"Master, I heard some young pupils discussing a lecture by you, and they mentioned the Chocky principle. I simply do not know it."
"Oh, it is nothing other than what grown-up pupils call 'Fundamental Thinking'. It is from Wyndham's book of that name and gives easiest access to young minds. They like the book and so would you Ling. You see, I use it to teach them not to be affraid to question all our customs and our so-called civilised logic. I would start for instance with a sequence in fundamental-, science-fictional-, thinking: Since the motorcar is far too high a price on our world, we abolish it completely. Then, some would deduce that we should use electric cars only. But this would mean the use of electricity (powerplants etc. ). Thus, clearly, the problems are not solved, only slightly shifted about. I then give them the science-fictional solution, in order to show the trick, and therefore how the problem is in us, our overpopulation, our insanity, our waste, not in the physics. I would say: We have a satelite in orbit around the Sun. It radiates energy in such a harmless way that a receiver, the size of a matchbox, gives enough power for an automobile, two of them for trucks, ships, aeroplanes, blastfurnaces etc. Are the problems solved???
No Way!!! We might have cleaner water, clearer air, but will soon experience an addition of, say, a 5 procent of energy to the Natural solar radiation, and this will kill us all, just as certainly. Thus the pupils learn, never to tackle a problem by shifting it about, but always to Think Fundamentally. It may be of help, then, to fantasize in science-fictional manner and see how a clever E.T. would appreciate it. That E.T. now, is a Chocky, Ling. Free-, and Fundamental Think."