BUT, I DON'T THINK

But, I Don't Think is a science fiction short story by prolific author Randall Garrett. It was first published in Astounding Science Fiction in July, 1959. It asks the question, "Are a society's laws cruel if its inhabitants like them?"A man called "The Guesser" is a Class Three member of a strict, hierarchical space-going society, that is fighting against another civilization they know only as "Misfits". The Guesser has a talent for knowing where an enemy ship will be before even the on-board computers, and aiming a weapon to destroy it. Class One Executives have many privileges but are called on to make hard decisions. Lower classes such as Five and Six do menial work. All Class members must show deference to members of a higher class, and expect it from lower classes. Punishment for transgressing takes the form of induced nerve pain in jolts over several minutes.