fallen Leaves: Stories of Agent Orange by Vietnamese Writers. Nguyn Lien was a writer, scholar, and teacher who translated many international works of literature into Vietnamese. Van Gi is the dean of the Faculty show more of Creative Writing at the University of Culture in Hanoi. show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Órbita de alucinación. La psicología en la ciencia ficción
- Original title
- Hallucination Orbit: Psychology in Science Fiction
- Original publication date
- 1983
- Original language*
- Inglés
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, Tween, Science Fiction, Kids
- DDC/MDS
- 823.914 — Literature & rhetoric English & Old English literatures English fiction 1900- 1901-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PZ5 .H16 — Language and Literature Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Fiction and juvenile belles lettres Juvenile belles lettres
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- 32
- Popularity
- 878,010
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.70)
- Languages
- English, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 4
