Annons

Message in a bottle


After the shipwreck, I was washed up by the tide on an unknown beach. The natives found me lying still unconscious and took me to their city. I cannot say for how long I was ill, since the fever made me lose count of the days. The natives had no medicines. Instead, those in charge of my care sat by the side of my bed reading aloud from their books.

When I finally recovered, I devoted myself to the study of the natives’ society. I found out that their cultural life revolved around their libraries and theatres, where the texts of their most accomplished authors were read, discussed and celebrated. As for politics, the natives had an assembly open to everyone who could read. According to custom, lively debates in the assembly were followed by a vote in which the best argued proposals were made into law. The rule of the natives extended over the whole island, which they called the Republic of Letters.

In spite of their many achievements, the Republic of Letters suffered from several problems. The life expectancy of the natives was short due to the lack of medicines. Furthermore, plagues and periods of intense drought had destroyed their harvests in the past without the natives being able to do much about it. Being myself still young, I was afraid to fall sick again and die among strangers. One moonless night, I stole a boat and took to the sea.

I wandered in the sea for several days until finally I caught sight of another island. From afar, I could see a magnificent city of high-rises glimmering in the sun. I rowed in that direction and, since my boat was small, I managed to land unnoticed. During the following days I undertook to explore the city.

I discovered that the natives had invented sophisticated machines to do all kinds of work and that their laboratories had found a cure for most diseases. They were also able to grow food all year around and to send rockets into the sky. The natives called their island the Republic of Sciences and everyone in it was ruled by the Supreme Scientific Council whose main task was to raise effectiveness and productivity.

My initial awe for the technical prowess of the natives soon gave way to misgivings. The natives, for instance, had invented numerous machines to make their life easier, but with the passage of time their workload was increasing rather than diminishing. Although disease had almost been wiped out, their life expectancy was surprisingly low due to the large number of so-called “self-terminations”.

I took back to the sea and wandered without a course. I hoped for the tides and currents to take me to a place where the tribalism of the natives had been set aside and knowledge, at last, could be cultivated as a whole.


Annons

Annons

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