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Originally Posted by jason taylor
I am sure some people would in fact attribute mystical significance to the Emperor, giving him if not divinity, oracular status. Ideas about him being able to heal with his hands or about flowers sprouting around Princess Iphigenia's feet when she dances, or whatever would float around. I don't picture such ideas being eliminated by super-tech.
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I agree, up to a point. The ruler of 15 trillion sophonts would naturally get a lot of respect and admiration. (A lot more, indeed, than a Traveller SL of 17, much less a GURPS SL of 8 IMO indicates; IMTU the Emperor is TSL 33/GSL 12). And there'd be a fringe of those 15 trillion sophonts who'd believe him divine. But I don't think such ideas would be supported by the Emperor himself. I just don't see Strephon supporting a Cult of the Emperor, encouraging people to build shrines to him, or being at all pleased with displays of excessive adulation.
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Indeed, the disjunction between the amount of information available, and the proportion of said information that can be processed by a given sophant may make superstition more common. The ability to use technological devices in no way makes people able to understand the science behind them, let alone giving them a worldview similar to a twentieth century intellectuals.
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OTOH, an ultra-tech society would potentially have the means and resources to educate a lot more people to a level on a par with 20th Century intellectuals a lot more thoroughly than we've achieved in the 20th Century. How much such a society actually did it would, of course, depend on the society. The people on my Capital are far too sophisticated to worship the Emperor.
A lot of them would still KILL for an invitation to one of his parties, naturally.
Hans