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45.
With the rise of the social sciences, and especially the anthropology of the 1930s and thereafter, words like ‘savage’ and ‘primitive’ began to disappear from the vocabulary of cultural studies, along with the notion that the people who had once borne these labels represented a biologically less evolved form of humanity. Medical science could find no difference in the brains of the former primitives to account for their different behavior; colonists necessarily observed that yesterday’s ‘savage’ might be today’s shopkeeper, soldier, or servant. As humanity began to look more like a family of potential equals, Westerners had to accept that the behavior found in native cultures was not the distinctive feature of savage ‘otherness’ but the expression of a capacity that may exist, for better or for worse, in all of us.
Westerners came to admit that their view toward the distinctive behavior found in nativecultures was biased.
46-48.
“There is a good reason to make this trip to the Island of Paradise,” Captain Koppe told himself as he stepped out of the elevator car into the covered rooftop hangar of his house. The journey itself would be of use. There were times when it was important to be alone, to have time to think. Alone even from one’s personal robot, from one’s trusted wife.
Captain Koppe sensed that this was one of those times when he had to be alone—if for no other reason than to remind himself that he would have to make his decision alone. And he would have the duration of the flight all to himself. The thought appealed to him as he powered up the aircar and it lifted a half-meter or so off the deck of the hangar.
The outer doors opened, and the aircar slowly eased out into the driving rain. Suddenly, it was in the middle of the storm, jumping and swinging in the darkness, the rain crashing down on the windows with incredible violence. The storm boomed and roared outside the long-range aircar as it fought for altitude, the banging and clattering getting worse with every moment.
Smooth sailing after the storm, the aircar arrived at the orbit of the Island of Paradise. Captain Koppe looked out at the Island through the window. He had been longing for it since his childhood. At that moment, his family picture posted on the inside of the aircar came into his eyes. All of a sudden, he had an irresistible urge to go to see his beloved wife and his two sons. He turned his back on the Island of Paradise and directed it toward the homeland.
49-50.
PersonA
In ordinary life, you can be very comfortable with modern technology. Just as people search for books in bookstores, you can find and select what you want with a computer. You have already seen how much modern technology has changed the world. You can talk to each other in real time, looking at each other on a palm-sized phone. In the near future, I believe that most people will wear user-friendly computer equipment making their daily lives even more convenient. This would give us the chance to find information quickly and communicate with others no matter where we are or what we are doing.
PersonBThe latest devices are fun to use for many tasks like browsing cyber space, but it is important to keep your distance from them as well. The constant noises of electronic devices like computers, mobile phones, fax machines, stereos, and home appliances will drown out the sounds of the birds singing in the morning, the wind blowing through the trees, or a pencil drawing on rough paper. Modern technology is addictive, so be sure to plan days away from its electromagnetic fields. Go out into nature and leave your mobile phone behind. Or just turn everything off and enjoy the peace and quiet.
