Skip to main content

short stories - IChing and space travel identification question




There was a short that I read in an anthology, when I was on my anthology kick about 8-15 years ago. I am fairly positive that the story was from pre-1995, if that helps anyone. I know it wasn't a novella, but it wasn't a short-short if I recall that too.


The premise:


A group of super-bright scientists are selected to go on a (experimental?) space craft from Earth.


The details I'm firm on:



  • One of the astronauts was a young chinese man who recreated the iching as a set of tokens and used them to setup a form of horoscope since the constellations didn't match the familiar ones anymore.


The details I'm pretty sure about:



  • They end up diverting from their pre-assigned flight path and flying into space forever.


  • They all went mad.

  • That the young chinese man was indeed a young Chinese male. He may have been a she, and she may have been from another oriental country, but I know it was about the iChing. That always stuck out to me.



Answer



My best guess based on hazy recollections (read the short story in about 1981, when I was 12) and some Googling is that Frederik Pohl wrote the short story "The Gold at Starbow's End" first around 1970, and then expanded the themes into the novel "Starburst" in 1983.


The form of the story was of dialogue between people on Earth, and increasingly cryptic communications back from the space travellers, as they "transhumanise". The "I Ching" toe bones were actually cut (with permission) from at least one of a couple who were having sex at the time, and the dispatch from the ship claimed they did not feel anything, with the implication that they had achieved that level of control over their bodies. The toes did grow back. The whole "I Ching bone" thing is quite the most distinctive image from the story.


The ship was not diverted, I am pretty sure of that. Don't want to be a spoiler, so I won't say more.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more