Ohhhhh GodHood

The Singularity» is coming. Seriously, any day now :). And Vernor Vinge is discussing it over at h+ magazine.

I've been waiting for the singularity for almost 20 years. Pretty much since the first time I was hospitalized. To some people the singularity means enhanced cognition, or free energy. Both wonderful things that will change the world, but to me it means Immortality. That's right I am not a fan of death. Nope, I don't like it at all.

When I was younger I was faced with a fairly scary disease. Death and Pain were suddenly much larger figures in my life than they should be for any child. It was in speculative fiction that I found escape from those terrors. In the stories I read science had conquered disease. Wonderful technologies like cloned organs, or medical nanobots worked miracles on a regular basis. These weren't wishes granted by a genie, or gifts from capricious gods, but the end result of steady scientific progress. This was something I could grab onto, something I could understand and relate to the reality I lived in.

We aren't growing new organs yet, though with stem cells we're close. We also don't have the medical nanobots. But there are many complex surgical procedures that are now done through an incision the size of an inch. I have one of those one inch scars. Had that surgery been done 10 years earlier the scar would have stretched all the way across my belly. In another 20 years perhaps that surgery will not even be necessary.

Over at SciFi Scanner is an article talking about some interesting experiments with Junk DNA». This is unused DNA that's in our genome, left over from the ancestors of humanity. It's similar to legacy code in a computer program that's been commented out, it's still there, just not used. Some of that legacy code when activated (uncommented) could potentially allow for things like an immunity to the HIV virus, or even other 'abilities' that lay in our evolutionary past.

The ability I'd like to see be (re)activated is regeneration. Yup the holy grail of immortality. It's in our genetic past somewhere, only at some point our primitive mammalian ancestors stopped regenerating. Instead they switched to growing scar tissue. Scars are great for mammals that have to run and hide and heal quickly, but that isn't the world humanity lives in. The evolutionary reasons for abandoning regeneration in favour of scars no longer apply to us. Yes, I dare to disagree with Mother Nature.

This is the singularity for me: The moment that we take control of our own evolution and design. When it's no longer just a random collection of genes that decides who is healthy and who is sick, that decides who lives or who dies. This is the future I still dream of.



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Coffee and Cigarettes

I'm a hedonist at heart. If it wasn't for the adverse effect alcohol has on my health I imagine I would be comfortable in France. Probably not real France, real France is likely full of normal people, but Hedonist France. Where it's like a Roman Orgy with better food and clothing. Perhaps Pre-Katrina New Orleans fits the bill (maybe even post, I certainly hope so).

Cigarettes. There's something for a hedonist to enjoy. I don't smoke them, I did once, but again that whole health thing. A few years ago I was in New Orleans, or 'NuhOrLens' as I was taught to say it, during Mardi Gras. I remember drinking coffee in the streets of the French Quarter, looking at the aftermath of the night's festivities and nursing a hangover. The air was so thick with moisture that with each exhale I had to push the smoke away from me. Long thick ropes of smoke that I directed toward objects of interest, watching as the smoke curled around another victim. I was no Gandolf, but I did managed to spear a ring or two even.

More Below/Beyond the Link...


I got a number of free meals in New Orleans. Not because the food was bad, but because it was fantastic! And I told the wonderful people that were serving me how much I enjoyed their food, city and atmosphere. I also made a point of bringing my friends back to those places and dropping some coin, repaying their generosity in multiples. That's the beauty of the Hedonist Life, share and share alike. There is nothing more satisfying than introducing someone to a new pleasure for a hedonist.

That's part of what makes New Orleans tick I think. The people I met there were warm and welcoming. They wanted to share their culture and history with visitors. I would have happily stayed forever in the warm fragrant embrace of that city had it been possible. What a contrast from where I lived at a time. The almost sterile mix of steel, water, and mountains that makes up Vancouver. A city where women in business suits and Nikes powerwalk the Stanley Park Seawall during their lunch hour. Holding a Starbucks latte with one hand, and a bottle of water with the other.

What does this have to do with Speculative Fiction? Very little other than colour, but colour is what gives a story texture and depth. Where do your characters come from? What is the nature of the place that they are? Do they have cravings? or passions? These details, perhaps never fully explained in an infodump, will influence your story in every area. Each interaction your characters have beyond their brain will be based in the details of the world around them. Being able to visualize that world, to understand what motivates the characters in that world, will lead to more believable fiction.



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Contact me? Syndication? Just like what I write?

So recently I recieved a comment on one of my posts informing me that my article had appeared elsewhere.

Cool.

I write this blog to share my thoughts and the information that I come across with others. If someone wishes to reprint something from my blog elsewhere they have my permission. I only request (not demand) two things:
1. That they let me know (and link to the reprint) in the comments of my original article, or in the comments of this article. This way I can enjoy seeing my writing elsewhere and even cross promote their site.
2. That they provide a link back to my site from the article that they reprint. That way people who enjoyed my writing can find more of it.

I've got a copyright notice on the blog - upper right corner currently - but this is the internet, people are going to link to, reprint, repost my work. I expect and even encourage and support that behaviour. As for those who do so without giving any credit to me, well, that's their choice and I'm not losing sleep over it.

Me, I'm gonna try and follow the Golden Rule, Link and Attribute, it's not that hard.

I'm linking this post to my profile as my contact page, any comments or questions about me and my blog that are not directly related to a post can be placed below.


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