meaning of etherics

[lilly jo]

Hi everybody.
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I'm Brazilian and I'm reading The Caves of Steel.
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What does etherics mean in Asimov's works?? I understand the word etheric isrelated to ether, but there is sentence in The Caves of Steel in which ethericsseems to be a place... Please take a look at this fragment:

(A group of women were talking)
"Then we went to the etherics and I got to thinking about your newpartner. Do you remember those pictures you brought home, the ones JuliusEnderby took in Spacetown, to show me what Spacers looked like?"​

Can anyone help??

Thank you so much,
lilly jo​

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[The Judge]

I don't know the answer, I'm afraid, but "etherics" could also be a group or type of people, in the same way one might say "We went to the doctors". I see that according to wikipedia, an etheric body was a kind of spirit form, so perhaps etherics are mediums, who can see these forms -- which might link up to the idea of someone looking like a Spacer.

Anyway, I'll move this over to the Asimov forum, to see if anyone else can help.

 

[Brian G Turner]

It sounds like "Etherics" is being used as a title, but it's a made up term by the looks.

 

[Bick]

I think its a made up form of entertainment, so 'going to the etherics', is like 'going to the movies', with something that is transmitted via the ether, i.,e. telepathically. Asimov doesn't expand on it much, its just something he made up.