no need for new ones.”
The conditions for ideal material prosperity, or rather a very high standard
of living, led to a dwindling of all ideological disagreements and to the
disbanding of the standing armies. These global changes, as well as an entire
range of smaller actions taken by the Overlords, led to a chain reaction of deep-
rooted improvements in the general situation of many areas of secondary
significance. The disappearance of state borders created “One World” from
Earth and began from the ground up to do away with all race prejudices. The
criminal had practically disappeared as the Overlords had the means for almost
unlimited monitoring. Mankind had become exceptionally mobile, “and there
was nowhere on the planet where science and technology could not provide
one with a comfortable home, if one wanted it badly enough.”
Some progress was made without the assistance of the Overlords. With the
discovery of a completely safe oral contraceptive, as well as a reliable method for
establishing paternity, the human race had finally rid itself of the last vestiges of puritan morals. Finally, the majority of people gained the opportunity to spend
a good part of their time on various sports and entertainment in general, so that
the whole planet slowly began to look like “a big playground”.
In precisely this state we see the first cracks in the structure of the scientific
Utopia—but cracks only for mankind and not for the Overlords, who never
saw the Utopia as being the final goal but rather only the means. Although
people had finally acquired irreproachable conditions for manifesting their
creative potential, unhindered by the many restraints of the old world, idleness
as a creative conditio sine qua non began to slowly transform into its negative
correlate—boredom.
The course of this regression was reflected on a number of levels, but
basically it had a uniform cause. The appearance of the Overlords and their
uninterrupted presence had a very inhibiting and de-stimulating effect on
Man’s fundamental creative agent—curiosity. There was no longer any sense
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in wasting the whole lifetime on solving the mysteries of those scientific,
artistic and philosophical issues which the Overlords, had perhaps discovered
long ago.
This lack of enterprise became most evident in the field of art. “The end of
strife and conflict of all kinds had also meant the virtual end of creative art.
There were myriads of performers, amateur and professional, yet there had
been no really outstanding new works of literature, music, painting or sculp-
ture for generation. The world was still living on the glories of a past that could
never return.”
Stagnation in the field of science was partially hidden because there was an
unprecedented boom in the so-called “descriptive disciplines” where facts were
only collected and collated—so that almost no one even noticed the lack of
theoreticians who would organize and link up these facts into a system.
“Profounder things had also passed. It was a completely secular age.”
Indeed, the race which had suddenly been guaranteed unlimited freedom
and had been presented with inexhaustible sources of various kinds of enter-
tainment—which “by the standards of earlier ages, it was Utopia”—had been
so immersed in “the satisfaction of the present” that the anxious question of
rare philosophers: “Where do we go from here?” did not reach them.
While this fundamental issue, just as in all preceding periods, remained on a
purely academic level, the cracks in the scientific Utopia of the Overlords
began to evoke suspicion among spiritually-minded people where they were
most obvious: in the arts. The fact that stagnation had already turned into
decadence in this field incited new debates on the motives and policies of the
newcomers from space. “Was it possible that despite all their enormous
intelligence the Overlords did not really understand mankind, and were
making a terrible mistake from the best of motives? Suppose in their altruistic
passion for justice and order, they had determined to reform the world, but
had not realized that they were destroying the soul of Man?”
This first explicit criticism of the scientific Utopia led to the formation of a
new Utopia which, indeed, was also founded on scientific grounds but whose
ultimate purpose was not material prosperity but rather the return of the lost
creative potential of people, who had increasingly turned into “passive
sponges—absorbing, but never creating.”
This new artistic Utopia grew at the site where the scientific Utopia began to
lose its initiative and to close the spiritual horizons of Man. The artistic Utopia
acquired its direct embodiment in the founding of a colony called “New
Athens”. The colony originated as the result of complex and voluminous
plans in the field of social engineering, which served as the groundwork for
Utopia in Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End
41
reliably-defined optimal measures for the size of this community, its popula-
tion composition, model of social order, as well as long term goals.
Still, regardless of this scientific guarantee, the founding of New Athens was
awaited with a certain amount of skepticism for two reasons. In certain sense,
the thus-conceived colony represented a challenge to the policy of the Over-
lords, who had never hindered the artistic ambitions of the people but nor did
they encourage them. However, just as in many preceding cases, the new-
comers from space did not react at all, remaining completely indifferent to all
the activities of the Earth people which did not imperil the general welfare.
The second reason which partially generated suspicion in terms of the
tenability of New Athens was founded on experience from earlier periods.
“Yet even in the past, long before any real knowledge of social dynamics had
existed, there had been many communities devoted to special religious or
philosophical ends. It was true that their mortality rate had been high, but
some had survived.”
The ideal which was to have been embodied in New Athens was almost
without precedent in the past. The basic concept of the founders of this
utopian community was “to build up an independent, stable cultural group
with its own artistic traditions”. The pre-condition for these traditions
consisted of providing a high concentration of world artists (“...nothing is
more stimulating than the conflict of minds with similar interests”), who
should achieve the optimum of creative utilization of idleness. “Everybody
on this island”, says one of the managers of New Athens, “has one ambition,
which may be summed up very simply. It is to do something, however small it
may be, better than anyone else.”
It is obvious that the value of this work simultaneously defines the value of
the artistic Utopia itself. The creative endeavours of the residents of New
Athens were, first of all, concentrated on discovering original forms of expres-
sion, in the traditional as well as in the new artistic
areas. It is, however,
symptomatic that this aspiration toward originality, as an affirmation of
creativity, was mostly reduced to a number of experiments reasonably
described on one occasion as being “aggressively modernistic”. As the number
of experimental possibilities in the context of known artistic domains of
expression was finite, there were rapid premonitions as to the final horizons
of all fields of art.
Indeed, this fact did not threaten the creative potentials of the inhabitants of
New Athens as generations were needed to finalize the already-initiated
experiments. Still, the awareness of the existence of the final borderlines of
art had a significant impact on the discreet occurrence of doubt as to the
general value of this form of Man’s spiritual expression or rather in its
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Z. Živkovic
importance outside the narrowly local coordinates of Earth—coordinates
which now had their incomparably broader correlate in the cosmic perspective
of the development of mankind, a constant reminder of this being the presence
of the Overlords.
In this situation, it was highly interesting but in a certain sense irrelevant to
hear the opinion of the newcomers from space on the general value of art and,
in the final analysis, on the usefulness of the Utopia called New Athens. An
opportunity for this confirmation was shown during the visit of one of the
Overlords—a visit which was supposedly intended to analyze the way of life
and the goals of the colony but whose real motives were of a completely
different nature. “There were some on the island who welcomed this visit as a
chance of settling one of the minor problems of Overlord psychology—their
attitude toward art. Did they regard it as a childish aberration of the human race?
(underlined by Z. Ž.)”
The viewpoint of the newcomers from space concerning the value of the
artistic expression of the Earth people was indeed difficult to define due to
their reluctance to put forward any opinions which could even remotely
suggest the final ends of their “altruistic” engagement with mankind. Still,
there were two occasions on which somewhat more could be gleaned about
this viewpoint.
In the first case, the conclusion was drawn indirectly, on the basis of the
reaction of an Overlord when viewing a theatre performance. He actually
reacted adequately and timely, but a certain doubt still remained. “He might
himself be putting on a superb act, following the performance by logic alone
and with his own strange emotions completely untouched, as an anthropolo-
gist might take part in some primitive rite.”
On the second occasion, a concrete question was posed to the Overlord
connected with the traditional dichotomy of the culture of mankind—the
dichotomy between art and science—which concealed an intention to discover
if, from the perspective of the Overlord, all artists actually represent abnormal
individuals embodying “the childish aberration of the human race”. The
Overlord avoided giving a direct reply, making use of an ambiguous syllogism:
“So if all artists are abnormal, and all men are artists, we have an interesting
syllogism...”
The residents of the utopian commune could only guess at the real meaning
of this syllogism, which simultaneously implied a judgment on the value of
New Athens. In this respect, the readers of Childhood’s End are in a somewhat
more favourable position. They have the opportunity of attending the sub-
mission of the report by the Overlord who carried out the inspection of New
Athens—a report which introduces directly, for the first time, a cosmic
Utopia in Arthur C. Clarke’s Childhood’s End
43
perspective in the process of assessing Man’s attempts to safeguard the artistic
form of expression in his creative spirit, something which had never been
endangered in the past—at least not in Earthly frameworks. Tantalterresco
said that no action should be taken in connection with the colony. Also, “It is
an interesting experiment, but cannot in any way affect the future.”
Now it is completely certain that the axiological judgment, condensed in the
adjective “interesting”, was really pronounced from the standpoint of “an
anthropologist taking part in some primitive rite.” From the perspective of
the future, or the manifold cosmic usefulness of the human race, the utopian
experiment called New Athens, which viewed the highest creative values of
mankind in artistic expression, actually represents only “a childish aberration
of the human race”.
However, from this standpoint, any other type of Utopia—which repre-
sents the end and not only the means for universal cosmic development—is
equally ephemeral and has no real impact on the future. Its lack of value
follows from the static, non-progressive character of the mythical theme of
“Paradise Regained” or the “Golden Age” which lies in the basis of any Utopia.
In Childhood’s End, only the Overlords possess an awareness of transcience
and instability of Utopia. At the end of the second part of the book, which
quite intentionally carries the title “The Golden Age”, the Earth Supervisor,
Karellen, brilliantly summarizes the whole tragedy of this myth. “They would
never know how lucky they had been. For a lifetime, mankind had achieved as
much happiness as any race can ever know. It had been the Golden Age. But
gold was also the colour of sunset, of autumn: and only Karellen’s ears could
catch the first wailings of the winter storms. And only Karellen knew with
what inexorable swiftness the Golden Age was rushing to its close.”
The easily overlooked issue of the last philosophers again pierce to the
forefront in all its monumentality: “Where do we go from here?”
The cosmic dimension of the development of intelligent races—according
to Clarke’s concept—does not recognize Utopia. Those who have cast their lot
with the Golden Age, regardless of whether this is founded on science, art or a
third element, lose all importance in the order of the universe, turning into
being which inexorably sink to stagnation and decadence. In order to reach
higher levels of all-cosmic evolution, Utopia should be accepted only as a
means and not as a final meeting of goals. On the other side of all Utopias,
petrified in the ephemeral ideals from the period of mankind’s “childhood”,
there are new dimensions of existence. The road to them sometimes stands in
opposition to any altruism or the final end of each Utopia: self-satisfied
prosperity.
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Z. Živkovic
Of course, nature always creates a prodigal abundance which permits for the
prevalence of those races which could not muster up courage to confront this
challenge and surpass the level of Utopia. “They have turned back while there
was still time, avoiding both the danger and achievement. Their worlds had
become Elysian islands of effortless content, playing no further part in the
story of the Universe.”
Translated from the Serbian by Irene Mirkovic
3
Chronomotion
What do we know for certain about movement through time?
Not much, actually. Only that, under normal circumstances, we advance at
a steady pace of twenty-four hours per day in the direction from the past
toward the future.
These normal circumstances can be violated, at least principally speaking, in
two cases: if we alter the pace or the direction. The pace can be changed even in
reality, and the direction, judging by all things, can be changed only in SF.
Let us turn our attention first to the pace, to speed.
It is possible to reach the future faster in two basic ways: suspended
animation and (actual) fast movement.
Hibernation slows down physiological processes in the organism, including
aging. It is possible to resuscitate a frozen person after ten years, for example,
but they will have aged biologically only one year. The price for this quick
arrival in the future is the loss of the time “slept through”. That time, it seems,
passes without dreams. It is no different from death, actually, except that
resurrection is included in the price of the journey. Or it is, at the very least,
available by choice. Anyway, it is a matter of choice. If something does not go
wrong, of course. There is no absolute guarantee. But it is comforting that, if
indeed something does backfire, at least the person will never know about it. . .
“Chronomotion.” Written in 1995. Originally published in Serbian in 1995 in Eseji o naučnoj fantastici/
Essays on Science Fiction, Biblioteka XX vek, Belgrade, Serbia. First published in English in “Two Essays on Time Travel”, “Foundation” #127, Science Fiction Foundation, Harold Wood, Essex, UK, August 2017, 77–83.
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
45
Z. Živković, First Contact and Time Travel, Science and Fiction,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90551-8_3
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Z. Živkovic
In terms of moving at high speeds (the closer to the speed of light the better:
the effect of time dilation) the same result is achieved—one arrives far in the
future with only the brief passage of local time. The advantage of this way is
that one actively lives in local time. In your “local cosmos” (on a spaceship, for
example) everything happens quite normally: The usual waking state exists, as
Zoran Zivkovic - First Contact and Time Travel Page 8
