DIY History | Transcribe | Hevelin Fanzines | Agenbite of Inwit, whole no. 4, Spring 1944

Transcribe
Translate

Agenbite of Inwit, whole no. 4, Spring 1944

Page 7

**********************************************************************
Agenbite of Inwit -- Spring, 1944 -- Page Seven
**********************************************************************

Moo    The experience of Futurian House, The Ivory TOwer, and some of the follow-ups proved to my satisfaction that a community of science-fiction fans, or stf-fantasy ditto, living together often brins on situations, and conditions, which tend to retard the individual's development. The concentration on fandom, on fan gatherings, confabs, fan magazines, the professionals and the possibilities of using the fan collective as a pressure group, either for altering professional policies in a desired direction, or in an attempt to transform the fan-amateur writer into a professional -- all these things tend to makescience-fiction and its immediate pursuits virtually totalirarian in their import.
Fandom is a microcosm. It does mirror the world; by studying std fans and their amusements and peregrinations, their characters both as individuals or various groups, noting their reactions, etc., it is not hard to recognize the same types of person and personal or group reaction as is found in the world outside.
But there is always danger of getting lost in the microcosm yourself. Which may be fun for awhile, until little by little you grow weary of it, and find, upon trying to emerge, that you have so surrounded yourself with esoteric symbols, literally, figuratively, and almost every other way, that you can't comprehend the people in the larger world at all, and vice versa. I don't know if such a catastrophe has actually ocurred in fandom; I do know that, at various times, certain individuals faced that danger.
Fandom is a hobby, and, as such is very nice in its way; but when the hobby becomes master -- beware!

The "branches of time" theory may have been new to stf fans when they read it first -- most probably in "Sidewise in Time", but it is hardly new. William Seabrook, in "Witchcraft", and other volumes, refers to a belief called "fan-shaped destiny", which is exactly the same animal as branches of time. Every individual act on the part of every individual opens road in the fan of destiny; the individual may travel only one of these roads, -- at least in one identity -- but until he has entered one, that which is to occur is no cut-and-dried matter.
I must ask Seabrook, next time I see him, if he's ever heard of any opinion holding forth on the possibility of discovering in advance what lies in the several folds of the fan at a given point, this being able to choose. Meant to ask him that last time, but forgot.

Sus-Pro     Deah Speah: When I say bastard line, I mean bastard line and nothing else. That happens to be what they are called at Popular Pups, and what is good enough for Popular is jake with me.
Personally, I wouldn't restrict votes from any person, over the age of 18, unless said pesron had been proven mentally incompetant, and was a charge of the state, or was living on the charity of relatives, etc., or was serving time as a convict. But I would favor some method of determining such citizens who had made definitive contributions to society, and give them more than one vote -- how many more to depends on the nature and value of their contributions. Example: Even the town drunk gets one vote -- but a person who has started at the bottom of the social scale and worked htemselves up to a point where they are a credit to their community, state, or nations, certainly should have a larger say in the government.

Saving...

********************************************************************** Agenbite of Inwit -- Spring, 1944 -- Page Seven ********************************************************************** Moo The experience of Futurian House, The Ivory TOwer, and some of the follow-ups proved to my satisfaction that a community of science-fiction fans, or stf-fantasy ditto, living together often brins on situations, and conditions, which tend to retard the individual's development. The concentration on fandom, on fan gatherings, confabs, fan magazines, the professionals and the possibilities of using the fan collective as a pressure group, either for altering professional policies in a desired direction, or in an attempt to transform the fan-amateur writer into a professional -- all these things tend to makescience-fiction and its immediate pursuits virtually totalirarian in their import. Fandom is a microcosm. It does mirror the world; by studying std fans and their amusements and peregrinations, their characters both as individuals or various groups, noting their reactions, etc., it is not hard to recognize the same types of person and personal or group reaction as is found in the world outside. But there is always danger of getting lost in the microcosm yourself. Which may be fun for awhile, until little by little you grow weary of it, and find, upon trying to emerge, that you have so surrounded yourself with esoteric symbols, literally, figuratively, and almost every other way, that you can't comprehend the people in the larger world at all, and vice versa. I don't know if such a catastrophe has actually ocurred in fandom; I do know that, at various times, certain individuals faced that danger. Fandom is a hobby, and, as such is very nice in its way; but when the hobby becomes master -- beware! The "branches of time" theory may have been new to stf fans when they read it first -- most probably in "Sidewise in Time", but it is hardly new. William Seabrook, in "Witchcraft", and other volumes, refers to a belief called "fan-shaped destiny", which is exactly the same animal as branches of time. Every individual act on the part of every individual opens road in the fan of destiny; the individual may travel only one of these roads, -- at least in one identity -- but until he has entered one, that which is to occur is no cut-and-dried matter. I must ask Seabrook, next time I see him, if he's ever heard of any opinion holding forth on the possibility of discovering in advance what lies in the several folds of the fan at a given point, this being able to choose. Meant to ask him that last time, but forgot. Sus-Pro Deah Speah: When I say bastard line, I mean bastard line and nothing else. That happens to be what they are called at Popular Pups, and what is good enough for Popular is jake with me. Personally, I wouldn't restrict votes from any person, over the age of 18, unless said pesron had been proven mentally incompetant, and was a charge of the state, or was living on the charity of relatives, etc., or was serving time as a convict. But I would favor some method of determining such citizens who had made definitive contributions to society, and give them more than one vote -- how many more to depends on the nature and value of their contributions. Example: Even the town drunk gets one vote -- but a person who has started at the bottom of the social scale and worked htemselves up to a point where they are a credit to their community, state, or nations, certainly should have a larger say in the government.