>>12200097They would classify us as one of the clamped ones. In the future, if it's even possible, among the species that survived to become spacefareing you'll have two broad categories: Clamped, and unclamped. Clamped species developed systems and means to artificially reduce the competence and narrow the behavioral spectrum of its members, this was the means of stable organization and relative peace they came to. As members leave the planets, they will still carry the clamp within, just as Jews still carry the circumcision within. The possibility of factions within a single species exists, but is unlikely early on, lookign at the world today. The next form of man will be attenauted, he will be reduced, stripped down, standardized, and manufactured. That is what he will be.
The unclamped species is defined implicitly. It either had no cause to clamp, or otherwise developed culturally in such a sense that there is no internal basis to want or need to reduce the individual member's. Their expression of their freeedom and will does not necessitate it, overall. That or it's not so great that they can't accept the consequences of being unclamped.
For man however, I must say, it looks probable it will be clamped. People dream a bit too much. The reality of space travel won't be like getting your friends together and going somewhere, there are certain constraints and problems which in arising in building and regulating large organized efforts via an already established house-of-cards power structure. You will always have dissidents who want it their way, want to scrap it and start over, don't want to go with the script. Thus, they would have to be clamped or exterminated.
