05-17-2018, 04:34 AM
Hm. Interesting idea. I will probably have further thoughts (both pro and con) after letting this percolate a while, but following is off the top of my head, both in terms of general thoughts as I was reading this (which might mirror how a potential reader might see things as well) and how OA Canon and the OA project in general works.
Moving forward...
First thought: If the hyperturings are doing this, they would generally be considered to be malfunctioning. Why wouldn't the character just contact either the S3 e is renting them from, or a local S2 or S3 or higher mind for help? Depending on the circumstances and nature of their creation, an S2 might be able to 'fix' the S1 hyperturings, or at least protect the character from them, even though they are the product of an S3. Another S3 or higher could easily fix, eliminate, or protect em from the hyperturings with trivial effort.
Second thought: In the latter part of the timeline, there are multiple and massive amounts of information on transapience and the process of ascension/transcension, including at least two major empires that make helping lower sophonts do it as safely as possible and various Transcension Mazes here and there that can do the same in a more automated manner. All of this still leaves a degree of uncertainty and danger around jumping to the next S-level - but its not a situation where the character is operating in a vacuum and having to rely entirely on eir own resources and learning to try to find out about the subject matter or to go through the ascension process. They can still have valid fears about it - but the story would probably need to make some acknowledgement of the background info mentioned here and how the character is interacting with that (or not as the case may be). Of course if the story is in the earlier part of the timeline that available knowledge base might be much smaller.
Re this section...
First thought: As a general rule, OA does not go in for the use of superlatives to describe much of anything or anybody in the setting. Describing something/someone as the biggest, bestest, smartest, etc. or saying that they have an understanding greater than everyone else is simply not workable in a setting this size (a population measured in quadrillions to quintillions depending on who your counting). Beyond that, the idea that any one modo individual could understand the subject of transapience better than everyone else in the setting, including the various institutes, universities, and other organizations that make it their business to study and understand it, have hundreds to thousands of sophonts at least the equal of the protagonist at their beck and call, and have much more than 1500-1800 years of experience under their belt is rather illogical on the face of it.
You could potentially have the character be an acknowledged expert and perhaps even the most knowledgeable sophont on the subject in their particular sandbox (a hab, a world, a solar system, a chunk of space). But depicting them as the bestest and brightest in the entire setting on the subject is simply unworkable.
Second thought: Trying to depict the thought processes of a superhuman intelligence is a notoriously difficult task in SF in general and particularly in OA. A certain amount of care is likely to be needed here, especially in the latter part of the process or after e becomes an S1. Perhaps you could have em engaging in some kind of writing or dictation or other recording of the experience that is deliberately presented in a mode that an S0 (e.g., pretty much your entire audience) can understand, with a throwaway line to the effect that the true experience cannot be expressed in any way a modo could understand even if the new S1 were to create libraries of description about it - which e isn't inclined to do. But e does do this narrative or the like.
Ok, my initial thoughts off the top of my head. Likely others later, as mentioned above, in which case will post em as I have em.
The basic idea sounds interesting, I'm hopeful it will all come together and we can read it.
Thanks!
Todd
Moving forward...
(05-17-2018, 03:10 AM)Archailectheocrat Wrote: Thank you for the kind welcome! I have an idea for a short story:
About a 1800 year old superbright that is a transsavant in several fields through transsapienttech augments (with a few dedicated hyperturings they rented from a local S3, in NoZoCo) - but the hyperturings, even though they are dedicated and monomaniacal, feel restricted in their ability to feed the superbright experiences due to his limited consciousness, and thus are quickly amassing more resources and memetic power (at a pace the superbright can't keep up with, even though they have a massive resource advantage) - he has 2 weeks until they'll overpower all his safeguards and transcend him (in order to be able to fully dedicate themselves to their job) or until he ascends, but he's terrified of losing his identity (which is why he spent over 1500 years studying transsapience in order to figure things out the best he can), he ends up ascending, and reflects on that experience as a new S1.
First thought: If the hyperturings are doing this, they would generally be considered to be malfunctioning. Why wouldn't the character just contact either the S3 e is renting them from, or a local S2 or S3 or higher mind for help? Depending on the circumstances and nature of their creation, an S2 might be able to 'fix' the S1 hyperturings, or at least protect the character from them, even though they are the product of an S3. Another S3 or higher could easily fix, eliminate, or protect em from the hyperturings with trivial effort.
Second thought: In the latter part of the timeline, there are multiple and massive amounts of information on transapience and the process of ascension/transcension, including at least two major empires that make helping lower sophonts do it as safely as possible and various Transcension Mazes here and there that can do the same in a more automated manner. All of this still leaves a degree of uncertainty and danger around jumping to the next S-level - but its not a situation where the character is operating in a vacuum and having to rely entirely on eir own resources and learning to try to find out about the subject matter or to go through the ascension process. They can still have valid fears about it - but the story would probably need to make some acknowledgement of the background info mentioned here and how the character is interacting with that (or not as the case may be). Of course if the story is in the earlier part of the timeline that available knowledge base might be much smaller.
(05-17-2018, 03:10 AM)Archailectheocrat Wrote: I especially want to focus on the mental experience on the ascension, describing the exponential addition of the mind-states, disorientation, how the centralised integration of these mind-states evolves and triggers a runaway explosion of complexity, how the superbrights abstract conjectures of transsapience get fleshed out (His understanding, even though being a transsavant and one of the most capable, dedicated and genius superbrights, ends up being similar to a vague, low-resolution echo of what transsapience is like, even though he likely understood it better than any, or at least better than 99.9999999% of all modos did, which is obviously still grossly insufficient) - and the S1 reflecting on the experience.
Re this section...
First thought: As a general rule, OA does not go in for the use of superlatives to describe much of anything or anybody in the setting. Describing something/someone as the biggest, bestest, smartest, etc. or saying that they have an understanding greater than everyone else is simply not workable in a setting this size (a population measured in quadrillions to quintillions depending on who your counting). Beyond that, the idea that any one modo individual could understand the subject of transapience better than everyone else in the setting, including the various institutes, universities, and other organizations that make it their business to study and understand it, have hundreds to thousands of sophonts at least the equal of the protagonist at their beck and call, and have much more than 1500-1800 years of experience under their belt is rather illogical on the face of it.
You could potentially have the character be an acknowledged expert and perhaps even the most knowledgeable sophont on the subject in their particular sandbox (a hab, a world, a solar system, a chunk of space). But depicting them as the bestest and brightest in the entire setting on the subject is simply unworkable.
Second thought: Trying to depict the thought processes of a superhuman intelligence is a notoriously difficult task in SF in general and particularly in OA. A certain amount of care is likely to be needed here, especially in the latter part of the process or after e becomes an S1. Perhaps you could have em engaging in some kind of writing or dictation or other recording of the experience that is deliberately presented in a mode that an S0 (e.g., pretty much your entire audience) can understand, with a throwaway line to the effect that the true experience cannot be expressed in any way a modo could understand even if the new S1 were to create libraries of description about it - which e isn't inclined to do. But e does do this narrative or the like.
Ok, my initial thoughts off the top of my head. Likely others later, as mentioned above, in which case will post em as I have em.
The basic idea sounds interesting, I'm hopeful it will all come together and we can read it.
Thanks!
Todd