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The Egg (2009)

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Re: The Egg (2009)

#71

Post by stevenhuang »

ngpio wrote: post #37
dhughes wrote: post #18

Another good short story similar to this is Asimov's "The Last Question." http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm

And "The Last Answer", which ironically ends with a question while "The Last Question" ends with an answer. And a bunch of others that aren't quite similar except that they're short, provocative scifi. Here's my list of favorites: * Ted Chiang - Understand - http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/under.htm * Ted Chiang - Exhalation - http://www.nightshadebooks.com/Downloads/Exhalation%20-%20Te... * Ted Chiang - Hell I…

This is an amazing collection. Thanks!

Re: The Egg (2009)

#72

Post by jbigelow76 »

spindritf wrote: post #5

How can you bootstrap such a world with only one soul? (I know, not the right question.)

    >How can you bootstrap such a world with only one soul?
VC funding, baby! Don't worry about monetization yet, just work on scale.

Re: The Egg (2009)

#73

Post by wpietri »

judk wrote: post #63
chroma wrote: post #46

I guess I'm in the minority that doesn't find this story uplifting. The memory reset is the biggest problem, since it doesn't allow the main character to learn from his mistakes. At the end of time, the main character will have his memories and personalities merged. Then he'll look back on countless lifetimes of the same mistakes and regrets. It would be like if someone slipped you some Ambien (to prevent memory form…

It's not uplifting, it is a parable of karma. It is posing the claim that we are all one life, and you should seek to uplift all of humanity, because you will live every life, even the lowest. Or that you should uplift the best life of humanity, because you will live it. But generally, work for a distribution that you would prefer. It is a spin on Bentham(?)/Rawls(?) Philosophy that you should choose a social contact…

Regarding the last line, I think you're thinking of the veil of ignorance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance

Re: The Egg (2009)

#75

Post by syllogism »

chroma wrote: post #46

I guess I'm in the minority that doesn't find this story uplifting. The memory reset is the biggest problem, since it doesn't allow the main character to learn from his mistakes. At the end of time, the main character will have his memories and personalities merged. Then he'll look back on countless lifetimes of the same mistakes and regrets. It would be like if someone slipped you some Ambien (to prevent memory form…

Don't know that this is what the author put in, but what I took out was that he doesn't consciously remember the lives, but there's associative memory. In the Ambien hypothetical, you could imagine all sorts of different flinch reactions developing, without a conscious memory underpinning them.

I thought the author meant, this is how you get "moral progress", and why history becomes less barbaric.

But then, that would require most of the future lives to come at the end of his timeline. Which doesn't really make sense. Shrug.

Re: The Egg (2009)

#77

Post by judk »

smky80 wrote: post #47

This seemed cute the first time I read it, and it explains the "why I am me?" question that most religions just don't. But I realized, this is would be an absolute disaster if true. True story: life more or less sucks if you aren't near a local maximum of a food chain.

I always thought the point of he story was to call attention to that fact and plead for empathy and compassion.

Re: The Egg (2009)

#78

Post by judk »

WCityMike wrote: post #28

The author of this wrote THE MARTIAN. I recommend it: http://smile.amazon.com/Martian-Andy-Weir-ebook/dp/B00EMXBDM...

Amazon Smile link, first I have seen in the wild!

Re: The Egg (2009)

#80

Post by judk »

wpietri wrote: post #73
judk wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not uplifting, it is a parable of karma. It is posing the claim that we are all one life, and you should seek to uplift all of humanity, because you will live every life, even the lowest. Or that you should uplift the best life of humanity, because you will live it. But generally, work for a distribution that you would prefer. It is a spin on Bentham(?)/Rawls(?) Philosophy that you should choose a social contact…

Regarding the last line, I think you're thinking of the veil of ignorance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance

Yes,thank you.
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