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"You have been selected as a possible candidate for admission",
said Frost. "If you do not gain admission, or if you reject it,
it will be necessary to destroy you.
I am not, of course, attempting to work on your fears. They
only confuse the issue. The process would be painless, and your
present reactions to it are inevitable physical events."
Mark considered this thoughtfully.
"It - it seems rather a formidable decision."
"That is merely a proposition about the state of your own body
at the moment. If you please, I will go on to give you the
necessary information. ( ... )
But Alcasan's mind is not the mind we are in contact with when
the Head speaks."
"Do you mean Alcasan is really .. dead?" asked Mark.
His surprise needed no acting.
"In the present state of our knowledge," said Frost, "there is
no answer to that question. Probably it has no meaning. But
the cortex and vocal organs in Alcasan's head are used by a
different mind. Now, please attend very carefully. You have
probably not heard of macrobes."
"Microbes?" said Mark in bewilderment. "But of course --"

"I did not say microbes, I said macrobes.
The formation of the word explains itself. Below the level of
animal life, we have long known that there are microscopic
organisms. Their actual results on human life, in respect of
health and disease, have of course made up a large part of
history: the secret cause was not known till we invented the
microscope.
"Go on," said Mark. Ravenous curiosity was moving .. beneath
his determination to stand on guard.

"I have now to inform you that there are similar organisms
above the level of animal life. When I say 'above', I am not
speaking biologically. The structure of the macrobe, so far
as we know it, is of great simplicity. When I say that it is
above the animal level, I mean that it is more permanent,
disposes of more energy, and has greater intelligence."
"More intelligent than the highest anthropoids?" said Mark.
"It must be pretty nearly human, then."
"When I said it transcended the animals, I was, of course,
including the most efficient animal, Man. The macrobe is more
intelligent than Man."
Frowningly, Mark studied this theory.
"But how is it in that case that we have had no communication
with them?"
"It is not certain that we have not. But in primitive times
it was spasmodic, and was opposed by numerous prejudices.
Moreover, the intellectual development of man had not reached
the level at which intercourse with our species could offer
any attractions to a macrobe. But though there has been
little intercourse, there has been profound influence.
Their effect on human history has been far greater than that
of the microbes, though of course, equally unrecognized.
In the light of what we now know, all history will have to be
rewritten. The real causes of all the principal events are
quite unknown to historians; that, indeed, is why history has
not yet succeeded in becoming a science." ( ... )

"The vocal organs and brain taken from Alcasan have become
the conductors of a regular intercourse between the Macrobes
and our own species. We did not discover this technique, the
discovery was theirs, not ours. The circle to which you may
be admitted is the organ of that co-operation between the two
species which has already created a new situation for humanity.
The change, you will see, is far greater than that which turned
the sub-man into the Man." ..

"These organisms, then," said Mark, "are friendly to humanity?"
"If you reflect for a moment, you will see that your question
has no meaning except on the level of the crudest popular
thought. Friendship is a chemical phenomenon, so is hatred.
Both of them presuppose organisms of our own type. The first
step towards intercourse with the macrobes is the realisation
that one must go outside the whole world of subjective
emotions. Only as you begin to do so, you discover how much
of what you mistook for your thoughts, was merely a by-product
of your blood and nervous tissues."
"Oh, of course. I didn't quite mean "friendly", in that sense.
I really meant, were their aims compatible with our own?"

"What do you mean by our own aims?"

[ fortsettes i neste )     ( norsk intro omtale )
Tekst fra uforkortet utgave 1983

An atheist is someone who thinks (but doesn't believe)
that nothing created everything.

Av alle fortellinger som er skapt for å rettferdiggjøre kapitalismen, er ingen bedre og mer effektiv enn den som postulerer at de som tjener mest, er de som fortjener det: de mest intelligente, de flittigste, de mest standhaftige. Den som tjener penger, har også gjort seg fortjent til det - meritokratiet rettferdiggjør enhver forskjell.

Å kaste søppel er en maktdemonstrasjon. Makten til å kvitte seg med goder som andre trenger; makten til å vite at andre vil sørge for å få det til å forsvinne. Makten til å besitte er tilfredsstillende, men aldri mer enn makten til å gjøre seg av med noe: Makten til ikke å trenge det man har.

Et klargjørende øyeblikk i konkurransen mellom klassene: Jo flere rike det er som spiser kjøtt, desto flere fattige spiser ikke.

At vi er så mange som spiser mat hver dag, er et mirakel; at så mange av oss ikke gjør det, er en forbrytelse.

Sult er par excellence de andres problem. Det berører oss aldri direkte. Vi er opptatt av økosystemet, seksuelle rettigheter, ytringsfriheten, fred i Midtøsten . Hvorfor skulle vi bry oss. Og på vegne av hvilken ide, hvilket prinsipp, hvilken smerte, hvilken moral.

Sult er det ondet som flest mennesker rammes av - nest etter døden, som rammer nesten alle. Og det er følgelig den som dreper flest - ja, etterpå.

Tusener på tusener av fallitter. I verden - i denne verden - dør 25 000 mennesker av sulterelaterte årsaker hver dag. Hvis du, leser, tar deg bryet med å lese denne boken, hvis den interesserer deg og du leser den på - la oss si - åtte timer, vil rundt regnet 8000 mennesker ha sultet i hjel i løpet av denne tiden. Hvis du velger å ikke lese den, vil disse menneskene dø like fullt. Du vil sannsynligvis foretrekke å ikke lese denne boken. Jeg ville kanskje ha gjort det samme. det er vanligvis best å ikke vite hvem de er, eller hvordan eller hvorfor. (Men du har lest dette korte avsnittet på et halvt minutt. Vit at i løpet av denne tiden har bare åtte eller ti mennesker sultet i hjel i verden - og pust lettet ut.)