Hypno-learningA process developed by the Screethli, a race of insectoids living in Imperial space. Adapting the technology to mammalian brains is a laborious process, and has to be repeated for each type of skill to be learned. This is convenient for the Empire, which finds the technology useful but ethically troubling—it has only permitted the adaptation of this technology to humans in certain limited areas in which the advantage it confers outweighs the moral implications of messing around with the natural learning processes of the human brain. The primary such application is the teaching of alien language. This is considered to be an overall win because it allows military personnel to learn a basic mapping of word meanings without risking too much absorption of inconvenient cultural knowledge. On the other hand, this is why Imperial Standard hypno-bundles are seldom made available to vassal planets—the Empire wants to assimilate its subjects culturally. They can be used to reward trusted Patrician families. Illegal copies are prized by rebels, who find it useful to speak the language but oppose its teaching in their schools. So far the only other permitted application of hypno-bundles is learning the operation of certain obscure vehicles. Permission to use hypno-learning for this is usually only granted during states of emergency, when there is a serious shortage of skilled pilots. As a result, the piloting hypno-bundles are much less carefully tested, and are notorious for occasionally scrambling people's brains. |