Interesting thread.
For those of you who read science fiction but don't recognize the nickname I am using...
Jack Williamson was a well known sci fi author for decades (he died in 2006). In 1996 a collection of stories written to honor him and illustrate his influence on the genre were published as "The Williamson Effect". In it appears a story by Andre Norton, a pretty phenomenally prolific author herself. She introduces her story by referring to one Williamson wrote about 50 years previously involving the invention of intelligent robots programmed to not only do the boring work but also prevent humans from coming to harm. By the end of Williamson's story the robots literal interpretation has created a world in which humans can no longer do anything as, for example, even the sharpened pencils one might draw with could also "harm" the artist; any human who resists being babied is forcibly given psych treatment that changes their brain pathways so that they think the new way is perfect. Norton writes that this story haunted her for years and this is her reason for writing the tale she did when asked to contribute to the book. She also asks readers to remember that cultures differ, and the ways of one may not be the ways of all. In her story the robots move on the rez, meaning to institute the same sort of cradle to grave babying they already have in mainstream society, and get a surprising reception.
Williamson, pointing up his final scene of a man pretending he likes the new order rather than having his mind altered, called his cautionary tale "With Folded Hands". Norton named hers "No Folded Hands".
The hopeless situation may not be so. If it IS hopeless, there are still choices. Resistence may not be as most define it. Prevailing may be a matter of perception, of seeing things in a different way. And sometimes the sheer determination of NOT --not folding your hands into your lap and letting whatever it is just happen to you or someone you love or have some responsibility towards-- is both the only and the most significant thing standing between us and the avalanche.
