5.4 KiB
Accelerando by Charles Stross
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Author: u/alexanderwales Time flies like an arrow*
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URL: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/fiction/accelerando/accelerando-intro.html
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Score: 18
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Created: 2014-01-14T20:05:52
Post:
Comments:
u/alexanderwales [+3] Time flies like an arrow (2 minutes later)
What happens if you keep piling on the changes? What kind of person can actually live on the edge of a singularity, keeping pace while all around them the world is melted down and re-forged monthly, daily, hourly?
One of my favorite books, available free at the above link by the author (/u/cstross). There are nine chapters and each one takes place about ten years after the previous one, which covers the leadup to the Singularity and more or less out the other side. I've got my dead trees version of it, which I treasure greatly, but it's free here for the reading. It won the Locus award and got nominated for a lot of others. Lots of transhumanist themes going on, as it's more or less about the Singularity.
u/FreeZedrIedpiZzaPie [+3] (2 hours later)
If I were the type of person to have an all-time favorite book, this could be it. Extremely formative to my current world-view and lifetime goals. I'm excited to read it again in a few years once I've forgotten more details. Also, lobsters.
u/None [+2] (12 hours later)
Extremely formative to my current world-view and lifetime goals.
You bastard ;-).
u/None [+1] (20 hours later)
It's interesting that Charles Stross actually doesn't think that the singularity is all that likely. See: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2011/06/reality-check-1.html
u/None [+1] (21 hours later)
So basically, his argument against AI takeoff... is FAI. His argument against mind uploading is that it probably can't work very easily, and would cause a religious war. His argument against simulation arguments, is "we see the reality we see."
I agree with three, think he has more of a point than even he realizes in one, and my argument against two is basically that major governments seem to have decided whole-brain emulation is a major research goal worth billions of dollars.
As to mutated download people who live in interplanetary financial networks, nobody ever even wanted that shit anyway.
u/Suitov [+1] The Culture (30 days later)
I dunno -- Gordon Brown would probably be in heaven.
u/None [+1] (30 days later)
City of London pls go.
u/mycroftxxx42 [+1] (13 hours later)
It makes me a little sad that I don't cover any of the same reddit ground as he. On the other hand, he's managing to write 2-6K money-making words (blog-posts and livejournal don't count) each working day and has a Reddit account. I don't think Charlie is entirely human any more.
u/None [+3] (3 hours later)
Really good. He made a serious effort at trying to depict the future as realistically as possible. I especially liked how unconventional, alien and weird some of the events were and how he littered these fringe technical concepts throughout the book. The pyramid scheme scam corporation AI and those sentient lobsters were probably my favorite little details. My only criticism probably is that
Accelerando, spoilers until the end
I'm not sure how rational the book is though. I have been thinking about submitting this book here before, but this story doesn't really revolve around rational decision-making. It's more like there were these little people who were thrown into a storm and try their best to act under the influence of events outside their control. But now that it's submitted I think it fits well here because none of the characters are really idiots and the story is otherwise really smart.
u/FeepingCreature [+3] GCV Literally The Entire Culture (15 hours later)
It's not really a rationalist book, but it's a book that the sort of people who like rationalist fiction will probably enjoy.
u/None [+2] (15 hours later)
Oh, and I almost forgot that the sidebar allowed hard science fiction.
u/traverseda [+3] With dread but cautious optimism (15 hours later)
Wish I had of read this earlier.
Manfred is at the peak of his profession, which is essentially coming up with whacky but workable ideas and giving them to people who will make fortunes with them.
Describes pretty much exactly what I want to do for a living. Well that an assess the viability of whacky ideas.
Reminded me to email some people about some stuff anyway.
u/traverseda [+3] With dread but cautious optimism (a day later)
The nude woman turns toward him. She's the spitting image of Amber's mother, except for the chellipeds she has in place of hands. She hisses "Equity!" and takes a wobbly step toward him, pincers clacking.
That is all.
u/None [+2] (6 hours later)
Loving it thus far! Thanks for sharing!
u/flame7926 [+1] The Lone Power (11 days later)
Wow, this was really good. The cat thing seemed a bit unnecessary at the end though.