When an animal dies, its body, including its genes, loses its integrity, and through a sequence of decomposition processes reverts to ions and relatively simple molecules. Much of this goes on in the alimentary tracts of scavengers, from vultures to maggots. The animal’s pseudo-psyche, including its life experiences, also ceases to exist as a separate unit, and is reabsorbed into the species psychome, but the process is far tidier.
In understanding the psychome, it helps to contrast it to the human psyche.
Like all other species, Homo sapiens—humankind— has a psychome, and each person has a pseudo-psyche. It was the collective species memories of the human psychome which, misinterpreted, gave rise to the 20th century concept of “the collective unconscious,” as defined by the psychiatrist, Karl lung. The human pseudo-psyche, however, is subordinate to the actual human psyche.
The human psyche is a non-biological unit. Its integrity, which is to say its individual identity, survives body death and customarily recycles, reincarnates, to play again. This recycling may be prompt or delayed; it may be here or elsewhere. In an entirely real sense, therefore, the terrestrial biological phenomenon known as a human
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being is possessed by a non-terrestrial phenomenon, the psyche (or soul). The psyche, through this act of possession, often loses its awareness of being a psyche, and ordinarily loses all memory of existence before the act of possession. It becomes and controls the person it is born to be. The purpose of this strange arrangement seems to be to play (often involved) games, to have physical experiences, and in general to make existence interesting. Homo sapiens has been a possessed species for a very long time, as have suitable species on many other worlds. By contrast, most biological species are not possessed.
THE OGRE AS A HYPNOCONDITIONED SOLDIER
From—”Behavioral Modification on Post-Plague Earth,” by Shigeru Ruiz. Pages 47-64, in Modern Perspectives on the Psyche and the Mind, Viljo Tabayoyon, ed. University Press, A.C. 816.
. . . With regard to ogres as hypnoconditoned warriors, Songtsan Gampo seems to have seen more potentials and fewer limitations than were actually there, at least given the state of the art.
First, he had hypnoconditioned his ogres as if they were simply hairy people. That was not the case. If you condition a man to absolute loyalty, he will often be loyal regardless of risk to life. This is because the true psyche is innately a game-playing unit, and many will stay with the game despite extreme danger. On the other hand, an intelligence based on the psychome—that is, one without a true psyche—will rarely do so, with the exception of the long-domesticated Canis familiaris, the domestic
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dog. The Yunnan ogre operates on the basic imperative SURVIVE! It will fight ferociously, to a point— to the death if cornered—but when death appears imminent, and if there is an avenue of flight, it will flee. Otherwise it stands to the death only to protect its cubs, and not often then. Among animals ruled by the psychome, death in defense of young seems to be more a matter of miscalculation than intentional self sacrifice.
Also, while many humans will panic in the face of a bizarre and unfamiliar danger, many will not panic if they are well trained and disciplined. Even well-trained and disciplined ogres will panic and try to flee, in the face of a sufficient threat. . . .
LINGUSTIC CONSERVATISM IN
29th CENTURY SCANDINAVIA
In this paper, “Scandinavia” refers to the Scandinavian Peninsula comprising the pre-plague nations of Norway and Sweden. The Danish peninsula and islands, whose people are equally Scandinavian, genetically and historically, has developed a very different culture, and its language is no longer intelligible to the people of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
The dialects of 29th century Scandinavia are mutually readily intelligible. In fact, they differ less than the dialects of 21th century Scandinavia, and far less than those, say, of the 19th century. Furthermore, the language changes there, over a period of more than seven centuries, have been remarkably modest. Thus Dr. Kumalo, having hypno-learned 21st century Swedish before departing on the First Expedition, was soon able to converse with 29th century Swedes.
Since the plague, the Scandinavian people have dropped the neuter gender. Further, the conjugation of most