John Wright - The Golden Transcendence

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The third Phaethon Radamanthus vehicle (after The Golden Age [2002] and The Phoenix Exultant [BKL Ap 15 03]) starts with a battle for control of the starship Phoenix Exultant and ranges from the outer planets to the heart of the sun as Phaeton struggles to comprehend what's right and why and to prevent the destruction of the Golden Oecumene and his own near-utopian way of life. Meanwhile, the Golden Oecumene-Silent Oecumene face-off begins a war between the highly logical Sophotechs of the former and the machine minds of the latter, which are equipped to kill other AIs as a result of the refusal of self-aware machines to act as servants only, which makes them also capable of irrational behavior. The machine minds continue in some ways to be the most interesting characters in Wright's series, which is crammed with everything from bizarre high-tech space battles to the mental battles of obscure future philosophies. With this book, the first of Phaethon's trilogies concludes, freeing him to gallivant through the galaxy, spreading the Golden Oecumene.

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Note that these last two factors are actually independent variables. A self-aware entity can be Composed into a network without losing independence of consciousness (if, for example, he were sharing speech and perception, but not emotion or memory). Note also, an entity can share some aspects or elements of consciousness without actually being part of a mass-mind. For example, one could share short-term memories without sharing personality (called likewisers), or vice versa (called avatars), or share dream structures and thalamic language reactions without sharing cortex consciousness (certain daughter groups of the Cerebellines do this). An entity with no instantaneous sharing of cortexual thought, perception, and memory is regarded as being legally independent, even if all other brain functions are shared.

The "neuroform" name identifies the internal mental structures in the same way that the Composition name identifies external mental structures. The neuro-forms, for humans, tended to fall into one of four general categories.

Basic: Hindbrain, midbrain, and cortex are organized into a traditional hierarchy.

Warlock: Cortex and midbrain interconnected. Allows for a repeatable form of intuitive and lateral thought, as well as controlled dreamlike states of consciousness.

Cerebelline (also called global): Cortex and hindbrain interconnected. Allows for a simultaneous integration of many points of view or data streams. Thinking is spontaneously organized rather than linear, and relies on pattern recognition rather than abstraction.

Invariant: True unicameral consciousness, all segments of the brain at all levels massively interconnected. Allows for a tightly disciplined mode of thought, where all emotions, instincts, and passions are integrated into dispassionate sanity.

The "school" identifies the particulars of a person's culture, language, philosophy, and taste. In the time of the Golden Oecumene, all of these characteristics are voluntary. Traditions are adopted by individuals; individuals are not born into traditions.

The "era" is the time of birth or deep-structure formation-though the custom of stating birth date suffers obloquy from reformers and egalitarians, it still is in use. Those favoring the custom assert that the historical period in which a man is born tells you much of his outlook, customs, and circumstances; those opposing say it is a form of elitism, where elders are given undue prestige, and that the scholastic name tells one all one needs to know about outlook, custom, and circumstance.

THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE

Naturally, the economic and political liberty enjoyed during the Golden Age, the wealth, tolerance, and splendor, were sharply curtailed during the warlike colonial age that followed. A greater degree of uniformity in thought and conduct was required in order to preserve the Golden Oecumene from Silent Oecumene attacks, both physical and subtle. Certainly the worlds terraformed and colonies established by Phaethon of Rhadamanth, and, later, by his brothers Bellerophon and Icarus, would not for many generations have the capital available to create the machinery needed to organize their affairs as efficiently and happily as their mother world; even maintaining the infrastructure necessary for individual immortality was problematic for the unsuccessful colonies.

It may be that the Transcendence of the Aurelian period anticipated the final outcome of these events, and knew whether they would, on the whole, involve the human race in weal or woe. But if so, no hint has descended from the aery realms of transhuman thought to tell the men who were to fight in that war whether their efforts were doomed to futility and defeat or would be graced with the plume of victory: even the Earthmind cannot see all outcomes.

But no matter whether the future was destined to lead to joy or sorrow, after this period in history, civilization was destined to spread among the nearer stars; and no single disaster howsoever great, no war howsoever dread, vast, and terrible, would any longer have the power to eliminate mankind from the drama of cosmic history.

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