Understanding
the universe is not a small question, but it is nonetheless a task that humantity has set ourselves. It is not only that scientists all focus on their own preferred aspects of this
universe, but that every baby actually takes on this task - starting three to four months before they are born.
When
a task looks too big, it is natural to divide it into smaller tasks. When the
scale of an undertaking gets away from us, it is useful to focus first on what
is within our grasp. There is an old adage that applies both to scientists and
to babies: we can only learn what we almost already know. It also applies to
AI, to Artificial Intelligence.
So
let us start from an anthropocentric or babycentric viewpoint. The baby looks
outwards at the mother that cares for it, the family that nurtures it, the
culture that provides its norms, the society that provides the framework for
all this, and the physical environment of village, town or city, nation, state and/or country, continent and planet, that embed them all.
Technically
the baby's task is developing an ontology, an understanding of what exists
around it. Part of this is language, and indeed the learning of phonology and
prosody, and even the beginnings of syntax and semantics, starts before they're
even born. But a baby doesn't distinguish between what is physical law and
social convention, intrinsic property or arbitrary labeling. The sound of the
word 'milk' or 'orange' or 'juice' is just as fundamental to the baby's
understanding as the taste, color, texture and so on. Even the way you consume
it is part of this meaning complex.
A
famous anecdote has a teacher showing a piece of fruit to a class of
kindergarten children. They are
unanimous that it is a grapefruit... until the teacher starts to peel and
segment it and eat it like an orange. Now they are convinced that it must be an
orange. The practical pragmatics of how you get nourishment from the piece of
fruit far outweighs the superficial, accidental, features of color and size that
we rely on initially. Those are only
clues to guide us into deciding if and when and where and how we might
eat it.
Culture
shock is the adult version of the same phenomenon - when we move to a different
society things that we take for granted, habits and customs that are ingrained
and fundamental to our understanding of our world... all these can be torn away
from us in an instant. Or were in the world I grew up in before the advent of
instantaneous worldwide communication and ubiquitous multimedia.
As
the child grows up, the intrinsic scientist becomes a student and extends the
horizons of their universe. As an adult in our modern civilization they may focus
down into a particular trade, or they may turn their search of the universe to
research that takes them beyond the here and now of everyday life, to seeking
knowledge of the broader universe, the knowledge that we call science.
Science
Some
scientists turn a microscope on their society and the culture; some turn it to
the human psyche and nervous system, some to the cells and atoms that make up
the biological and geological world. Some dig back into the past; some delve
into the future; some spread their wings above, below and beyond the surface of
this planet...
Some
scientists turn a telescope to the stars, distinguishing wandering planets and distant galaxies. Some seek to understand the nature of matter, both the
microcosm within and the macrocosm without. Some seek to understand the nature
of nature, of time and space.
It is not enough to derive empirical laws, we want
to explain and understand our universe. Are we in a universe governed by
precise but arbitrary laws? Or is their a rhyme and reason behind it all that we
have not yet understood?
Not
only do we move within and without, to lower and higher scales from the womb of
our initial development, we also suspect that there are further dimensions
beyond the familiar space and time.
Modern theories of physics hypothesize a variety of different
dimensions: some microscopic, some macroscopic, some that might provide
shortcuts across space and time.
From Science Faction to Science Fiction and back
The
purpose of my writing is to blur the distinction between science fiction and
science fact. Science theories are always fiction - a theory is just a story
with arguments and logic that aim to provide an explanation of what we know and
experience, as well as to explore implications that go beyond what is known or
has ever been experienced.
The
best scientists are interdisciplinary and creative - their broad experience and
imaginative explorations allows them to see connections that others haven't and
couldn't.
The
best science fiction authors also extend the bounds of
science, and the mark of good hard science fiction is how well it develops and
predicts the future of technology.
My Paradisi Lost stories
Encounters with wormholes and asteroids, exploited, benign and catastrophically dangerous feature in the Paradisi Chronicles stories, including my Casindra Lost subseries, which also feature genetic engineering, an emergent AI 'Al' and a captain who is reluctantly crewed with him on a rather long journey to another galaxy - just the two of them, and some cats... There's another AI, 'Alice' that emerges more gradually in the Moraturi arc. The Paradisi colonization aims to preserve the pristine ecosystems of New Eden, restrict mining to the other planets and asteroids of the system, and genetically modify people to suit the ecosystem rather than overwhelm it with introduced species: https://paradisichronicles.wordpress.com/
Casindra LostKindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B07ZB3VCW9 — tiny.cc/AmazonCLKindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 978-1696380911 justified Iowan OSKindle enlarged print edn ISBN-13: 978-1708810108 justified Times NR 16Kindle large print edition ISBN-13: 978-1708299453 ragged Trebuchet 18
Moraturi LostKindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B0834Z8PP8 – tiny.cc/AmazonMLKindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 978-1679850080 justified Iowan OS
Moraturi RingKindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B087PJY7G3 – tiny.cc/AmazonMRKindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 979-8640426106 justified Iowan OS
Encounters with wormholes and asteroids, exploited, benign and catastrophically dangerous feature in the Paradisi Chronicles stories, including my Casindra Lost subseries, which also feature genetic engineering, an emergent AI 'Al' and a captain who is reluctantly crewed with him on a rather long journey to another galaxy - just the two of them, and some cats... There's another AI, 'Alice' that emerges more gradually in the Moraturi arc. The Paradisi colonization aims to preserve the pristine ecosystems of New Eden, restrict mining to the other planets and asteroids of the system, and genetically modify people to suit the ecosystem rather than overwhelm it with introduced species: https://paradisichronicles.wordpress.com/
Casindra Lost
Kindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B07ZB3VCW9 — tiny.cc/AmazonCL
Kindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 978-1696380911 justified Iowan OS
Kindle enlarged print edn ISBN-13: 978-1708810108 justified Times NR 16
Kindle large print edition ISBN-13: 978-1708299453 ragged Trebuchet 18
Moraturi Lost
Kindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B0834Z8PP8 – tiny.cc/AmazonML
Kindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 978-1679850080 justified Iowan OS
Moraturi Ring
Kindle ebook (mobi) edition ASIN: B087PJY7G3 – tiny.cc/AmazonMR
Kindle paperback edition ISBN-13: 979-8640426106 justified Iowan OS
Author/Series pages and Awards
WorldCon2020 presentation (COVID-style):http://tiny.cc/CoNZHumanTalkyPPT (downloadable talky) & http://tiny.cc/CoNZHumanTalkyPPTNew York City Book Awards 2021 (Gold and Silver): Paradisi Chroncles Lost Mission page:
WorldCon2020 presentation (COVID-style):
http://tiny.cc/CoNZHumanTalkyPPT (downloadable talky) & http://tiny.cc/CoNZHumanTalkyPPT
New York City Book Awards 2021 (Gold and Silver):
Paradisi Chroncles Lost Mission page:
