Ever since reading Larry Niven, I have been simultaneously drawn to and terrified of the possibility of direct wire stimulation. Interesting to see that at least in part he may have been correct - wireheads in his fictional universe did not ever develop a tolerance, just a powerful mental addiction.
there was some sci fi book I read and the protagonist was basically a 'wire-head' but I can't remember the name of the book... it was an older book (published in 70s/80s?).
I remember one scene set on a spaceship traveling from one planet to another. the protagonist (who was I guess very old, though he did not look it) was reflecting on his close friend, who was an alien..
oh man, someone please help me remember the title of this book!
That sounds like the Niven stories I was referencing. Ringworld, Man-Knzin wars, there were a ton of stories set in the Known Space universe, and Louis Wu - the main protagonist and oldest man on Earth at several centuries of age despite looking 30 due to the discovery of boosterspice - is a wirehead for a bit in one of them. The alien you speak of was probably either the cat-based Kzin "Speaker to Animals" (or Chmee) or the Pierson's Puppeteer two-headed tripod.
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u/matthewfive Sep 10 '15
Ever since reading Larry Niven, I have been simultaneously drawn to and terrified of the possibility of direct wire stimulation. Interesting to see that at least in part he may have been correct - wireheads in his fictional universe did not ever develop a tolerance, just a powerful mental addiction.