(urth) Someday they'll want us

[James Wynn]

>> The purpose of their education was to observe the differences in
>> intelligence and adaptability between the clone (N5) and the "control"
>> (David). This experiment could not be performed in a sterile environment
>> in any other setting. The variant chance experiences would be impossible
>> to calculate.
>
> I'm not sure this can be a valid controlled experiment other than on 
> the purely genetic level, where technically #5 is the control (no 
> introduced variation) and David would be the "treatement group" in 
> that he represents some sort of deviation from the numbered series. 
> Behaviorally, it's not controlled at all, since both boys are being 
> raised with companions different from themselves rather than alone or 
> with fellow clones of #1.
>
> And this may be the point in that outside of #1's discovery of the 
> cloning technique, the clones are hacks who are hazy on experimental 
> science, explaining the emphasis on history and evolutionary biology 
> as fields safely free of experimental possibilities (at the time of 
> writing).
>
I say David is the "control" because N5 is actually the subject of the 
experiment. David and Jeanine represent "all the other people on the 
planet". Maitre is uninterested in them. N5 and his forebearers are the 
puzzle. They don't advance in influence despite their superior 
intellect, resources, and scientific method. You've put your finger on 
the problem, though...the experiment should be examining the types of 
people who have advanced without the clones' advantages using clones as 
the control. This is hinted at in N5's dream: They don't advance because 
they have been engineered not to.

Having read 'Fifth Head' first, I was quite skeptical of the viability 
C. Doctorow's society in "Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom" which 
accomplishes much the same thing by turning everyone into Mr. Millions.

~ U+16B9