tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post8866062239747053988..comments2024-03-25T02:15:02.505-07:00Comments on Nancy's Blog: The Real and the Silmulatedadminhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11442349453021015062noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post-49991998418587486392008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:002008-12-17T19:53:00.000-08:00I listened to the Rosenbaum and Doctorow story man...I listened to the Rosenbaum and Doctorow story many months ago when they read it on Cory's podcast. I really enjoyed it, but I think I agree with your comments: it wasn't moving, but it was fascinating, and I found that the use of the contemporary technical jargon to explain the technical workings of something that's so much more technically advanced than our current use of the terms. Like thinking about rockets thrust in terms of horse power. I guess I couldn't help but relish in juxtaposition.tychohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02773514814109215294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post-33247225054558922282008-12-17T05:30:00.000-08:002008-12-17T05:30:00.000-08:00Based on the quote, it sounds to me like "True Nam...Based on the quote, it sounds to me like "True Names" could use a parody check.qiihoskehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06729684109780848463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post-49282648746801408332008-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:002008-12-16T14:20:00.000-08:00It sounds like it's the cute jargon that's being a...It sounds like it's the cute jargon that's being an artificial barrier to feeling pathos for the characters. Tony Daniels' Metaplanetary has AI/program characters that are just as vital as the human/transhuman characters. Eliminate the organic characters and the others would still be as well defined and engaging.Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16962224347551157239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post-7784025495334716222008-12-16T08:04:00.000-08:002008-12-16T08:04:00.000-08:00Coincidentally, I recently read a comment that sel...Coincidentally, I recently read a comment that self-aware software would be unable to evidence the existence and nature of the hardware they ran on -- unless that information had been input from outside. A form of revelation, as it were. This would have interesting implications. <BR/><BR/>Also interesting: so much of the human soul is inextricably tied to the human body - to sensation, perception, memory, imagination (and at the other end to emotion and motion) - that a simulation, being without a physical body, would have a very different kind of soul,(*) possessing intellection without imagination, and volition without emotion.<BR/><BR/>(*) Note: Since Descartes, the term "soul" is fraught with dualistic foo-foo; but soul is only that which something possesses while alive which it does not possess while dead. If that is brain waves, then brain waves are soul.TheOFloinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14756711106266484327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1695280310697378421.post-10306378545577884322008-12-15T18:46:00.000-08:002008-12-15T18:46:00.000-08:00I haven't read either story, but the line you quot...I haven't read either story, but the line you quoted left a bad taste in my mouth. Shades of C-3PO saying "Thank the maker!" I'm not convinced, though, that a story featuring sims and no humans <I>couldn't</I> be effective and moving. What makes that line not work for me is not the separation from humanity, but what feels to me like a very artificial way to <I>bridge</I> that gap. Having self-aware simulated beings mimic humans that way . . . doesn't seem true to character. That dialogue sounded more like what I'd expect from a nineteenth century Brit living in India. <BR/><BR/>I'm sure there are compelling reasons for the choice, or that I'm missing tons of context. But why should sims be inherently less able to reach readers emotionally than, say, a dog? And yet I had no difficulty connecting emotionally to <I>Call of the Wild.</I>José Iriartehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03653811568201804995noreply@blogger.com