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Spaceways, v. 3, issue 4, May 1941
Page 20
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20 SPACEWAYS 7 THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE Tom Norman F. Stanley writes: Recent issues have all been good, with the exception of V3 N1, which was practically perfect--colossal in the literal sense--I still haven't it completely read. Maybe it would've been perfect were it not for that Bok thing on the back. And I like Bok, too, as a rule. The front cover, though, was all Wright. Why doesn't that lad tackle the pros? He's got the stuff.'''''Jack Townsend's article on telepathy interested me, for I had approached the matter from a somewhat different tack and had arrived at the same conclusion some time previous to my reading his article. He got stepped on for his confusion of telepathy and ESP in general, and his somewhat superficial line of reasoning, but apparently no one cared to challenge his original assumption that extrasensory perception might be incompatible with conscious reasoning. There seems to be a gratuitous, yet almost universal, notion among s.-f. writers and readers that beings of advanced mental development would possess accentuated telepathic ability. 'Tis true, indeed, that all of the advanced races, and withal most of the dopier ones, of science-fiction invariably communicate perfectly by telepathy. As a convenient dodge for getting around obvious communication difficulties it is an acceptable bit of license, perhaps too much taken for granted. But there seems to be no factual foundation for such an assumption. Granted that a mutation might produce a super-being blessed with both extra-sensory abilities and exalted intellectual capacities, of course. That is unpredictable, but in general I'm inclined to doubt of extrasensory powers have any particular relation to intellectual ability, or that a mentally advanced race would have by the normal course of evolution acquired enhanced telepathic ability. In fact, from an environmental standpoint, the opposite would seem to be the case. There are numerous instances, well-confirmed but ill-explained, among aboriginal races of an ability to know of distant events via some extrasensory medium. And with many of the lower animals there is a more-or - less well-defined homing ability. That this ability with pigeons is interfered with by short radio waves may be an important clue, though at present unexplained. May it not be (as Townsend pointed out) that telepathy as a means of communication is not well suited to the coherent thoughts of the reasoning mind? Perhaps it is an ability common to the lower animals an discarded by man in favor of articulate speech. Primitive races with poorly developed means of communication apparently still rely to some extent on these extrasensory powers. The "civilized" man, continually exposed to the spoken and written word, has his conscious mind too well occupied to notice or utilize the subtler extrasensory perceptions. Extrasensory power, then, may be an atavistic trait, and the telepaths and clairvoyants throwbacks rather than supermen. It would be interesting to make a survey to see how many persons with telepathic ability are also able to wiggle their ears! (Or have tails!).....'''''4SJ's article on the "Dawn of Flame" ms. is, I take it, a comparison with the version published in TWS--horribly cut. At least the deleted sections he cites are all present in the memorial volume version. Of all Weinbum's published s.-f. works (and I think I've read most of 'em) D. of F. has my preference as his best. His "Circle of Zero" though, very closely approaches, and in some ways tops "D. of F.", in my estimation. But the two stories are so different in length and style that a strict comparison is difficult. "The New Adam" I've just recently acquired and haven't
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20 SPACEWAYS 7 THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE Tom Norman F. Stanley writes: Recent issues have all been good, with the exception of V3 N1, which was practically perfect--colossal in the literal sense--I still haven't it completely read. Maybe it would've been perfect were it not for that Bok thing on the back. And I like Bok, too, as a rule. The front cover, though, was all Wright. Why doesn't that lad tackle the pros? He's got the stuff.'''''Jack Townsend's article on telepathy interested me, for I had approached the matter from a somewhat different tack and had arrived at the same conclusion some time previous to my reading his article. He got stepped on for his confusion of telepathy and ESP in general, and his somewhat superficial line of reasoning, but apparently no one cared to challenge his original assumption that extrasensory perception might be incompatible with conscious reasoning. There seems to be a gratuitous, yet almost universal, notion among s.-f. writers and readers that beings of advanced mental development would possess accentuated telepathic ability. 'Tis true, indeed, that all of the advanced races, and withal most of the dopier ones, of science-fiction invariably communicate perfectly by telepathy. As a convenient dodge for getting around obvious communication difficulties it is an acceptable bit of license, perhaps too much taken for granted. But there seems to be no factual foundation for such an assumption. Granted that a mutation might produce a super-being blessed with both extra-sensory abilities and exalted intellectual capacities, of course. That is unpredictable, but in general I'm inclined to doubt of extrasensory powers have any particular relation to intellectual ability, or that a mentally advanced race would have by the normal course of evolution acquired enhanced telepathic ability. In fact, from an environmental standpoint, the opposite would seem to be the case. There are numerous instances, well-confirmed but ill-explained, among aboriginal races of an ability to know of distant events via some extrasensory medium. And with many of the lower animals there is a more-or - less well-defined homing ability. That this ability with pigeons is interfered with by short radio waves may be an important clue, though at present unexplained. May it not be (as Townsend pointed out) that telepathy as a means of communication is not well suited to the coherent thoughts of the reasoning mind? Perhaps it is an ability common to the lower animals an discarded by man in favor of articulate speech. Primitive races with poorly developed means of communication apparently still rely to some extent on these extrasensory powers. The "civilized" man, continually exposed to the spoken and written word, has his conscious mind too well occupied to notice or utilize the subtler extrasensory perceptions. Extrasensory power, then, may be an atavistic trait, and the telepaths and clairvoyants throwbacks rather than supermen. It would be interesting to make a survey to see how many persons with telepathic ability are also able to wiggle their ears! (Or have tails!).....'''''4SJ's article on the "Dawn of Flame" ms. is, I take it, a comparison with the version published in TWS--horribly cut. At least the deleted sections he cites are all present in the memorial volume version. Of all Weinbum's published s.-f. works (and I think I've read most of 'em) D. of F. has my preference as his best. His "Circle of Zero" though, very closely approaches, and in some ways tops "D. of F.", in my estimation. But the two stories are so different in length and style that a strict comparison is difficult. "The New Adam" I've just recently acquired and haven't
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