What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

[Menolly]

Enjoy Outlander, Av.

The series should keep you busy for awhile...

[Avatar]

Haha, a couple of weeks at least, depending on my gaming. Did book 1 in two days.

I think it was either Duchess or Ali who first mentioned them to me.

--A

[MsMary]

Don't know if I mentioned this one. I recently finished Nemesis Games, the most recent book in The Expanse series.

[I'm Murrin]

I finished Neal Stephenson's Seveneves tonight. Very good, very interesting, but I kinda feel like it ended once he was done with showing us the last piece of his worldbuilding, rather than at a point that was entirely satisfying for the plot.

[Avatar]

Haven't read that one yet. Or Cryptowhatchmacallit. Must get them.

--A

[Avatar]

Voyager, the next (3rd) Outlander book.

--A

[Avatar]

Drums of Autumn, book 4 of the Outlander series.

--A

[Avatar]

The Fiery Cross, book 5 of the Outlander series.

--A

[Menolly]

More than halfway through the current books in the series then. Are you enjoying the story, Av?

[Fist and Faith]

Just read Stephen Palmer's Beautiful Intelligence and No Grave For A Fox, and about to start Muezzinland. Artificial Intelligence, next-generation internet, crazy fun stuff. Some good discussions about consciousness/emotion/intelligence.

[Avatar]

More than halfway through the current books in the series then. Are you enjoying the story, Av?

I am quite. Just ordered the next two books, but will only get them next month.

--A

[ussusimiel]

Just read Stephen Palmer's Beautiful Intelligence... Artificial Intelligence, next-generation internet, crazy fun stuff. Some good discussions about consciousness/emotion/intelligence.

Just finished this as well, enjoyable, good writing and with some good ideas around AI. Parts of it do seem a bit naive, but the context of the story may allow for some of that. However, with the general awareness of the possibility of the Singularity etc. you'd think that people would be a bit more careful/cagey around such a big step. There also seemed to be some fairly basic discussions around how we develop awareness, the importance of socialisation and language that seemed very ad hoc. You'd hope that that kind of thing would be tested and developed before you start dumping intelligences into machines. Or, given the general way that humans go about things, maybe not. Oops!

I also read The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu (winner of this year's Hugo). Very good, and actually, for me, the best part was the historical setting at the start with the Cultural Revolution as the background. I didn't realise that I knew so little about how modern-day China came into being. The book goes on from there in a fairly generic SF manner, with some good flourishes and ideas. I'm looking forward to the next one.

u.

[Fist and Faith]

You'd hope that that kind of thing would be tested and developed before you start dumping intelligences into machines. Or, given the general way that humans go about things, maybe not. Oops!

OTOH, scifi has had it come about in many accidental or emergent ways that aren't intended. Certainly not tested and developed.


Did you read beyond the first book? The second is a short novel. The third is very interesting. It's set in Africa, well after the events of BI. The main character is the daughter of the Empress of Ghana. She and a companion are on a long walking journey, in what seems very old tribal ways. But everybody has biograins in their brains; the beads of the necklace are high-tech data storage; the diviner they see slits the cockerel's throat, spills its blood into an enameled tin bowl, then gets the visions by way of logging on their version of an internet and getting a data transfer; etc. I've barely started it, but the juxtaposition of the old and new is very interesting.

[Avatar]

Ghana is a parliamentary democracy...

--A

[I'm Murrin]

I've started N K Jemisin's The Fifth Season.

[Fist and Faith]

Ghana is a parliamentary democracy...

--A

Not a couple centuries from now it ain't!

[ussusimiel]

You'd hope that that kind of thing would be tested and developed before you start dumping intelligences into machines. Or, given the general way that humans go about things, maybe not. Oops!

OTOH, scifi has had it come about in many accidental or emergent ways that aren't intended. Certainly not tested and developed.

I suppose what I was trying to say was that if the world is set in the future from our current present then it would include all the speculation etc. that SF has come up with so far. Of course, in a sci-fi/fantasy world that doesn't have to be a given, but directly invoking something like the Internet does, for me, set up certain expectations. It's wasn't that much of a problem, and it fit somewhat with the general fragility and naivety of some of the central characters.

Did you read beyond the first book? The second is a short novel. The third is very interesting...

I didn't know there were any more, I'll keep an eye out for them, thanks!

u.

[Fist and Faith]

You'd hope that that kind of thing would be tested and developed before you start dumping intelligences into machines. Or, given the general way that humans go about things, maybe not. Oops!

OTOH, scifi has had it come about in many accidental or emergent ways that aren't intended. Certainly not tested and developed.

I suppose what I was trying to say was that if the world is set in the future from our current present then it would include all the speculation etc. that SF has come up with so far. Of course, in a sci-fi/fantasy world that doesn't have to be a given, but directly invoking something like the Internet does, for me, set up certain expectations. It's wasn't that much of a problem, and it fit somewhat with the general fragility and naivety of some of the central characters.

I don't think the internet - actually the nexus - was much involved with the AI. One was a quantum computer, and the other was the biograins. But anyway, I don't understand what you mean in your first post. How can we test and develop the importance of socialization and language to the development of awareness in any way other than trying to use them to create an awareness?

Did you read beyond the first book? The second is a short novel. The third is very interesting...

I didn't know there were any more, I'll keep an eye out for them, thanks!

You edited the other titles out of my post in your quote.

[ussusimiel]

But anyway, I don't understand what you mean in your first post. How can we test and develop the importance of socialization and language to the development of awareness in any way other than trying to use them to create an awareness?

I presume that there are plenty of steps that you can take from computer simulation, to basic robots, to more complicated systems etc. There is also the matter of size and power, never mind giving a new consciousness access to the Nexus/Internet. What I'd be suggesting is that you start off small and scale up gradually: great power/great responsibility etc.

Did you read beyond the first book? The second is a short novel. The third is very interesting...

I didn't know there were any more, I'll keep an eye out for them, thanks!

You edited the other titles out of my post in your quote.

Missed that! I thought they were totally different books you were talking about, it being Christmas and all

u.

[Fist and Faith]

I gotcha. For sure, trying it on an isolated system before turning it loose on the world might be a good idea. I guess I don't have much hope that it will be done with safety measures, though. Any number of people might do it at different times. Someone or other probably won't care. Enough people are trying to loose the most destructive viruses they can on us.