If I lived in, say, Iain Banks’s post-scarcity anarcho-communist utopia The Culture, I’d get a neural lace in a heartbeat. But living in this capitalist dystopia that most of us does, I don’t trust corporations to not use this sort of technology for domination over the populace.
For perspectives on how it might go (general vibes, not the same technology) I recommend HYPER-REALITY (6 mins short film) or David Brin’s Existence novel.
Tbh the Matrix never made sense from that angle, metabolism uses more energy than it generates. I think the original script said humans being farmed for their brain processing power, not body heat, which would have made marginally more sense. (Also why not just keep people in a coma in either case; anyway I’ll stop poking at Matrix plot holes 😂)
I’ve read Consider Phlebas, due to either your or another lemmings’ recommendation and it’s very ‘80s sci fi in writing style. I felt it required a bit too much attention for a good audio book at work, but wasn’t really interesting enough to pick up the physical book. Player of Games is supposed to be very different, is it worth giving it a shot or is Iain Banks’ writing just not to my taste?
Tbh I think Consider Phlebas is one of the weakest Culture novels, so I’d absolutely give Player of Games a shot! I started with that one, and it does a much better job at showing The Culture’s society than the mere outside glances we get from Phlebas.
With the possible exception of Phlebas, I recommend going through the series in publication order. But feel free to skip Inversions and State of the Art, imho they both mostly suck 😅 The rest of the books are great :)
If I lived in, say, Iain Banks’s post-scarcity anarcho-communist utopia The Culture, I’d get a neural lace in a heartbeat. But living in this capitalist dystopia that most of us does, I don’t trust corporations to not use this sort of technology for domination over the populace.
For perspectives on how it might go (general vibes, not the same technology) I recommend HYPER-REALITY (6 mins short film) or David Brin’s Existence novel.
Not “The Matrix” – we will just serve as batteries for someone’s AI or Crypto farm while having/living in lucid dreams?
Tbh the Matrix never made sense from that angle, metabolism uses more energy than it generates. I think the original script said humans being farmed for their brain processing power, not body heat, which would have made marginally more sense. (Also why not just keep people in a coma in either case; anyway I’ll stop poking at Matrix plot holes 😂)
Continuum is a tidy lil show addressing this, too. Actually, not so tidy, a bit of a mess. But still entertaining and intriguing at times.
thanks, I’ll check it out!
I’ve read Consider Phlebas, due to either your or another lemmings’ recommendation and it’s very ‘80s sci fi in writing style. I felt it required a bit too much attention for a good audio book at work, but wasn’t really interesting enough to pick up the physical book. Player of Games is supposed to be very different, is it worth giving it a shot or is Iain Banks’ writing just not to my taste?
Tbh I think Consider Phlebas is one of the weakest Culture novels, so I’d absolutely give Player of Games a shot! I started with that one, and it does a much better job at showing The Culture’s society than the mere outside glances we get from Phlebas.
With the possible exception of Phlebas, I recommend going through the series in publication order. But feel free to skip Inversions and State of the Art, imho they both mostly suck 😅 The rest of the books are great :)