"Vladimir Savchenko. Self-discovery (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

functions he developed in ancient evolution. Strength, agility, and
endurance are now cultivated only in sports, while logical thought, the
pride of the Greeks, has been taken over by machines. But man is not
developing any new qualities-the environment is changing too fast and
biological organisms can't keep up. Technological progress is accompanied by
soothing, but poorly substantiated babble that man will always be on top.
Nevertheless-if you talk not about man, but about people, the many and the
varied-then that is not true even now, and it will only get worse. Many,
many do not have the inherent capabilities to be masters of contemporary
life: to know a lot, know how to do a lot, learn new things quickly, to work
creatively, and structure one's behavior optimally....
"I would like to study the question of the untapped resources of man's
organism. For example, the obsolescent functions, like our common ancestor's
ability to leap from tree to tree or to sleep in the branches. Now that is
no longer necessary, but the cells are still there. Or take the "goosebump"
phenomenon-it happens on skin that has almost no hair now. It is created by
a vast nervous network. Perhaps these old reflexes can be restructured,
re-programmed to meet new needs?"


What an astonishing, what an exciting concept! The pursuit of the
"optimum man" is certainly not original with Savchenko; it has thrived for
years in science fiction as well in what is termed the mainstream, and it
powers the current flurry of self-realization, self-actualization movements;
it exists in Shakespeare and Steinbeck, whether by exemplifications of
nobility or by stark representations of flawed and faulted people. What is
arresting in Savchenko is his idea of retrieving and reprogramming that in
mankind which is present but truly obsolete, rather than that which could be
functional but is merely inactive.
And he resists the reductio ad absurdum; witness this whimsical
interchange:


"So! You dream of modernizing and rationalizing man? Instead of homo
sapiens we'll have homo modernus rationalis, hm? Don't you think, my dear
systemology technologist, that a rational path might lead to a man who is no
more than a suitcase with a single appendage to push buttons? You could
probably manage without that appended arm, if you use brain waves."
"If you want to be truly rational, you can manage without the
suitcase," Krivoshein noted.


Krivoshein-and Savchenko-are far too enamored of humanity to go for
that.


Science fiction has been termed a medicine for future shock. Future
shock is that sense of disorientation brought about by the rush of
invention, the impact of technical events evolving infinitely faster than
the bodies and minds of the common man. One wonders if Savchenko has read