Episode 32 - Wanders and Travelers (Arkady Strugotsky)

Theme: Does this RFID tag make me look inferior?

Episode Connections
Authors, stories. R.A. Lafferty, “Encased in Ancient Rind.” Arthur C. Clarke, “The Sentinel.” Murray Leinster. “First Contact.”
TV episodes, series. Star Trek. Star Trek: Next Generation. Babylon 5.
Ideas. Soviet-era science fiction. Political philosophy. World building. Queries about similarities and differences among species on Earth and other places around the universe. Reflections on the relative intelligence (and by extension significance) of species. Ponders the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, and how it might compare to humans. What responsibilities do we have to other species? What responsibilities do they have to us? What is intelligence? What is reason? What is evolution and maturity? The Golden Rule as a guide for interspecies engagement. The Prime Directive. Alien abduction.
Whoa - Hmmm - WTF. Dan says Hmmm. Bill says yes, but with a sprinkle of Whoa.

Correction. Bill refers to the septopods as a subclass of octopi, then in fact they would be another order of cephalopod. A momentary lapse of biologic.

Previous episode: Chris Neville, “The Forest of Zyl”
Next episode: Frank Robinson, “The Wreck of the Ship John B”

Music Credit: "Ouroboros" Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
Link: Creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/