[tt] gom jabbar next

[Damien Broderick]

At 10:51 PM 9/20/2007 +0200, Eugen Leitl wrote:

> > >I am told not to call it a ray-gun, though that is precisely what it is
> >
> > No, it's a "neuronic whip"--the term Isaac Asimov coined for it more
> > than half a century ago.
>
>...Perhaps I'm not the only one
>to see the logic: don't bother with peaceful protests next, use
>IEDs instead. Don't expose yourself, use explosive proxies.

Yeah, I should have spelled that out a bit. "Ray guns" were used in 
comic fiction by the dashing good guys as often as by the bad guys. 
Neuronic whips were the preserve of fascistic power wielders, in 
Asimov's fiction (as far as I recall). Didn't do them much good in 
the long run.

Damien Broderick