Difference between revisions of "Prisoners of Power"
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<blockquote> a mind control signal, employed by the Fathers to control the population. | <blockquote> a mind control signal, employed by the Fathers to control the population. | ||
| − | + | The constant low-intensity broadcast suppresses the ability of most people to evaluate information critically, making the omnipresent regime propaganda much more effective. In addition, twice a day an intense signal relieves mental stresses caused by the disconnect between the propaganda and the observed reality by inducing euphoria in the susceptible majority, and intense headaches in others who are immune to the signal's coercive power. Those are the only sober-thinking people in the country, including both the underground degens [degenerates — the opposition] and the Fathers themselves.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_of_Power#Plot_summary] | |
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
| − | John J. Pierce notes that such mind-control is "an old concept in Soviet sf, going back to [Alexander] Belyayev’s ''Ruler of the World'' (1929)"[https://www.amazon.com/Ruler-World-Alexander-Belyaev/dp/1484982312] (''Foundations of Science Fiction'' revision, in ms. Soviet SF p. 23).[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?103387] Pierce | + | John J. Pierce notes that such mind-control is "an old concept in Soviet sf, going back to [Alexander] Belyayev’s ''Ruler of the World'' (1929)"[https://www.amazon.com/Ruler-World-Alexander-Belyaev/dp/1484982312] (''Foundations of Science Fiction'' revision, in ms. Soviet SF p. 23).[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?103387] Pierce quotes in alternative translation,<blockquote> |
| − | + | The field was everywhere. Invisible, omnipresent, all pervasive. A gigantic network of towers enmeshing the entire country emitted radiation around the clock. It purged tens of millions of souls of any doubts they might have about the All Powerful Creators’ works and deeds.</blockquote> | |
| − | The only native people immune to the transmissions are the despised degens, political dissidents. The same radiation that brainwashes ordinary men paralyzes degens with excruciating pain, and any caught in the open are easily rounded up. | + | He continues, "The only native people immune to the transmissions are the despised degens, political dissidents. The same radiation that brainwashes ordinary men paralyzes degens with excruciating pain, and any caught in the open are easily rounded up" (p. 24). |
</blockquote> | </blockquote> | ||
Revision as of 21:55, 9 July 2020
Strugatsky, Arkady, and Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power (vt. Inhabited Island, Russian: Обитаемый остров, romanized: Obitaemyy ostrov). Neva nos. 3, 4, 5: 1969 (publication of the Leningrad Division of the Union of Soviet Writers). Book 1971, "with great number of changes as demanded by the state censor." Helen Saltz Jacobson, translator. New York: Macmillan, 1977.[1] Introduction by Theodore Sturgeon. New York: Collier, 1978. New York: Penguin, 1983.[2]
SF in the Noon Universe series.
In Wikipedia summary, there are towers on a non-Terran planet, where a controlling elite — "Fire-bearing Creators" or "All-Powerful Creators" or "Unknown Fathers" depending on censorship and translators — broadcast
a mind control signal, employed by the Fathers to control the population.
The constant low-intensity broadcast suppresses the ability of most people to evaluate information critically, making the omnipresent regime propaganda much more effective. In addition, twice a day an intense signal relieves mental stresses caused by the disconnect between the propaganda and the observed reality by inducing euphoria in the susceptible majority, and intense headaches in others who are immune to the signal's coercive power. Those are the only sober-thinking people in the country, including both the underground degens [degenerates — the opposition] and the Fathers themselves.[3]
John J. Pierce notes that such mind-control is "an old concept in Soviet sf, going back to [Alexander] Belyayev’s Ruler of the World (1929)"[4] (Foundations of Science Fiction revision, in ms. Soviet SF p. 23).[5] Pierce quotes in alternative translation,
The field was everywhere. Invisible, omnipresent, all pervasive. A gigantic network of towers enmeshing the entire country emitted radiation around the clock. It purged tens of millions of souls of any doubts they might have about the All Powerful Creators’ works and deeds.
He continues, "The only native people immune to the transmissions are the despised degens, political dissidents. The same radiation that brainwashes ordinary men paralyzes degens with excruciating pain, and any caught in the open are easily rounded up" (p. 24).
RDE, with thanks to JJP, 9July20
