| Title: | Arcana Caelestia |
| Notice: | Directory listings are in topic 2 |
| Moderator: | NETRIX::thomas |
| Created: | Thu Dec 08 1983 |
| Last Modified: | Thu Jun 05 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1300 |
| Total number of notes: | 18728 |
There's a story in which aliens (Martians?) are present on the Earth,
and the aliens have a sixth sense that Terrans do not. This sense
presents them with perception of beauty (music, vision?) that humans
lack. In a discussion between an alien and a human, it is revealed
that humans have the necessary brain structure for the sixth sense but
only in a rudimentary form. This part of the brain can be stimulated
in humans to functions as it does for aliens, but only for a short
time, after which it is burned out and can never been stimulated again.
The human persuades the alien to do this, and the human does indeed
perceive the beauty, and is then stuck with the fate of never seeing it
again.
What's the title? Who's the author? What collection(s) did it appear
in?
-- edp
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 887.1 | this is Asimov | THERDC::VISSER | sailin' away is more fun | Fri Jun 29 1990 03:32 | 15 |
Talk about rusty brain cells..... Although I can't remember this too well, it is definitely an Asimov story. I think is has been in a few various collections, of which I can't remember any titles. So, one out of three answers 8^) ..klaas.. PS I vaguely recall the collection I read it in, included Asimov's dissertation "The endochronic properties of resublimated Thiotolimine", a report about a chemical that dissolved BEFORE you added water. | |||||
| 887.2 | JARETH::EDP | Always mount a scratch monkey. | Sun Jul 01 1990 19:04 | 9 | |
Re .1:
Thanks, the author was enough for me to find it. The story is "The
Secret Sense" by Isaac Asimov. It first appeared in _Comet Stories_ in
1941 and was collected in _The Early Asimov_, which does also include
the Thiotimoline story.
-- edp
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