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probably can imagine what the conditions might be of such an expedition ten,
twenty, thirty years out, or what social, psychological, or other stresses
could arise to challenge its resourcefulness. Quite possibly, even the natures
of the people who had come into being by that time could be completely alien
to the comprehension of anyone shaped by our planet-bound perspectives. The
approach indicated, then, is surely to try to anticipate nothing, but to build
in the flexibility that will enable the people concerned to create their own
style of community as they go. And since from what we've been saying, one form
of community is never going to suit everyone, this means "communities."
The Royal Air Force in Britain in World War II had an unorthodox way of
forming bomber crews, but one that proved very effective. There was no
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matching of psychological profiles by experts or grouping according to the
results of elaborate personality tests maybe because nobody had the time,
rather than through any dazzling insight. But what they did was simply turn
loose the new recruits fresh from pilot training, navigation and gunnery
school, and so forth in a hangar as an unsupervised throng, and let the crews
find themselves. A captain might find a flight engineer and radio operator who
all liked the look of each other and thought they might get along, and
together they would wander around in search of a navigator, tail gunner, et
cetera until the crew was complete. Compatible temperaments had a knack for
finding each other, and the teams that gravitated together in this way tended
to be, dare I say
"harmonious"? and enduring.
Maybe a generation starship mission could adopt the same principle. Imagine
our initial ship or preferably ships, two or three, say, to provide lifeboats
in case of emergency; Columbus had the right idea lifting out from parking
orbit accompanied by a flotilla of immense cargo repositories packed with
materials and equipment of the kind used in the construction of the manned
craft. Or the rafts could have been sent out ahead at intervals over years if
need be, to be overhauled and consolidated as the voyage proceeds. Now there's
no need for any elite clique of prescient experts to spell out in advance what
kind of geometry the descendants in years hence shall inhabit, the
organization of the society they will form part of, and how they will function
in it. Because as all the unpredictable factors that time will bring unfold,
and various groups and factions emerge with different ideas about the kind of
world that they think would appeal to them, they can simply go out and build
their own
.
What a great way to allay the boredom and disgruntlements that are bound to
surface among any human community shut up for a long period in a limited
space; for providing an outlet for surplus energies and a reservoir for
preserving the richness of diversity that we cherish! Tired of walking through
the same mall-like concourses and residential decks every day, and seeing the
same patches of hydroponic greens on the far side overhead, interrupted by
star-filled sky windows? Fine. Get a like-minded group together and design
yourselves a torroidal world, a dumbbell-shaped world, a modular Ferris wheel
. . . anything you want. You can set yourselves up as a Baptist community,
Mormon, Muslim, Buddhist; or try out an experiment in Libertarian living,
Socialist, Libertine, Monarchist, or perhaps united as of one mind in serving
your own local dictator; even "Hierarchical and Homogenistic," or
"Heterogenistic, Mutualistic, and Symbiotic" if it really grabs your fancy.
And the beauty of it is that none of these attachments to a
social formula or style of living has to be permanent. As the initial
strung-out stockpile of construction materials gradually transforms itself
into a formation of liberal to tightly run city-states, frontier towns,
religious monasteries, pleasure resorts, urban crushes, rural spreads,
academic retreats, and who knows what else, the changes and contrasts of
moving from one to another could be the source of variety found to be
essential to a healthy life. It could be an invaluable means of education too.
For what quicker and more effective way could there be of revealing the
realities of someone else's utopia than shuttling across a few miles of
intervening space and trying it for a while? And what better preparation could
those distant descendants have, of whatever generation eventually arrives at
an inhabitable world, for dealing with the conflicts and vicissitudes that go
to make up real human existence than to have lived with them all their lives?
So what mix of objects will eventually drop into orbit to begin surveying that
new, far-off abode? A
variety of thriving, mutually supportive communities, ready to extend the
pattern across a new world? Or mutually distrustful armed fortresses, seeking
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only their own territory to enclose and defend? I have no idea. But that's the
whole point. At our end of the venture, nobody can.
In the meantime, though, I think I may have concocted an idea for a new book.
Decontamination Squad
It was the first visit of an environmental regulator to this part of the
galaxy in over twenty thousand years.
Dispatched during the Third Cleanup Crusade to the outer spiral, the Inspector
from the Emergent-Life
Protection Agency reentered normal space in Sector 5, Group 12, Subcluster 3,
in the vicinity of a nine-planet system orbiting a midrange yellow dwarf star
listed in the register as G4-769-KW/4603H.
Scans across the ultraviolet, optical, microwave, and radio bands confirmed
that the innermost planet, 4603/1, was still lifeless as reported by the
previous emissary, but this had been expected. With regard to 4603/2 and
4603/4, it was regrettably conceded that the measures taken in the course of
the previous visit to protect and encourage the incipient life detected on
that occasion had failed. The second planet showed overcompensation reactions
running out of control, resulting in conditions of excessive heat and
atmospheric pressure, while the fourth had reverted to cold desert before any
life appeared. 4603/5
through 9 were also devoid of life, as were all planetary satellites.
The third planet, however, 4603/3, although heavily polluted by various
strains of static and mobile carbon-based oxytoxins that had become
self-replicating and in places blanketed entire regions of the surface, showed
weak electromagnetic emanations indicative of possible protolife. The
Inspector moved closer and deployed probes for more intensive sampling
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