Sticks and Stones

While reading Left Hand of Darkness, i noticed, a couple times, the mention of the ansible as a method of communication. The main character also mentions that, on his journey, he traveled close to the speed of light and could return to try another generation. These two concepts are fascinating to me. I remember reading in another science fiction novel, Ender's Games, about a device called an ansible which could transmit instantaneous communication, disregarding distance. In Ender's Game, this was breakthrough and monumental technology which defied the laws of physics. The society was able to obtain this technology from an alien species which used it to communicate telepathically. Space travel was also a common theme in the Ender's Game series and allowed the main character to spend only thirty years in space as thousands of years passed on his home planet. Unfortunately, I feel both of these technologies are impossible for humans to attain, or at least not any time in the near future. I was mystified by the fact that the Gethan people saw no interest in learning about any of the foreign technology brought to the planet by Genly. This seems odd because it is usually human nature to try and learn more and adapt to our environment but the Gethans seem too isolated and foreign. So much of the Gethan's behavior seems inhuman to me that i wonder whether they can really be classified as the same race as ourselves.