Conservative. Idaho. Software engineer. Historian. Trying to prevent Idiocracy from becoming a documentary.
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Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Very Early Science Fiction
This story was written in 1858 or 1859. I first read in an anthology titled A Century of Science Fiction. The title is "What Was It?" When you start it seems like Gothic horror or at least supernatural. By the end, it is clearly early and disturbing science fiction. Well worth reading.
Off topic
ReplyDeleteThere was an increase in deaths in 2020. The death rate in 2017-2019 was about 0.87% in 2020 it was about 1.02%. I suspect that many or most of those about 400,000 extra deaths were people in the late stages of their lives. In other words, people who, under normal circumstances, would have expired in 2021 through say about 2024.
We'll know if this was true if we see the death rate in 2021-2024 drop down below 2019's 0.87%.
The complete text of What Was It? By FitzJames O’Brian is online here: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/WhatWas843.shtml
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