The Hate Disease

Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 107K words
Chapters: 11

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Hate Disease by Murray LeinsterAuthor: Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 31, 2009

Editor's review

Murray Leinster's The Hate Disease is a short science fiction work imagining a disease spread by hatred, weaving medicine, social psychology, and crisis response into a tight narrative. The author excels at pushing scientific hypotheses to extreme situations in an accessible style, prompting readers to ponder the complex relationships among emotion, group behavior, and public health amid suspense. The work is short with a clear premise, suitable as an introduction to science fiction or classroom discussion material, especially for provoking reflection on whether emotions are contagious. Note that the story carries mid-twentieth-century SF narrative conventions, and some scientific premises are simplified by today's standards; readers should treat it as a thought experiment rather than hard SF. As a public-domain ebook, it is convenient for quick reading and thematic selections, suited to readers interested in psychological suspense and social science fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy short science fiction and thought experiments
Students interested in emotional contagion and group psychology
Science or language teachers seeking classroom discussion material

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking rigorous scientific argumentation and hard SF detail
Readers expecting lengthy character arcs and complex subplots
Readers sensitive to illness themes who prefer to avoid related fictional content

Reading tips

Read it in one sitting first, then revisit the passages where the disease premise appears and map out the author's scientific hypothesis.
After reading, write a short rebuttal or supplement around the question 'Can hatred be treated as a contagious disease?'
Compare it with real-world public health campaign cases to discuss the boundary between fiction and reality.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is The Hate Disease a novel or a short story?

Judging by the length and narrative structure of the public-domain ebook, it is a short science fiction work with a concentrated plot and a clear premise, suitable for reading in one sitting. Readers should not expect lengthy multi-threaded development but should focus on how the author drives the story with one core hypothesis and leaves thought-provoking space at the end.

Is the 'hate disease' in the story a real illness?

It is a fictional science fiction premise used to turn emotional and social behavioral problems into an observable 'disease' metaphor. There is no real disease spread by hatred, but phenomena such as emotional contagion and group polarization are indeed studied in psychology and sociology. When reading, treat the premise as a thought experiment rather than medical knowledge.

Is this ebook suitable for middle school students?

It is short with accessible language, and the themes involve illness and group psychology; middle school students can generally read it. Teachers or parents are advised to guide discussion on the difference between fictional premises and reality, so that the SF metaphor is not mistaken for a scientific conclusion. If students are sensitive to the subject matter, they may read a synopsis first before deciding whether to read it.

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About the author

Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975 Author

Murray Leinster (1896–1975) was an American science fiction writer whose real name was William Fitzgerald Jenkins. He was a prolific author of short stories and novels, and this site holds thirty-nine of his works, including The Mad Planet, The Pirates of Ersatz, The Machine That Saved The World, The Forgotten Planet, The Wailing Asteroid, The Invaders, The Runaway Skyscraper, and Scrimshaw. His science fiction often deals with interstellar adventure, strange planets, and technological speculation, with tightly plotted, boldly imaginative narratives that also reflect on human society and the conditions of survival; some works are also categorized as inspirational growth. Public information is limited, making biographical details difficult to describe, but the surviving works show his important place in twentieth-century American popular science fiction and his influence on later writers in the genre.