The Universe of "The Stars, My Destination" by Alfred Bester
The degree of worldbuilding exhibited in The Stars, My Destination by Alfred Bester was astounding.
From my perspective, it seems like the author decided to implant a few drastic changes to our current reality, and simply let the rest of the universe fall into place around it. In The Stars, those changes were the setting, and the ability of humans to teleport. He considered every possible way that our reality would be affected by these two changes. Everything from planetary systems as a whole to the individual man or women would be affected by these changes.
How would we go to work? Without a need for public transportation, people in The Stars have created platforms with black and white symbols for easier memorization to aid their daily "jaunte".
But, then, what happens to manual forms of transportation? You would think that cars and bikes would become extinct. However, ever more appropriate is the conclusion that Bester came to: in a world where everything moves in a split second, only the rich can afford to move slowly, and use cars, horses, motorcycles, etc. to demonstrate their lavish wealth and indifference to the masses.
How would other factors of classicism in society be affected? People capable of jaunting farther are held in higher regard and given better opportunities of work. The same applies to those capable of telepathy. To prevent sexual violence and other crimes, homes must be designed as mazes to prevent intruders from being able to simply teleport in. Women are placed in rooms of total darkness to prevent male intruders. However, a society that chains women to their homes moves backwards in time in terms of the equal treatment and respect of women, as this makes earning a living difficult.
Everything detail of the social, economic, political, and domestic impacts are laid out before you in The Stars. This creates the affect of a marvelous, believable fictional universe.
Overall, however, The Stars, My Destination has taught me that yes, while space opera does heighten our sense of reality, it does overlay layers and layers of extravagance and the extraordinary for the sake of high adventure, it still seems to strip as down. At the core of what it means to be human, no matter how technologically advanced, how far into space we go, we are still animals. We are creatures of raw emotions that are fighting to survive, act on instinct, and crave a sense of control.
Our protagonist, Gully Foyle, is an eager example of this, but as well, even the worldbuilding of this universe exhibits this. In a place where men are handed power and control beyond reason, how must society fight our animal urges to use such power against others? What would happen if we didn't? The Stars, My Destination addresses these thoughts.
From my perspective, it seems like the author decided to implant a few drastic changes to our current reality, and simply let the rest of the universe fall into place around it. In The Stars, those changes were the setting, and the ability of humans to teleport. He considered every possible way that our reality would be affected by these two changes. Everything from planetary systems as a whole to the individual man or women would be affected by these changes.
How would we go to work? Without a need for public transportation, people in The Stars have created platforms with black and white symbols for easier memorization to aid their daily "jaunte".
But, then, what happens to manual forms of transportation? You would think that cars and bikes would become extinct. However, ever more appropriate is the conclusion that Bester came to: in a world where everything moves in a split second, only the rich can afford to move slowly, and use cars, horses, motorcycles, etc. to demonstrate their lavish wealth and indifference to the masses.
How would other factors of classicism in society be affected? People capable of jaunting farther are held in higher regard and given better opportunities of work. The same applies to those capable of telepathy. To prevent sexual violence and other crimes, homes must be designed as mazes to prevent intruders from being able to simply teleport in. Women are placed in rooms of total darkness to prevent male intruders. However, a society that chains women to their homes moves backwards in time in terms of the equal treatment and respect of women, as this makes earning a living difficult.
Everything detail of the social, economic, political, and domestic impacts are laid out before you in The Stars. This creates the affect of a marvelous, believable fictional universe.
Overall, however, The Stars, My Destination has taught me that yes, while space opera does heighten our sense of reality, it does overlay layers and layers of extravagance and the extraordinary for the sake of high adventure, it still seems to strip as down. At the core of what it means to be human, no matter how technologically advanced, how far into space we go, we are still animals. We are creatures of raw emotions that are fighting to survive, act on instinct, and crave a sense of control.
Our protagonist, Gully Foyle, is an eager example of this, but as well, even the worldbuilding of this universe exhibits this. In a place where men are handed power and control beyond reason, how must society fight our animal urges to use such power against others? What would happen if we didn't? The Stars, My Destination addresses these thoughts.
I love your commentary on The Stars My Destination and your focus on Bester's strong ability to create believable, imagined worlds. I too focused on the society he built around teleportation. It is really mind blowing to see the concept of teleportation taken this far and to show how it could have some serious consequences on our society.
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