Human Error

by Raymond F. Jones

Book Excerpt: ...ch a simple, uncomplicated place, General," said Paul slowly. "You want a man with two heads, four arms, and a tail? Order it! Coming up!"That's the way you operated when I set up your basic personnel program five years ago. It didn't work then; it won't work now."The General's face darkened. "It will work. Because it has to. Men are going to the stars--because they have to. And they're going to change themselves to whatever form or shape or ability is required by that goal. They've done everything else they've ever set themselves to do--life came up out of the sea because it had courage. Men left their caves and struck out across the plains and seas, and took up the whole Earth and made it what it is--because they had courage."But to go to space, courage is not enough. We need a new kind of man that we've never seen before. He's a man of iron, who's forgotten he was ever flesh and blood. He's a machine, who can perform over and over the same kind of complicated procedure and...

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

38 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2010

About the author

Raymond Fisher Jones (November 15, 1915, Salt Lake City, Utah - January 24, 1994, Sandy, Salt Lake County, Utah) was an American science fiction author. He is best known for his 1952 novel, This Island Earth, which was adapted into the 1955 film This Island Earth and for the short story "The Children's Room", which was adapted for television as Episode Two of the ABC network show Tales of Tomorrow, first aired on February 29, 1952.

Jones' career was at its peak during the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. His stories were published mainly in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories, Astounding Stories, and Galaxy. His short story Noise Level is known as one of his best works. His short story "The Alien Machine", first published in the June, 1949 Thrilling Wonder Stories, was later expanded into the novel This Island Earth, along with two other short stories, "The Shroud of Secrecy", and "The Greater Conflict", known as The Peace Engineers Trilogy, featuring the character Cal Meacham. Jones also wrote the story upon which the episode "The Children's Room" was based for the television program Tales of Tomorrow in 1952.

Reviews

[Sidharth Vardhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is quite a great read and makes an interesting theory on the subject it is based on - I'm shocked it has only two ratings on goodreads

[Ron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still relevant considering the struggle of contemporary neuroscience to reconcile the rational part of our brain, strictly responding to stimuli and the need for emotional components in our decision making.

An excellent example of true sci-fi, speculating on the basic makeup of humanity and its potential as it is exposed to new situations and an expanding universe.

The story meditates on the essence of human nature, the consequences of iron discipline and the ambition to eliminate human error and fallibility. In the end the story reaffirms the validity of cherished human traits such as creativity and individuality as an essential part of human nature.