Re: Five SF Works About Mind-Altering Drugs

On 5/17/2024 5:57 AM, Robert Carnegie wrote:

On 09/05/2024 22:00, Michael F. Stemper wrote:

On 07/05/2024 23.39, John Savard wrote:

On 6 May 2024 14:19:23 -0000, jdnicoll@panix.com (James Nicoll) wrote:
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Five SF Works About Mind-Altering Drugs
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From Huxley's Brave New World to Akira's Neo-Tokyo, science fiction has dreamed up some very strange and powerful drugs...
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https://reactormag.com/five-sf-works-about-mind-altering-drugs/

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In the case of Brave New World... you didn't mention that each use of
Soma shortens one's life by a year.

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Can you provide a quote from the text to that effect?

 I don't think that's right in _Brave New World_.
Soma is very popular.  There is a scene where
it seems to be used for euthanasia for the
unproductive.  Other stories may have a drug
with that effect and possibly with that name.

Looking at the references in the partial copy at
archive.org confirms my memories that soma is
used casually for 'holidays' from reality. It is
specifically said (by characters who may be
unreliable) to be without side effects.
But like much in that society, there's a darker
side. I found this passage:
Speaking of Linda, the Savage's mother, who is
massively overdosing on soma. The doctor says
it will kill her 'in a month or two', by stopping
breathing. It shortens life:
‘In one sense, yes,’ Dr Shaw admitted. ‘But in
another we’re actually lengthening it.’ The young
man started, uncomprehending. ‘Soma may make you
lose a few years in time,’ the doctor went on.
‘But think of the enormous, immeasurable durations
it can give you out of time. Every soma-holiday
is a bit of what our ancestors used to call eternity.’
Nevertheless, there is discussion of people in their
60s.
So, not a year per dose, but some life shortening.
pt