Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

This is our discussion of the story:


And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways by James Tiptree Jr.

This story is part of the group discussion of James Tiptree Jr.'s short story collection Her Smoke Rose Up Forever. (See the discussion hub topic for more info.)

★★★

A scientific mission got to a new world. Underdog Evan sees his chance when he glimpses a strange anomaly. Out of a gut feeling and contradicting empiric measures he risks everything and personally climbs the mountain.

Review

I didn't fully believe the story's background - lazy scientists leaving the hard work to computers, calculating the economy of every necessary decontamination versus leaving back a rebellious youth.

But the story flowed nicely as a tragedy.

Andreas wrote: "I didn't fully believe the story's background - lazy scientists leaving the hard work to computers, calculating the economy of every necessary decontamination versus leaving back a rebellious youth...."

I agree with your conclusion, but I come to it from the other direction. :)

I thought the setup was interesting, a future where, essentially, scientific exploration is left to machines, with the human "scientists" really acting only as data collection instruments for the big computers. Automated science, rejection of inspiration, perhaps even the replacement of what we know as science with simple collection of data.

And there's The Kid, the guy who thinks scientists get out and dig in the muck to unearth their discoveries.

On the other hand, the ending is another one of those depressing ones. (I've given up on an upbeat story in this collection.) The Kid learns enough to feel vindicated in his "rebellion" but can't find the real answer. It's massively unsatisfying.

I thought the bits at the beginning about the conflict among the scientists was most interesting ... I actually thought the hierarchical fossilization/bureaucratization of "science culture" was pretty plausible. The end felt a bit anticlimactic.