Technological synergy and Gor medicine
I’ll start with an introduction, following on from my article: “My last article? I don’t know.”
Okay, on Gor SL, I play a slave, that is to say in the spirit of Gor a person who doesn’t count, except for their possible financial value and their skills, and even then, on condition that all this is recognized by the population of free people. Which is not obvious.
But in IRL, I am an illustrator, novelist and role-playing game author. My first two jobs were professional, the third became semi-professional. I am recognized in my field and rather famous in the community of fantasy novelists and French-speaking tabletop role-playing game, and beyond. Yes, I have many fans. It’s nice, by the way. I also have a university education, and have in-depth knowledge of history, especially the Renaissance in the time of the Venice of the Doges, and science, with a specialization in popularization in the fields of nuclear and relativistic physics. And I do pretty well in quantum mechanics, although, like everyone else, it blows my brain from time to time. Oh, and I’m also an ex-soldier who has seen action.
People very (too) often confuse the OOC (me) and my IC role (the character). Suffice to say that I take it rather badly. I am not my character, of course, and reducing both my skills and knowledge, as well as my legitimacy to express myself as a player, to the unflattering role of my character is a very good way to end up on my blocked list.
Being mistaken for one’s character, when one is a player, is a common flaw, which I strongly denounce and which happens far too often to players who play slaves. What becomes even more painful is when it is used as an argument to question my legitimacy in writing and discussing the encyclopedia that is the Gorean Archives. I often like to say, regarding everyone’s tastes and aspirations: “who am I to judge?” But this sentence works the other way around: “who are you, yourself, to judge me?”
As I have often said, the Duning-Kruger effect is a calamity in everything that concerns any form of social relationship and knowledge sharing: those who know the least are the ones who are most convinced that they know the most, and the most inclined to judge without ever questioning themselves, even and I would say especially in the face of evidence.
That being said, I will continue to produce content for the Gorean Archives and will always maintain my stance, which is very simple: no one has the right to judge in the context of knowledge about the world of Gor and the principles of role-playing. Anyone who does is an idiot; anyone who uses this as an excuse for harassment in-game and on the internet is an asshole.
But let’s get to the heart of the matter!
1- You don’t know what exists in the world of Gor (and that’s logical)
Yesterday, during a Gorean University round table, one of the participants had a very enlightened reflection on the world of Gor. To explain the context, we were discussing what does and doesn’t exist in the novels, i.e. what is written, but also what is implied or what can be logically concluded from the text.
Her reflection was as follows: “The novels do not contain all the details about Gor. They omit many questions, leaving gray areas. This is where the complexity of the definition of Gor comes into play. In this gray area, there are no correct answers, only well-supported opinions.”
I am a fantasy novelist, and yes, in a novel, you can’t put everything in and include everything. An example? In my novels, there is a ranged weapon that replaces firearms and which the people in this fiction call impulseurs. A powerful magnetic reaction projects a bullet that kills as effectively as a pistol bullet. I never directly explain how this weapon works, nor how it was invented in the novels. The reader accepts its reality, because he finds this technology used in other fields. But he only has a first explanation, over the course of the novels, halfway through the second volume.
On the other hand, in the tabletop role-playing game that was created from my novels, and which the four of us wrote, it was necessary to provide this explanation, in a clear and didactic manner, as well as that of all the related technologies. A tabletop role-playing game book is a complete guide to entering a fictional world. You have to be able to provide the players with as many answers as possible to their questions, and be consistent. Here, the suspension of disbelief requires much more solid support than in the literary framework of a novel.
Norman did not write a guide to the world of Gor. He wrote novels, full of gray areas and contradictions from one volume to the next. He made blunders and also blatant mistakes, which he later corrected. The value, the price, and the role of slaves in the world of Gor, which changes from being shabby and worthless at the beginning of the novels to being precious and valued from volume 19 onwards, is a perfect example. For your information, there are also errors and contradictions in my novels, which I have corrected in the documents of the tabletop role-playing game.
Gorean Archives, at least that is my aim, is a game guide to the world of Gor. I apply the same principles as if I were writing a role-playing book: explaining the content of the novels, shedding light on grey areas, going further than the original text, and, finally, explaining Norman’s inconsistencies and errors, which he often corrected himself.
So you don’t know everything that exists in the world of Gor, because even Norman himself has by far not described or explained everything, and sometimes (and I’m not judging, I did the same) he didn’t think of it! I give a good example of this in this article, Gorean or Not, concerning wire. I explain that the technological synergy leading to the creation of wire involves a great many other prior technological innovations that therefore necessarily exist in the world of Gor, even if Norman saw no point in mentioning them in his novels!
2- And so, Gor’s medicine?
One of the divisive subjects and yet absolutely perfect when it comes to technological synergy is Gor’s medicine, and to that end, I am going to share two quotes from the novels with you, and explain what we can conclude from them!
“I have never been in the arms of a man before, she said, for the men of Tharna may not touch women.” I must have looked puzzled. “The Caste of Physicians,” she said, “under the direction of the High Council of Tharna, arranges these matters.”
Outlaw of Gor, Book 2, Page 106
Too, should any of Earth ever read this manuscript, they should not rule out a possible consanguinity on chronological grounds, that for at least two reasons, first, an embryo might be removed, preserved, and later reimplanted; in this fashion, a child conceived at one time might be born at a much later time, perhaps several years later; something like that might take place if a search for, say, one parent, had been undertaken; second, the stabilization serums can be diversely manipulated; for example, a given child might be stabilized in infancy for several years, and then allowed to grow toward adulthood, and then stabilized at the age one wished. For example, in the case of females brought from Earth to the markets of Gor, they are usually stabilized at the peak of their vitality, desirability, and beauty. Thus, merchandise can be sold in prime condition, a condition which, given the stabilization serums, can be maintained indefinitely. All in all, then, I thought it possible that the young Taurentian, Alan, of the House of Hesius, might be my son, but, too, I thought it unlikely.
Warriors of Gor, Book 37, Page 794-795
Norman is therefore talking here about two medical and scientific innovations of the highest level: in vitro or ex-utero fertilization, and advanced anti-aging. Okay. Let’s talk about the first subject: do you know when the first IVF was successfully performed on Earth? In 1984. Why?
Because to achieve it, it is necessary to preserve and isolate human gametes and eggs, which is only possible with cryogenic systems, with stable temperatures below -35°C, and advanced microscopy manipulation tools, i.e. electron microscopes and nanometric manipulation tools. It should also be remembered that the collection of gametes and ova requires extensive and modern knowledge of human reproductive physiology on a biochemical scale, which was barely considered in the 1960s. Yes, because Outlaws of Gor dates from 1967 (Warrior of Gor dates from 2022).
What does it take to have all these tools? It takes going far beyond “modern” medicine, which dates back to Pasteur, and reaching the first functional explorations of the human body using X-rays, ultrasound and tomography, which date back to 1895, 1952 and 1978 respectively. What these three technologies have in common is that they cannot be imagined or understood without nuclear physics, which therefore implies a broad understanding of the atom, electromagnetism and wave signals. And for these things to work, you need real, functional electronics, which only came about with the understanding of relativistic physics and then quantum mechanics.
Goodness, do the Goreans know how to make an atomic bomb? Hmm… I don’t think so. Much of this technology is undoubtedly accessible thanks to the generosity of the Priest Kings, otherwise it would simply be impossible for the Goreans to do IVF. But everything else, cryogenics, advanced microscopes, nanometric tools, exploratory medicine, advanced biochemistry, they had to understand them, invent them, and find out how to use them! And the Goreans make very good use of this knowledge.
What does a Gorean medical laboratory look like? Certainly not a 15th century alchemist’s cellar, but much more like an advanced sterile laboratory, such as were found all over the world from the 1970s onwards!
Well, you can always say to me: “yes, but I don’t agree, I want to stick to pseudo-medieval medicine, which works miracles with herbs!”. So be it! That’s your right. But on the other hand, you can’t deny that the novels, and therefore the words of Norman himself, imply, and even explain, that Gor’s medicine has technological means that are quite comparable to the most modern means on Earth, with often superior medical performance! As you often say yourself: “it’s in the books!”
Well, damn it, Gorean physicians have been doing advanced genetics for at least 250 years! You can’t see a strand of DNA without a scanning electron microscope (1951) and you can’t decode DNA without a genetic sequencer (1989). So, even considering the indisputable technological assistance of the Priest-Kings, the Gorean have understood for 250 years how DNA works, which earthlings could only really see and decode from 1953 onwards.
I could go on for a long time, but the conclusion is simple: even if the tools are different, even if some scientific knowledge is incomplete, even if the methodologies are not similar, Gor physicians, by the very principle of technological synergy, are physicians who easily compare in means and efficiency to contemporary physicians on Earth.
And you know what? This example applies to all scientific and technological fields on Gor. Gorans have strict religious limitations and technical and scientific shortcomings, but they are clearly scientifically closer, on average, to the end of the 19th century than to antiquity or the Middle Ages. They are advanced, developed, clever, competent, the only thing holding them back… well, it’s the religion of the Priest-Kings and its prohibitions.
