Blish's "Conscience" vs. Wolfe's "Fifth Head"

james.t.williams · 29 Dec 2005, 01:17 · from rec.arts.sf.written.2005.mbox

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From: james.t.williams at gmail.com
Subject: Re: Blish's "Conscience" vs. Wolfe's "Fifth Head"
Date: 28 Dec 2005 17:17:48 -0800
Message-ID: <1135819067.935105.176810 at z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
References: <1135781723.546189.19520 at g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <douf3o$bho$1 at news.datemas.de> <1135795018.842798.188130 at g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com> <1135804521.649021.27000 at o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com> <1135815134.304806.19780 at g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>

There is no indication in the story that cloning/clones are evil.
Certainly the uses to which cloning is put by the protagonist are a
little creepy, but I don't see how that could condemn the technology
itself.

A major point of the story is that the protagonist is not improving-
but that seems to be due to an error in his particular methodology (and
that he seems to have started out extremely flawed to begin with),
rather than from the fact that mankind cannot be improved at all.

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