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The Ship of Foolishness

Frederik Pohl:

The project was the brainchild of three good friends of mine. One was an astronaut, one was a communications genius who used to work with Walter Cronkite and the third was a highly respected scientist, and the one thing I won’t tell you about them is their names. You see, the three of them collectively cooked up one of the very best ideas I have ever heard, and they overcame all obstacles to make it come to pass. But then they messed up one tiny, inconsequential little detail. That turned the whole enterprise into a catastrophic confusion which gave great pleasure to some but cost others, including one of its principle intended beneficiaries of the idea, the Holland America cruise ship line, a ton of money.

Man, oh man. What I would have given to have been on that ship…

Update: Here are some more details about the event, courtesy of Songdog in the MetaFilter thread on the subject.

Categories: History, Literature.

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