"Superiority" is a
science fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
by British writer
Arthur C. Clarke, first published in
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
. It depicts an
arms race
An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...
during an interstellar war. It shows the side which is more technologically advanced being defeated, despite its apparent superiority, because of its willingness to discard old technology without having fully perfected the new. Meanwhile, the enemy steadily built up a far larger arsenal of weapons that while more primitive were also more reliable. The story was at one point required reading for an industrial design course at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
.
Plot
The story is told in the form of a
letter of pleading to a court deciding the fate of the former commander of a great allied space fleet. He starts the letter by describing that their final defeat was due not to the inferiority of their forces, but their superiority.
When the war opens, the allied forces have a great advantage both in number of spaceships and the power of their weapons. At the Battle of the Five Suns the enemy does surprisingly well, although ultimately losing. Spooked, the allies confer with their new Chief of the Research Staff, Professor-General Norden. He states their existing weapons have reached the limits of the potential and begins development of terrifyingly powerful new weapons.
The first of these is repeatedly delayed, and the allies pause their attacks while they wait for their ships to be fitted with the new missiles. The enemy uses these delays to capture several former allied systems. Instead of simply counterattacking with their current weapons, Norden develops still newer weapons that will make up for these losses. Each is temporarily successful, but each invariably leads to insurmountable problems and further losses.
The story ends with the author admitting their defeat, but begging the court's favour as he can no longer be held responsible "for my future actions if I am compelled any longer to share my cell with Professor Norden, late Chief of the Research Staff of my armed forces."
Publication
After its initial publication in the August 1951 edition of ''
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy fiction magazine, fantasy and science-fiction magazine, first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence E. Spivak, Lawrence Spiv ...
'', "Superiority" was included in Clarke's 1953 anthology ''
Expedition to Earth
''Expedition to Earth'' () is a collection of science fiction short story, short stories by English writer Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur C. Clarke.
There are at least two variants of this book's table of contents, in different editions of the boo ...
'', the 1981 anthology ''The 7 Cardinal Virtues of Science Fiction'' (where it represented
temperance), the 1987 military science fiction collection ''Battlefields Beyond Tomorrow'', and the 2001 anthology ''The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century''.
See also
*''
The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke
''The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke'', first published in 2001, is a collection of almost all science fiction short stories written by Arthur C. Clarke, Arthur C. Clarke. It includes 114 stories, arranged in order of publication, from ...
''
*
Illusory superiority
In social psychology, illusory superiority is a cognitive bias wherein people overestimate their own qualities and abilities compared to others. Illusory superiority is one of many positive illusions, relating to the self, that are evident in ...
*
Sunk cost
In economics and business decision-making, a sunk cost (also known as retrospective cost) is a cost that has already been incurred and cannot be recovered. Sunk costs are contrasted with '' prospective costs'', which are future costs that may be a ...
*
Opportunity cost
In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost of a choice is the value of the best alternative forgone where, given limited resources, a choice needs to be made between several mutually exclusive alternatives. Assuming the best choice is made, ...
*
Unintended consequence
In the social sciences, unintended consequences (sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences, more colloquially called knock-on effects) are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. The term was po ...
*
Wonder weapons
References
External links
*
"Superiority"at the
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
Short stories by Arthur C. Clarke
1951 short stories
Works originally published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction
Technological change
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