The Unthinking Destroyer

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Phillips, Rog, 1909-1965

Contributor:

Terry, W. E., 1921-1992

Series:

Produced from Amazing Stories December 1948.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Unthinking Destroyer" by Rog Phillips is a philosophical science fiction short story published in the late 1940s. The narrative explores the complexities of intelligence, both human and extraterrestrial, through the dialogues of two characters, Gordon Marlow and Harold Harper, as they contemplate potential life on Mars. The story raises critical questions about how intelligence might manifest in forms that are radically different from human understanding. The plot centers around a dialogue between Gordon, a philosopher, and Harold, an undergraduate student, as they discuss the nature of intelligence and the dangers of assuming that extraterrestrial beings would recognize or manifest intelligence in recognizable forms. They speculate on the possibility of intelligent life on Mars that may think and reason in ways incomprehensible to humans, warning of the risks humanity could pose by unwittingly destroying advanced beings due to their inability to recognize them as intelligent. The story culminates in a poignant reflection on the arrogance of human assumptions when encountering the unknown, ultimately prompting readers to consider the broader implications of intelligence beyond human experience. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Greg Weeks, Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

Notes:

Reading ease score: 73.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2009-12-15