Transcribe
Translate
Tale of the 'Evans, v. 4, issue 2, Spring 1946
Page 3
More information
digital collection
archival collection guide
transcription tips
Of course, by now, you anticipate me. Inevitably, the protozoa discovered the advantage of unity, and the fifth stage appeared, the multicellular metazoa, the animal and vegetable life whose long evolution to presentday forms make up the history and paleontology of our planet. Now, from this viewpoint, the intent of the future is obvious. It is not even new, to science fiction readers. Someday there will be a sixth stage of matter. Maybe, in some far future beyond our wildest conception, even a seventh or an eighth. But -- a sixth, certainly. Already we see it foreshadowed in the remarkable social culture of the ants, the bees, and the termites. But there can be no doubt that homo sapiens has the power and the ability to approach closer to that sixth state than any other animal that ever lived. But -- he need not, necessarily, ever attain it. There is no reason why man should be the creature that is ultimately chosen to be the first to achieve the sixth stage. Evolution can retrogress as well as progress, and it's lots easier. So Man may fall, and some other intelligent species take his place, but in the meantime, every man who works to bring his species into closer union, works for progress and works for the magnification of the human species. It will be millions of years, maybe billions, before that strange individual, The Human Species, aware of itself and aware of its place in the universe, will stride out into the stars, but every straw removed from the path of his coming is, today, a contribution to progress. (This is the sort of space in which I would draw you a nice picture, if I was the sort of a guy who was able to draw a nice pic.) 3
Saving...
prev
next
Of course, by now, you anticipate me. Inevitably, the protozoa discovered the advantage of unity, and the fifth stage appeared, the multicellular metazoa, the animal and vegetable life whose long evolution to presentday forms make up the history and paleontology of our planet. Now, from this viewpoint, the intent of the future is obvious. It is not even new, to science fiction readers. Someday there will be a sixth stage of matter. Maybe, in some far future beyond our wildest conception, even a seventh or an eighth. But -- a sixth, certainly. Already we see it foreshadowed in the remarkable social culture of the ants, the bees, and the termites. But there can be no doubt that homo sapiens has the power and the ability to approach closer to that sixth state than any other animal that ever lived. But -- he need not, necessarily, ever attain it. There is no reason why man should be the creature that is ultimately chosen to be the first to achieve the sixth stage. Evolution can retrogress as well as progress, and it's lots easier. So Man may fall, and some other intelligent species take his place, but in the meantime, every man who works to bring his species into closer union, works for progress and works for the magnification of the human species. It will be millions of years, maybe billions, before that strange individual, The Human Species, aware of itself and aware of its place in the universe, will stride out into the stars, but every straw removed from the path of his coming is, today, a contribution to progress. (This is the sort of space in which I would draw you a nice picture, if I was the sort of a guy who was able to draw a nice pic.) 3
Hevelin Fanzines
sidebar
