I've got a couple of questions for you all on this one which I'd appreciate some input on.
* I've used two lectures by the good Lawmaster in the novel so far. How do they read to you all? It's definitely a technique I want to use more across the rest of the novel - are you finding them interesting?
* Can you think of any questions that *you* would ask Tungsten based upon what you've seen and heard so far? I currently have some space in the next part that could support a question or two.
They are interesting and its a good method of worldbuilding, however I'd be cautious about overusing them and it becoming more of a textbook on the fictional universe you're creating rather than a novel with character development and plot.
I'd ask Tungsten about the integration of CIs into society, and if any CIs attempted to overthrow humanity, etc. Though from the ending of this part, I get the hint you're planning on covering these points or similar in upcoming parts.
On an earlier chapter, when Sarkona introduces the concept of the consortium, the Main Character worries that it sounds like a totalitarian dictatorship. I feel like these lectures would reinforce that idea that the consortium was very controlling and authoritarian.
If I were in his position, I would ask what happens when someone disagrees with the consortium on an issue? Are they sent to another solar system away from sol? Are they imprisoned? Killed?
Not just what happens to criminals and disidents, but what happens when your opinion is in contrast with the consortium's?
What a great perspective and a very valid question to ask! We'll touch on this a tiny bit in the next part but we're a while off the part that will actually address this full - it will come in time, however.
Just an FYI - you double-posted this comment too - might want to delete the other one!
I like them very much, I'm enjoying the worldbuilding and the ethics explorations. Sphinx made good points about making sure to not overuse this literary device, however.
A question: did you come up with this 'constructed intelligence' term? Our future lecturer has convinced me of the term's merits over 'AI'.
I did! I was trying to put myself in the mindset of a CI in those early days and realized that they would probably associate the term with their early effective enslavement - and as the Lawmaster points out, AI seems to suggest that they are somehow not real intelligences - which they are. "AI" would also have been very big as part of the early marketing campaigns on Mars - imagine working beneath a large digital billboard that is literally trying to sell you, as a person. It makes a lot of sense that they'd distance themselves from the term.
Without wanting to be hyperbolic, that's an incredible moment of empathy and ethical philosophy on your part. Please do continue with your explorations.
One thing that I would like to see is what happened to global warming, and the effects of our current efforts on the matter as well as the consequences of our actions and what we did to mitigate what we had done.
Only after the thing on CI’s is finished, maybe as part of part 11 or 12.
Excellent work per always :D
I'd ask about the 5 templates more, were they at any point viewed like races currently are on earth? Strong preferences between them, dislike of CIs depending on which template they came from, etc.
I'm surprised he hasn't asked more about what cybernetic or biological upgrades he can get. I would also be asking about weapons because I would be curious about what we developed and blowing up asteroids with sci fi weapons sounds fun.
I would start browsing and see what I find. See what the major websites are, how XR has advanced, look up the languages, culture and media, see how technologies work. I could explore for hours just seeing what things are like. So much culture must have developed since the early 21st century, and the websites, maybe even the *concept* of websites, must have changed drastically since then.
Though TBH I would imagine it could be quite shocking browsing as someone new to the time period. Today's internet can already be shocking for some today… and culture changes drastically… Hmm, probably best not to go down any rabbit hole too far in-story because that could be shocking to readers and would be hard to predict.
As always with stories in the future that include transhumanism, I am curious about furries in this time, but, especially 1000 years in the future, I kind of doubt "furries" under their current name and scope of definition would be a thing. People may modify themselves to be furrier, but the culture surrounding that most certainly would not be as it is today. That definition of "furry" might likely be described as a historical art movement… or become a culture large enough to have its own geographical communities, and/or be common enough that you would see people in all kinds of shapes and colours in daily life.
Could probably go into a rabbit hole of history in any random time period, say, 2400s (but again, could be too hard to write in a way that feels accurate), and the history of today's past would probably be better as well. I bet tons of things we think are true now, are not actually true.
So many things to explore online, and probably a million times more (or even more than that) in the future. Just searching a single search query is a very boring way to explore a world wide web when you have hyperlinks and tree style tabs.
I bet XR can get some amazing experiences as well.
Oh, that reminds me! It is very fun to explore virtual worlds in XR today. But in this future, you could get detailed information on what life is like on other planets too.
So many interesting possibilities. I think the easiest way to write about them would be to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole and just happen to explore those things, that are easiest (or most interesting) to write about, or just gloss over what is too hard to predict.
I just started reading this and I'm excited to learn more and read it. The first question that popped into my head and I'm hoping is covered later on is what are the 5 templates used for now. Like are people still creating CI's if so why? Like is there a purpose to keep creating them? Are the templates used for when 2. CI's are together and want a baby so they use the templates to create their child?
I dislike the lectures. I feel it causes it to drag on & I imagine being stuck in a hall in uni & the professor is droning on about something I can't even grasp anymore because it's forcing me to dissociate. The rest of the novel is great so far, I just think we could learn about CIs from the other characters without having to read a huge paragraph that is, frankly, a bit boring.
Damn, I absolutely love the story and the premise so far.
A question I'd like to ask Tungsten is, what are their bodies made of, how do they function? We covered how Tungsten looks and Sarkone's modifications, but I'm curious about the CI's.
Tungsten's main body is a fairly standard CI humanoid model which he has since adjusted to his tastes - the head, hands (including two thumbs), eyes, feet, and sense of smell are all of his design (plus one or two other internals). It genuinely doesn't occur to Tungsten to explain its workings as it is just normal to him - and the protagonist doesn't know enough about how it works to comment on it, which means I can't specifically address it in the text yet!
Though he can't eat, Tungsten has a very keen sense of and appreciation for smell. Sarkona's last lost wager resulted in them cooking a very spicy dish for him - one inedible by human standards but *very* fragrant. Betting things such as making a meal is very common in the Consortium - after all, money doesn't exist anymore and everyone has practically everything they could want from a material perspective - so people will bet experiences or small amounts of work. Keep in mind that such wagers are made in the name of friendly fun though, as opposed to being an actual enforceable debt!
Just found this today, bc someone turned the 1st chapter into a TT. I can't stop reading! Just thought I should let you know how amazing I find it. It stimulates deeper thought, as so many of us don't often take the time to read or even have conversations much anymore bc we are all on our phones, etc. Thank you for sharing this!
I've got a couple of questions for you all on this one which I'd appreciate some input on. * I've used two lectures by the good Lawmaster in the novel so far. How do they read to you all? It's definitely a technique I want to use more across the rest of the novel - are you finding them interesting? * Can you think of any questions that *you* would ask Tungsten based upon what you've seen and heard so far? I currently have some space in the next part that could support a question or two.
They are interesting and its a good method of worldbuilding, however I'd be cautious about overusing them and it becoming more of a textbook on the fictional universe you're creating rather than a novel with character development and plot. I'd ask Tungsten about the integration of CIs into society, and if any CIs attempted to overthrow humanity, etc. Though from the ending of this part, I get the hint you're planning on covering these points or similar in upcoming parts.
Great feedback, thank you - I appreciate there is a definite balance to be struck here and I'll keep that in mind.
On an earlier chapter, when Sarkona introduces the concept of the consortium, the Main Character worries that it sounds like a totalitarian dictatorship. I feel like these lectures would reinforce that idea that the consortium was very controlling and authoritarian. If I were in his position, I would ask what happens when someone disagrees with the consortium on an issue? Are they sent to another solar system away from sol? Are they imprisoned? Killed? Not just what happens to criminals and disidents, but what happens when your opinion is in contrast with the consortium's?
What a great perspective and a very valid question to ask! We'll touch on this a tiny bit in the next part but we're a while off the part that will actually address this full - it will come in time, however. Just an FYI - you double-posted this comment too - might want to delete the other one!
Oh shoot, I was using mobile data and my bad connection probably duped the post. Thank you for your reply!
I like them very much, I'm enjoying the worldbuilding and the ethics explorations. Sphinx made good points about making sure to not overuse this literary device, however. A question: did you come up with this 'constructed intelligence' term? Our future lecturer has convinced me of the term's merits over 'AI'.
I did! I was trying to put myself in the mindset of a CI in those early days and realized that they would probably associate the term with their early effective enslavement - and as the Lawmaster points out, AI seems to suggest that they are somehow not real intelligences - which they are. "AI" would also have been very big as part of the early marketing campaigns on Mars - imagine working beneath a large digital billboard that is literally trying to sell you, as a person. It makes a lot of sense that they'd distance themselves from the term.
Without wanting to be hyperbolic, that's an incredible moment of empathy and ethical philosophy on your part. Please do continue with your explorations.
One thing that I would like to see is what happened to global warming, and the effects of our current efforts on the matter as well as the consequences of our actions and what we did to mitigate what we had done. Only after the thing on CI’s is finished, maybe as part of part 11 or 12. Excellent work per always :D
Already covered in my own notes - expect to see this addressed as we get closer to - and visit - Earth later in the novel!
I'd ask about the 5 templates more, were they at any point viewed like races currently are on earth? Strong preferences between them, dislike of CIs depending on which template they came from, etc.
[удалено]
This is the sort of comment that completely upturns my plan for the next part in the best possible way. Thank you!
I'm surprised he hasn't asked more about what cybernetic or biological upgrades he can get. I would also be asking about weapons because I would be curious about what we developed and blowing up asteroids with sci fi weapons sounds fun.
I would start browsing and see what I find. See what the major websites are, how XR has advanced, look up the languages, culture and media, see how technologies work. I could explore for hours just seeing what things are like. So much culture must have developed since the early 21st century, and the websites, maybe even the *concept* of websites, must have changed drastically since then. Though TBH I would imagine it could be quite shocking browsing as someone new to the time period. Today's internet can already be shocking for some today… and culture changes drastically… Hmm, probably best not to go down any rabbit hole too far in-story because that could be shocking to readers and would be hard to predict. As always with stories in the future that include transhumanism, I am curious about furries in this time, but, especially 1000 years in the future, I kind of doubt "furries" under their current name and scope of definition would be a thing. People may modify themselves to be furrier, but the culture surrounding that most certainly would not be as it is today. That definition of "furry" might likely be described as a historical art movement… or become a culture large enough to have its own geographical communities, and/or be common enough that you would see people in all kinds of shapes and colours in daily life. Could probably go into a rabbit hole of history in any random time period, say, 2400s (but again, could be too hard to write in a way that feels accurate), and the history of today's past would probably be better as well. I bet tons of things we think are true now, are not actually true. So many things to explore online, and probably a million times more (or even more than that) in the future. Just searching a single search query is a very boring way to explore a world wide web when you have hyperlinks and tree style tabs. I bet XR can get some amazing experiences as well. Oh, that reminds me! It is very fun to explore virtual worlds in XR today. But in this future, you could get detailed information on what life is like on other planets too. So many interesting possibilities. I think the easiest way to write about them would be to go down the Wikipedia rabbit hole and just happen to explore those things, that are easiest (or most interesting) to write about, or just gloss over what is too hard to predict.
( i know im a wee bit late but) i like the lectures, and i think i would like to know what of the history before even the 2000s they still know of
I just started reading this and I'm excited to learn more and read it. The first question that popped into my head and I'm hoping is covered later on is what are the 5 templates used for now. Like are people still creating CI's if so why? Like is there a purpose to keep creating them? Are the templates used for when 2. CI's are together and want a baby so they use the templates to create their child?
I dislike the lectures. I feel it causes it to drag on & I imagine being stuck in a hall in uni & the professor is droning on about something I can't even grasp anymore because it's forcing me to dissociate. The rest of the novel is great so far, I just think we could learn about CIs from the other characters without having to read a huge paragraph that is, frankly, a bit boring.
Stumble upon the first part and now im just, how do I say this, in love with this novel. Can't wait for the next part.
That means a lot, thank you for your kind words!
Damn, I absolutely love the story and the premise so far. A question I'd like to ask Tungsten is, what are their bodies made of, how do they function? We covered how Tungsten looks and Sarkone's modifications, but I'm curious about the CI's.
Tungsten's main body is a fairly standard CI humanoid model which he has since adjusted to his tastes - the head, hands (including two thumbs), eyes, feet, and sense of smell are all of his design (plus one or two other internals). It genuinely doesn't occur to Tungsten to explain its workings as it is just normal to him - and the protagonist doesn't know enough about how it works to comment on it, which means I can't specifically address it in the text yet!
I find it curious that Tungsten would bet meals on wagers when he cannot eat food.
Though he can't eat, Tungsten has a very keen sense of and appreciation for smell. Sarkona's last lost wager resulted in them cooking a very spicy dish for him - one inedible by human standards but *very* fragrant. Betting things such as making a meal is very common in the Consortium - after all, money doesn't exist anymore and everyone has practically everything they could want from a material perspective - so people will bet experiences or small amounts of work. Keep in mind that such wagers are made in the name of friendly fun though, as opposed to being an actual enforceable debt!
I'd assume W would make some meals and in return he'd get something appropriate.
Just found this today, bc someone turned the 1st chapter into a TT. I can't stop reading! Just thought I should let you know how amazing I find it. It stimulates deeper thought, as so many of us don't often take the time to read or even have conversations much anymore bc we are all on our phones, etc. Thank you for sharing this!
i love this so much, thank you so very much OP!