Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Reviews
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1966
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1967
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1970
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1970
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1971
- The Village Voice, September 9, 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1971
- College English, 33:3, December 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1972
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1973
- Village Voice, June 16, 1973
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1973
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1974
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1976
- Frontiers, III:3, fall, 1978
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, April 1, 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, May 9, 1979
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1979
- The Feminist Review, #5 [in The New Women's Times, 5:14, July 16–19, 1979]
- Frontiers, IV:1, 1979
- Frontiers, IV: 2, 1979
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, January 24, 1980
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1980
- Sinister Wisdom, 12, winter 1980
- Frontiers, V:3, 1981
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, May 10, 1981
- Essays
- Letters
- Index of Books and Authors Reviewed
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1969
from Reviews
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Reviews
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1966
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October 1967
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1968
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, August 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1969
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1970
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1970
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1971
- The Village Voice, September 9, 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1971
- College English, 33:3, December 1971
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1972
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1973
- Village Voice, June 16, 1973
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July 1973
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1974
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, March 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, April 1975
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1976
- Frontiers, III:3, fall, 1978
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, April 1, 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, May 9, 1979
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1979
- The Feminist Review, #5 [in The New Women's Times, 5:14, July 16–19, 1979]
- Frontiers, IV:1, 1979
- Frontiers, IV: 2, 1979
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, November 1979
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, January 24, 1980
- The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1980
- Sinister Wisdom, 12, winter 1980
- Frontiers, V:3, 1981
- “Book World,” The Washington Post, May 10, 1981
- Essays
- Letters
- Index of Books and Authors Reviewed
Summary
The Prometheus Project: Mankind's Search for Long-Range Goals. Gerald Feinberg (Doubleday, $4.95). Let the Fire Fall. Kate Wilhelm (Doubleday, $4.95). World's Best Science Fiction: 1968 (Ace, 60¢). The Last Starship from Earth. John Boyd (Berkley, 75¢). The Da Vinci Machine. Earl Conrad (Fleet Press, $5.95)
Of the making of many books there is no end. And they are all published, too. And the people cried out, saying: Give us a sign, we would have a sign. So Doubleday gave them a sign.
Virtual immortality, space travel, the extension of consciousness, artificial intelligence – topics like these have been explored in science fiction for years. The Prometheus Project: Mankind's Search for Long-Range Goals by Gerald Feinberg adds nothing to the exploration but an appalling naiveté. Prometheus is a stupid book, stupid beyond description, shallow beyond bearing, and as devoid of subtlety as it is of logic. To say that Dr. Feinberg is not equal to his subject is nothing; none of us is equal to the question of whether mankind ought to have conscious, long-range goals and what these ought to be, but some of us at least are troubled by the doubts that intelligence brings. Some of us at least have an inkling of the difficulties involved, let alone the agonizing choices one would have to make, let alone the problems of even defining the subject. Prometheus is sillier than the worst Flying Saucer scare book; it is written on the village-atheist level and riddled with inconsistencies; and Dr. Feinberg's attempt to keep moral considerations out of his discussion only exposes him to the oldest and most vicious of ethical fallacies. For example (p. 166):
… modifications … may involve … psychological conditioning of future generations … Yet to be raised in any society is to be conditioned into certain beliefs and forms of behavior. In most cases the conditioning is done unconsciously, and the beliefs are tacit. I do not think that any new moral principle is established if we do the conditioning consciously … It is a question of what the principles that are instilled … are to be, and it would seem that the freely chosen goals of the human race are worthy candidates.
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- The Country You Have Never SeenEssays and Reviews, pp. 28 - 32Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2007