There is only one race. But trivial surface differences have fooled us into thinking otherwise. If I had the power to alter reality, I’d set thing up so it was utterly plain that we’re all one race. Should I make us all grey, I wonder? As in Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. LeGuin. Or perhaps a more interesting color…
Right now, I’m reading Kiln People, by David Brin. (No real spoilers here, IMO. You get most of the following from the blurb.)
Premise: in the near future, we’ll be able to make ceramic copies of ourselves that last 24 hours. The temporary copy returns to its creator at the end of the day and downloads his/her memories to the creator. Copies are color coded. Black for one type, grey for another, etc., or colored to suit the owner’s whim. Orange, plaid, you name it.
But copies are never brown. That one color is revserved for real people. Real people, of course, are all brown. Or at least, that’s how the characters in the book percieve reality. At one point, someone is described as being “brown; that pale Northern European shade”. LOL! I love it!
