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Perception and Belief
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In “Report on the Threatened City,” a group of alien envoys attempt to warn the citizens of San Francisco of an impending earthquake. Because the city’s residents aren’t evacuating, the extraterrestrials believe that they must not know about the looming danger. But as they spend a week in futile efforts to warn the population, they come to understand that almost everyone is aware of the danger, yet they refuse to act accordingly. As such, the story satirizes modern society’s apathy and suggests that it’s dangerous for people to avoid uncomfortable or unpleasant truths. Indeed, the envoys observe that humans think their species generally “must continuously lose numbers and strength and health” through catastrophe, yet they care very deeply about “individuals or small groups.” In essence, humans are good at caring for individuals but can’t extend this concern to bigger groups of people. In addition, the envoys observe that almost all human communication is an echo chamber, meaning that people only care about information from sources they already trust and agree with. The young and old humans in the story have different strategies for maintaining their indifference, but both age groups equally avoid confronting difficult truths or taking decisive action. The young numb themselves through humor, “mating rituals,” drugs, and music. The elders, meanwhile, spread propaganda, diffuse responsibility through an “infinitely subdivided society,” and expend their energy on debating rather than solving problems. The envoys’ observations of humans—and their failure to convince people to care about or prepare for the earthquake—suggest that such indifference and passivity can have deadly consequences.
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Indifference ThemeTracker
The ThemeTracker below shows where, and to what degree, the theme of Indifference appears in each chapter of Report on the Threatened City. Click or tap on any chapter to read its Summary & Analysis.
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Indifference Quotes in Report on the Threatened City
Below you will find the important quotes in Report on the Threatened City related to the theme of Indifference.
Report on the Threatened City Quotes
Observing their behavior […] our Commissioners for External Affairs decided that these people could have no idea at all of what threatened, that their technology, while so advanced in some areas, had a vast gap in it, a gap that could be defined, in fact, precisely by that area of ignorance—not knowing what was to befall them. This gap seemed impossible.
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The background information that the alien envoys provide about their mission states the necessity of warning the residents of the titular “threatened city” of the impending earthquake. Based on humans’ evidently unconcerned behavior, which the aliens have directly observed, the envoys believe that the humans must not be able to predict the coming earthquake. But the envoys themselves will later admit that their assumptions and biases prevented them from understanding the situation, and this passage offers an early hint that they are missing or misunderstanding an important factor. The gap seems impossible, yet it exists—the aliens can perceive the truth Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti solu
We took it absolutely for granted, an assumption so strong that it prevented our effective functioning as much as these creatures’ assumptions prevent them from acting—we believed (since we are so built ourselves) that it would be impossible for a disaster to have occurred already, because if we had experienced such a thing, we would have learned from the event and taken steps to accordingly. Because of a series of assumptions, then, and an inability to move outside our own mental set, we missed a fact that might have been a clue to their most extraordinary characteristic—the fact that such a very short time ago they experienced a disaster of the sort that threatens again, and soon.
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Until the alien envoys arrived on Earth, they weren’t aware of the 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco less than a century before their mission. They provide this important piece of context in their report before they begin recounting their mission day by day. The aliens come to Earth because they believe that there’s a gap in human technology for predicting earthquakes, but this isn’t the case. And, even if it was, San Francisco has experienced a massive earthquake within the past century, so historical example should have already warned people that the San Francisco Bay area isn’t a safe Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qu
We believe we have established one of their mechanisms for maintaining themselves in impotence and indecision. It is precisely this: that they do continuously discuss and analyse.
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At the Institute for Prognosis and Prevention of Earth Disturbance, the envoys have time to engage with human beings closely. While this doesn’t get them any further toward their goal of warning the people to leave the city, it does give them more insight into human thought processes that prevent meaningful action. Although they have frequently noted an indifference in the minds of the humans they encounter, the envoys are still uncovering the mechanisms that create the block. Closely related to the reliance on familiar ideas and authorities is a reliance on discussion instead of action. In both cases, the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate l
Their attitude towards life is that it is unimportant. They are indifferent to their own suffering, assume that their species must continuously lose numbers and strength and health by natural disasters, famine, constant war. That this attitude goes side by side with infinite care and devotion to individuals seems to us to indicate…
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The envoys reach this conclusion while at the Institute as they struggle to understand humans’ “barbaric” method of city-planning and cheerful willingness to live in the city regardless of the danger. The life-limiting factors in this passage—natural disaster, famine, and war—can all be eliminated or limited through forecasting and human ingenuity. However, like the hopeless youths, humanity in general seems to have a fatalistic attitude toward suffering—especially when the threat is generalized or applied to other groups of people. When individual lives are at stake, however, humans are capable of great concern and care. The interrupting local transmission cuts off Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Moles
We have concluded that the young are in a state of disabling despair. While more clear-minded, in some ways, than their elders—that is, more able to voice and maintain criticisms of wrongs and faults—they are not able to believe in their own effectiveness. Again and again, on the beach, as the air darkened, versions of this exchange took place:
“But you say you believe it must happen, and within five years.”
“So they say.”
“But you don’t think it will?”
“If it happens, it happens.”
“But it isn’t if—it will happen.”
“They are all corrupt, what can we do? They want to kill us all.”
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Having failed to convey their warning—or even lifesaving first-aid instructions—to a group of youths on a beach, the envoys conclude that despair renders young people completely impotent. Youthful indifference arises from powerlessness, which itself is a result of older people’s prioritization of economic concerns over human life. The report has already detailed instances of the youth being harassed or harmed for reporting UFO sightings, being jailed and drugged for shouting about the earthquake risk, and generally being disregarded and marginalized by their elders. Thus, although young people are more receptive to the envoys’ message, they are less able to act Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut.
We have a tentative conclusion. It is this: that a society that is doomed to catastrophe, and that is unable to prepare for it, can expect that few people will survive except those already keyed to chaos and disaster. The civil, the ordered, the conforming, the well-tempered, can expect to fall victim at first exposure. But the vagabonds, criminals, mad, extremely poor, will have the means to survive. We conclude, therefore, that when, within the next five years, the eruption occurs, no one will be left but those types the present managers of society consider undesirable, for the present society is too inflexible to adapt—as we have already said, we have no idea why this should be so, what is wrong with them.
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As the envoys prepare to leave Earth, they try to summarize their failed mission’s findings. Humans’ unwillingness to protect themselves in the face of natural disaster has doomed the city to destruction. The efforts spent in silencing the truth, quieting dissenters, and expanding San Francisco’s commercial interests could just as well be spent on preserving human lives—yet society’s elites lack the flexibility to adapt to uncomfortable truths. Thus, the current situation relies on groupthink and conspiracy to maintain belief in the city’s value despite the clear danger of its location along a fault line. The envoys suggest that the only Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Volupt
