1. What is the essence of future shock? How could this concept weave into the tapestry of Slan's narrative?

2. How do scientists differ in their theories of natural selection's mechanisms? Which of these theories might find representation in the world of Slan?

3. What unfolds in the true saga of relations among Homo sapiens, the "true" slan, and the tendrilless slan?

4. In what ways does Slan embody the Modernist literary movement? Conversely, what elements of the novel might suggest otherwise?

5. Does Slan cater to any of the more primal instincts typical of teenage minds?

6. Slan is a tapestry of ideas. What scientific and social concepts does it unravel? Does it succeed in articulating these notions?

7. Within the pages of Slan, how do environment and biology sculpt human development? Which exerts a greater influence over the story's events?

8. How well does van Vogt articulate his evolutionary concepts in Slan? How do these ideas align with contemporary evolutionary theories?

9. Envision a tale that unfolds beyond the novel's conclusion. Will transformations occur? Which human species shall dominate? Or will evolution dare to make another leap, birthing beings more suited than Homo sapiens, "true" slan, and tendrilless slan?

10. How does Slan weave real history into the fabric of its setting and storyline?

11. Did van Vogt reinterpret any principles of Darwinian evolution within Slan? Where does he diverge, if at all, from Darwin? Where does he align?

12. Van Vogt envisions evolution as sweeping leaps across species; transformation does not spring from a singular mutated being but blossoms through many simultaneously. The evolutionary theories emerging in the 1980s and 1990s might bolster the concept of abrupt species changes rather than gradual modifications. What influences might van Vogt have drawn upon to inspire his vision of a species-wide evolution leap in his 1940s novel?

13. In the world of Slan, mutations that forge slans appear amidst other unsuccessful mutations. Does the concept of multiple concurrent mutations as a response to environmental shifts find support in scientific circles?

14. What insights do paleoanthropologists offer about the connection between human social evolution and biological evolution? How are they interlinked in the evolution of intelligence, speech, and bipedalism? How might these elements play a role in Slan?