I devoured like 6 of Ian Banks Novels. At first, I loved them. Eventually they became too predictable: it turns out that on every planet, there are republicans - who just want to inflict suffering - and democrats, motivated by noble intentions, who get by with help from special circumstances.
The AI idea was cool, and the cosmos Bank creates was deeply interesting, but ultimately it seems like he’s got a transparently shallow notion of where human conflict comes from, and how it could ultimately be resolved. There’s no curiosity in him on the big questions, no hint that he considered the cosmos may ultimately be beyond him. It’s impossible to imagine Banks describing a group doing woke-like things because in his mind, the bad guys just straight up enjoy watching people suffer for no reason other than sadism. Banks lacks any sense that people will do deeply evil things while telling themselves it’s good and they’re caring - the bad guys might as well have handlebar mustaches and have a habit of tying women to train tracks.
Ultimately I think any sci fi novel that spans enough space and time will end up being a reflection of the authors beliefs. I enjoy the books, it’s a neat idea, and could even buy the possibility that AGI really would follow a benevolent rule for reasons of practicality. The books are good but hopefully the real cosmos is more interesting than the world Banks paints, or else we’re all gonna get bored long before the stars turn to giant balls of iron.
"Struggle, Danger and Death" -- Is it possible that AGI will have knock off effects on these dimensions of human nature? And that ASI will have even more profound knock off effects? Thanks for sharing the You Tube video. I feel like ancestors in Charleston, South around the year 1905. They were advertising hard for their horse harness business, a 4th generation family enterprise. It was all they knew, even as they laid eyes on the first horseless carriages (cars) in town.
The future was unimaginable to the titans of the horse harness.
I devoured like 6 of Ian Banks Novels. At first, I loved them. Eventually they became too predictable: it turns out that on every planet, there are republicans - who just want to inflict suffering - and democrats, motivated by noble intentions, who get by with help from special circumstances.
The AI idea was cool, and the cosmos Bank creates was deeply interesting, but ultimately it seems like he’s got a transparently shallow notion of where human conflict comes from, and how it could ultimately be resolved. There’s no curiosity in him on the big questions, no hint that he considered the cosmos may ultimately be beyond him. It’s impossible to imagine Banks describing a group doing woke-like things because in his mind, the bad guys just straight up enjoy watching people suffer for no reason other than sadism. Banks lacks any sense that people will do deeply evil things while telling themselves it’s good and they’re caring - the bad guys might as well have handlebar mustaches and have a habit of tying women to train tracks.
Ultimately I think any sci fi novel that spans enough space and time will end up being a reflection of the authors beliefs. I enjoy the books, it’s a neat idea, and could even buy the possibility that AGI really would follow a benevolent rule for reasons of practicality. The books are good but hopefully the real cosmos is more interesting than the world Banks paints, or else we’re all gonna get bored long before the stars turn to giant balls of iron.
"Struggle, Danger and Death" -- Is it possible that AGI will have knock off effects on these dimensions of human nature? And that ASI will have even more profound knock off effects? Thanks for sharing the You Tube video. I feel like ancestors in Charleston, South around the year 1905. They were advertising hard for their horse harness business, a 4th generation family enterprise. It was all they knew, even as they laid eyes on the first horseless carriages (cars) in town.
The future was unimaginable to the titans of the horse harness.