Page 38 - Psychoceramics and the Test of Fire

Archaeontogeny

conditioned to expect long dragged-out dragnets in remote and
inhospitable terrain. Accordingly, no one objected to an open-ended
backwoods search for the Wild Men of Runyoke.
But then where, pressed the reporter, would they have gone? I
could imagine Dr. Cutter, smiling inscrutably at yet another
undergraduate begging for easy answers. “I did not create supermen,”
he said. “Nor literally invisible men. Answer this: how much are you
able to process right this instant about your environment? What’s
that strange buzzing noise in the background? Is that man over there
looking at us? Is it going to rain tonight? Where are all the exits from
this room? Is this stew safe to eat? Suppose through your senses you
already knew all those things—and were highly intelligent, to boot?
And had a more profound understanding of political and
environmental issues than ninety-nine percent of the citizenry, thanks
to many years of study? Where would you go? And who could catch
you?”

36