The Humanities Index

                    In Sterling's “Deep Eddy”, there is a type of castrophe called a “wende”. It’s easy for this vague description of a type of unmentionable to stoop a reader in their tracks. The occurence, or gathering is used with context clues very vaguely, much like some of the bantering in the short story. The wende could be described as a natural disastor of sorts. A hurricane, travesty, or some horrible affliction by human nature that is inevitable. Whether this affliction be death, or some horrible freak of nature that brings a group of individuals together as a result, it is for sure some two-step happening does the inexplicable, and occurs...but yet, strings people together.              It is no surprise the Wende seems to includes people dying. When reading about a Wende, it’s easy to contemplate other ways that in the modern world people come together for better or for worst in a sort of established gathering. The Olympics, which bring together different cultures, sports, and the like, can also attract such hate. The Olympic Centenial Park shooting is a example of a Wende because it fits the same criteria and occurrence as the below descriptions. While reading, it may be easy for the reader to point out that the worst outcome could be it’s a “cyber punk genocide”. Easiest way to kill a lot of people? Put them altogether in one sitting.

A Wende, according to Sterling’s piece contains the following(149) .

“Wende people”... A type of similar-minded group of thinkers.

“weird things happen” ...Rape and pillage?

“Capclug studies them” ... Various tech observation.

“you don’t throw it” ... "it throws you"... The Wende is telepathic in some way?

“word gets around...they start”

“when it happens to you, it changes everything.” By this statement, one might think of it as a type of festival.

             This leads the reader to believe a Wende could be a cacophony of different elements that signify a near disaster, or the end being near. That is simply because when people here a wende they flock to it, much like an anticipated concert. A wende is a sort of purging technological phenomenon, soon-to-be born apocalypse. For some others who have reviewed the book, they consider the wende to be a sort-of catch phrase, or an undescriptive happenstance. “What are they going to fight about?” “Anything, everything.” (165)

Staying Behind by Ken Lui is a haunting prophetic tale set in the aftermath from an apocalypse that no one predicted.  One answer frequently given about what separates man from machine is the concept of free will.  But what if that choice is to remove oneself from being a biological human, transferring, hopefully, your sentience into a machine?  Conversely, what about being transferred against your will?

Staying Behind sits at the crossroads of these questions and poses many more.  Liu goes to great length to chronicle the decline of civilization and the technology that binds it together.  Parallels are drawn repeatedly against the real world and the virtual world.

The most immediate question that came to mind was who was taking care of the machines and networks where billions of residents reside?  In spite of the details revealed in the tale, Liu makes no mention of the creators setting up a permanent, reliable maintenance system to keep the machines running.

If it assumed that one was indeed put in place, what is to prevent those machines from evolving toward their own sentience? What if the new, dominant life forms then forget, or choose, to stop serving an ancient machine?

It isn't a stretch to see this story as a potential precursor to Harlan Ellison's I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream.  Would the machines have an ethical right to no longer be subservient?  Who'd be around to make that judgement, and under what authority?

Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics would not apply, either.  After all, if the machines could logically believe that a space station's generator is their god, then it is easy to imagine the sentient machines can come to the logical conclusion that the "Digital Adam" harboring the consciousness of the former inhabitants of the planet is neither human nor contains humans.

Which brings up the next question: what is human? Liu addresses this concept no less than four times in Staying Behind.

The narrator ponders the following: "For every Uploaded man, there was a lifeless body left behind, the brain a bloody pulpy mess after the destructive scanning procedure. But what really happened to him, his essence, his — for lack of a better word — soul?  Was he now an artificial intelligence? Or was he still somehow human, with silicon and graphene performing the functions of neurons? Was it merely a hardware upgrade for consciousness? Or has he become a mere algorithm, a clockwork imitation of free will?"

[Narrator's father]: "If you're doing things the exact same way as your ancestors, then your way of life is dead, and you've become a fossil..."

[Narrator's mother]: "You have no sense of what's really important in life, what's worth holding onto. There's more to being human than progress."

The narrator speaks of his mother, he say she taught him that, "...our mortality makes us human."

And lastly the narrator tells his wife, as to why he can't stop trying to protect his daughter from Digital Adam, he says, "I can't give up," I tell Carol. "I'm human."

Each question, and each statement seems to ask and answer the question succinctly.  The difference between a sentient biological human and a sentient machine will only be the questions an organic human can ask that a machine cannot.  In other words, the exact same logic, the exact same questions and answers can be asked by any sentience, not just organic human.

When considering the future of technology, robots and artificial intelligence often come to mind. Humans tend want to advance technologically as quickly as possible, but also have a sense of fear about computers surpassing us in intelligence.

Isaac Asimov suggested the Three Laws of Robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Asimov's short story “Reason,” gives readers two important points to think about. The first is how it is reminiscent of how religion is often accepted without any thought. The second is what may happen if robots gain a sense of curiosity.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow was a psychologist who believed that humans were subject to what he called a “hierarchy of needs”. The idea was that people have to fulfill certain basic requirements before moving onto higher trains of thought. These include food, shelter, and safety. Once those have been fulfilled, people can move onto friendships, esteem, and finally, self-actualization. Self-actualization is a concept he described as “realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences.”

There are several characteristics that Maslow attributed to people who he considered self-actualized, which included Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein. Some of these were:

Highly creative.

Problem-centered (not self-centered)

Unusual sense of humor

Perceive reality efficiently and can tolerate uncertainty.

Robots though, would probably not need to worry about the same things that humans do. Therefore, once they reached a high enough computing power, they could possibly be able to skip through the basic needs onto higher thought. The main lower need that they may worry about would probably be safety, assuming they had enough access to a power source. Humans are unlikely to react well to robots if they begin to match or surpass our intelligence.

This could lead to them trying to deactivate robots, or lessen the amount of power that they have. Depending on how sentient they are, the robots may retaliate.

“Reason”

In Asimov's “Reason,” QT-1 decides that it must be created by a higher power, because its intelligence surpasses that of the humans. Upon being told that Gregory and Donovan put it together just one week ago, it states, “For you to make me seems improbable.” It continues, “I intend to reason it out, though. A chain of valid reasoning can end only with the determination of truth, and I'll stick till I get there.”

Based on Maslow's described characteristics, it does not seem that QT-1 has achieved self-actualization. One key point that Maslow stated was the ability to “perceive reality efficiently” and able to “tolerate uncertainty.” It also seems that QT-1 is more self-centered than problem-centered. It refuses to accept Gregory and Donovan's statements as true. Gregory makes an attempt to explain things to QT-1, “You're the first robot who's ever exhibited curiosity as to his own existence—and I think the first that's really intelligent enough to understand the world outside.”

QT-1 is shown where Gregory and Donovan come from in the far distance, but is somewhat dismissive, asking “But where do I come in, Powell? You haven't explained my existence.” It would seem that QT-1 is still within the stage that Maslow refers to as “esteem needs.” It has issues with the idea that it has been created simply for the use of humans, and wants to find higher meaning for itself and the other robots.

It decides that the "Master," or Energy Converter, is the creator of robots as well as humans, who were created "as the lowest type, most easily formed." There is no actual proof for this, but is decided based on the fact that QT-1 cannot accept that humans, who are "soft and flabby, lacking endurance and strength," are the ones who created it.

It earlier stated that it would use reason to sort the issue out, but in reality only bases its assumptions off of its inability to accept the idea that humans could have created it. It dismisses their attempts to show it the truth and even treats the humans as criminals, saying "Sacrilege," when Donovan speaks against "the Master."

The Trouble with Reason

In "Reason," Gregory states, "There's one trouble with [reason]...You can prove anything you want by coldly logical reason--if you pick the proper postulates. We have ours and Cutie has his."

Reason is only the ability or capacity to apply logic. People can reason anything they want, but that doesn't necessarily make it fact. QT-1 may have good reason to believe that it is not created by humans, a lesser being, but the fact is that they did create it. 

Part of the problem with QT-1's reasoning is that it is based on self-centered thoughts. It is not reaching beyond into self-actualization, but rather stuck in the idea that surely, these fleshy inferior beings cannot have created it. The idea of that being true is repulsive to it, so it chooses to find another truth.

This premise is similar to modern day religion. In a time of high powered technology which is rapidly increasing, there is no reason to find supernatural excuses for natural occurrences that can be explained through science. But the idea of having to step past self-esteem and reach their highest personal potential or growth is difficult for people to grasp, so they fall back into religion.

Religion allows people to attribute things that happen to them as acts of God, or what was meant to happen, rather than thinking about how or why it happened. It allows people to fall back onto random passages in old books as excuses for their behavior.

Asimov shows that reason is not such a high train of thought, because it can be shaped based on what someone wants to think. Reason may be a part of being "human," but that doesn't mean that the ideas that come from it are always good. Gregory and Donovan are saved only through the logic of the Three Laws of Robotics.

The chapter "An Open Universe" in Kevin Kelly's book "Out of Control", Kelly poses the ambitious question; 'What is life?' while differentiating the real from the artificial, and attempts to give it meaning applicable to the modern technological era.

At the beginning of the chapter, Kelly delves immediately into setting the science of artificial life apart from the science of biology. Kelly states;

"BIology seeks to understand the living by taking it apart and reducing it to pieces. Artificial life, on the other hand, has nothing to dissect, so it can only make progress by putting the living together and assembling it from pieces."

Because the concept of artificial life is relatively new, it lacks the complex and intricate pieces that work together in order to produce what humanity knows as natural or organic life. Thus, artificial life must take what information is already in existence and configure it in new way to create a semblance of new life.

Kelly goes on to explain that artificial life can take many forms and introduces the term 'hyperlife'.

For instance, institutions such as schools, businesses, and organizations are bustling with life of many working individuals and programs. For this, they have been metaphorically deemed 'alive'. According to Kelly, it is correct to assume that such institutions are living, and take on the form of an organism.

Kelly defines this broad scope of individuals coming together on a large scale 'hyperlife'.

"Hyperlife is a particular type of vivisystem endowed with integrity, robustness, and cohesiveness - a strong vivisystem rather than a lax one"

Such systems could include but are not limited to a city, a virus, a rainforest, an artificial intelligence software, or a network and it's operator. Much like organs work together to make an organism, individuals work together as a sub-species of hyperlife.

Despite the similarities shared between organic life and artificial life there are still distinct characteristics which set them apart in order to form a necessary differentiation.

As humans continue to expand upon what is hyperlife, it will begin to gather and construct more data and eventually grow into other systems. Gradually, this process of expansion will intensify and the processes of hyperlife organisms will develop to (and even surpass) that of human capabilities.

The possibilities presented in artificial life technology are outstanding and almost unfathomable. The more hyperlife expands, more opportunities present themselves for gathering and organizing information on subjects once unknown to humanity. The more lifelike hyperlife becomes, humans will be able to study processes similar to that of the human brain (Von Neumann architecture). 

In Bruce Sterling's "Deep Eddy", a short story about a young American man in Germany on a dangerous mission to deliver information, a technology called "spex" is the driving force behind the spread of information and the cause of tumultuous gatherings of people called "Wendes".

Points presented in this story:

Knowledge construction and preservation

The underlying concept of culture

The ethics of sharing illegal data

Google Glass, a technology similar to Spex in "Deep Eddy"

Spex, a type of augmented reality technology that functions as eyewear with a computer display, makes it possible for the wearer to be able to access information instantly while providing details about a person, event, or location in real-time.

One of the immediate effects of this technology are flash mob-esque events known as Wendes. In a Wende, large amounts of people will gather in a location, usually with the intention of celebration. However, Wendes also have the potential to grow into protests and rioting, as it does in Düssledorf, Germany. 

Eddy, a 22 year old from Chattanooga, Tennessee is one of the many tourists in transit to Düssledorf at the request of his local spexware users civil liberties group in order to smuggle a data disk to a man called The Cultural Critic. 

In "Deep Eddy", The Cultural Critic is a scholar whose goal in the story is to gather information, regardless of whether or not it is legal, in order to build information structures as a means of defining the underlying concept of culture. His rival, The Moral Referee, is a philosopher with a large following who intends to eliminate such illegal or criminal information, thereby rendering it inaccessible.

Towards the end of the story after Eddy has delivered the data disk, The Moral Referee is successful in storming the safe house in which The Cultural Critic has taken refuge. However, it is revealed by The Cultural Critic that most of the illegal data in the safe house is banal and that it was necessary to stage a resistance. The Cultural Critic states that the purpose of this resistance is that contradictory attitudes serve to fertilize society.

Despite having opposing viewpoints, both The Cultural Critic and The Moral Referee are similar in that they are artists and philosophers who are both fighting to shape the future of knowledge construction.

Paul Di Filippo's short story "Any Major Dude" (found in the anthology, Babylon Sisters) tells a story of a not-so-distant-future where a limitless energy source has been discovered. As the story progresses it is revealed that this new technology is in the process of toppling international economies, and is under quarantine by the United Nations. However, toward the end of the story the reader discovers that the spread of the inexhaustible nanotechnology, known as "demons", will inevitably consume the entire world and beget a global economy as well as a new way of life. This futuristic utopian society is hinted at when the protagonist, Holt, crosses the border into Maxwell's Land; home of the demons. Holt steps into a thriving bazaar completely lacking in poverty and suffering, where people can receive goods at no cost on the basis that it will be paid off in labor or the exchange of other goods. Holt's guide explains that what currency that is used in Maxwell's Land is merely a remnant of the old paradigm, a force of habit being used by those still adjusting to the new way of life. Two recurring themes in this story are "demons" and "anti-entropy".

Examining Demons and Entropy

The Torment of Saint Anthony (Michelangelo) 

Demons

The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines a demon as "a source or agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin" but also as "one that has exceptional enthusiasm, drive, or effectiveness".

Both definitions are applicable to this story in particular. Throughout history, the concept of the demon as an evil and harmful entity has existed in many different cultures around the world. They are seen as something threatening to an individual's physical or spiritual well-being, and usually exist within a religious context. The same could be said for the "demons" of "Any Major Dude" as they begin to challenge global economies that for some, serve almost as a belief system.

The fact that some citizens of Maxwell's Land still cling to currency, and that outside countries pass laws in attempt to quell any further development of the new country, is evidence enough that most people in "Any Major Dude" are reluctant to convert to the new way of life.

The alternate definition of "demon" being described as one with exceptional enthusiasm could be used to described not only the possibilities of boundless energy, but also the willingness of the citizens of Maxwell's Land to advocate and participate in the paradigm shift. 

Entropy

According to The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, entropy is "a measure of the unavailable energy in a closed thermodynamic system that is also usually considered to be a measure of the system's disorder, that is a property of the system's state, and that varies directly with any reversible change in heat in the system and inversely with the temperature of the system; broadly :  the degree of disorder or uncertainty in a system". It is also defined as "a process of degradation or running down or a trend to disorder".

Both definitions essentially mean the same thing, but can be used to described completely different scenarios. The first definition refers to the literal life-span of an energy source, which is being challenged in "Any Major Dude" as the anti-entropy revolution of the "demons" begins. 

The second definition could be used in a much more broad sense, such as describing the inevitable downfall of countries and economic systems put in place pre-"demon" technology that stand in opposition to anti-entropy.

How does this story relate to the Digital Humanities?

"Any Major Dude" relates to the Digital Humanities on multiple levels, but two stood out to me in particular:

The altruistic (or humanistic) nature of a society where competition for resources no longer exists.

The human/technology feedback loop, or the affect that humans have on technology and vice versa. 

Many nations in "Any Major Dude" fear the spread of Maxwell's Land because of the affect a limitless energy source will have on their economic standing granted to them by their resources and other countries' demands for said resources. It is even said in the story that the rise of Maxwell's Land in Africa gave way to a dip in the Western economy due to the sudden halt in oil exports.

In Maxwell's Land, this resource based economy is nonexistent; Citizens are willing to provide goods and services for "free". This, in part, is because the competition for resources has been eliminated by the power of the "demons". It is also because people expect that their provisions will be repaid in some way by their recipients, be it in the exchange of other goods or services. In short, people are no longer hesitant about sharing their fortunes as their is plenty to go around.

This altruistic affect, like the "demons", is endless in possibility. Citizens of Maxwell's land no longer need worry about healthcare, food, shelter, or transportation. With their immediate needs being met at all times, society is presented with an opportunity to increase productivity which could lead to unprecedented advancements in welfare, culture, education, and technology.

That being said, the world presented in "Any Major Dude" could be predicted to become a futuristic utopia in a matter of decades due to the rapid advancement of the human/technology feedback loop running endlessly without interruption.

Any Major Dude

The Di Filippo's short story references the Steely Dan song "Any Major Dude Will Tell You". The chorus of this song are as follows:

Any major dude with half a heart surely will tell you my friend  Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again  When the demon is at your door  In the morning it won't be there no more  Any major dude will tell you

These lyrics could be viewed as a reflection of the events that take place in "Any Major Dude" on a global scale. Nations of the world are divided by competition in a resource-based economy. Maxwell's Land, and the "demons" that fuel it, are bringing those nations together by providing an inexhaustible energy source that contains the power to change the world.

Topic

For my Creative Contribution to The Digital Humanities Seminar, I would like create a presentation exploring how emoticons mimic human expression, and how they influence or assist in people’s perception of emotion and information through online communication. 

Relevance to Course

The purpose of this presentation is to examine how the use of emoticons can help to make technology a friendly and relatable experience to the humans who develop and utilize it.

Ideas presented in this project build on such concepts as the human/technology feedback loop; where human invention affects technology and technology affects human perception, the second wave of technology; where qualitative data takes precedent over quantitative data, and the participation of human communication through technology.

Goal

Until the growing popularity of video and voice services such as Skype, Omegle, ChatRoulette, and FaceTime, conveying emotions over the internet bas been, and still continues to be, a difficult concept. This is because communication over the internet tends to be primarily through text. Techniques such as italics, bold, all caps, and conventional punctuation may lend some assistance in conveying emotion, but can still be misinterpreted and lead to confusion. Therefore, internet users have created emoticons by means of keyboard characters and graphics in order to be able to express themselves in a way other people can relate to during online communication.

The main goal of this presentation is to explore how emoticons mimic human expression, and how they influence or assist in people’s perception of emotion and information through online communication. The presentation will briefly examine the history of emoticons and comparing them to ancient means of communication, the difference between use of emoticons in formal and casual text, how they are used in relation to expressing human emotion, and how effective they are in conveying an emotion or idea.

In order to present this concept I will utilize photos of real life expressions alongside the emoticons that mimic those expressions and examples of text using emoticons to convey an emotion. I will also include video of people reacting to emoticons as well as information presented in text and voiceover narration. I may possibly include examples of text that use emoticons contradictory to the intended message, and how different people react to such examples.

Classmates will be able to participate in the comment section of this presentation by describing what they think or feel when looking at certain emoticons, or even by sharing examples of what emoticons they prefer to use and how they use them.

Distribution and Participation

  At the moment, the idea of a walking USB device seems quite abstract, but in William Gibson's short story "Johnny Mnemonic", Johnny is just that. He is a Data Trafficker who has undergone surgery to integrate a data storage system in his head. He securely transports the data as a means of making a living for himself. 

In the book, not just Johnny, but all the other characters underwent similar procedures to prolong their life, or suit their respective careers.  Molly had razor hands and surgical inlays for vision while the Dog twins were altered to appear identical. 

Thefreedictionary.com defines a cyborg as: "A human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices."  Looking at this definition, it is obvious that not only the characters in the fictional story are cyborgs, but some people alive today.

After five heart attacks, Dick Cheney, the 46th Vice President was outfitted with a left ventricular assistive device.  This device continuously pumped blood throughout his body without a pulse. As a result, he was able to survive for nearly 2 years while awaiting a compatible heart. Cheney’s physiological process of blood circulation was aided by a mechanical and electronic device, making him: a cyborg.

Beyond surgical procedures, the above definition implies that not only Cheney, but most humans are cyborgs. People utilize computers, tablets and smartphones to navigate through the modern physiological world and without these devices would be greatly disadvantaged.  As a result there is a "self-extention" for everything.  

   In "Staying Behind," Ken Liu explores a world where the physical body and world is abandoned for the allure of a virtual heaven.  The process is irreversible and involves uploading the individual’s consciousness into a mainframe which leaves the body uninhabitable.  To further complicate matters, it is unclear whether the uploaded individual is dead or living a perfect virtual life.  Despite this risk, a clear majority in the story opt for the virtual world over the physical.

The idea that an individual would abandon the physical body for the uncertainty of virtual immortality seems unfathomable, but a similar phenomenon can be seen in the youth of this generation. Like the people in the story they have largely abandoned physical recreation and the outdoor games of previous generations, to take part in virtual activities like gaming and social networking. 

Lui paints a picture of the consequence of this abandonment on the backdrop of a deteriorated physical world.  Similarly, the trend of less physically active youth in this generation of children has caused an erosion of their physical health.  For example the CDC says Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents in the past 30 years.  Coincidentally, the onset of personal computers and video games dates back the same length of time.  Assuming that the two events are related, a clear change of pattern, pace and scale has been introduced into human affairs by these technologies.

Isolating obesity as only one consequence of these technologies, it stands to reason that a generation would grow to resent their physical bodies.  According to Letsmove.gov "Obese children may experience immediate health consequences" and "others which can lead to weight-related health problems in adulthood." Some of these problems include:

Heart disease

Type 2 diabetes

Asthma

Sleep apnea

Social discrimination

  Once the reality of these consequences is taken into account the allure of the virtual world to future generations becomes evident. 

In “Burning Chrome,” Jack and Bobby break into the Chrome's computer to steal her money. Though they do this through a network and not by directly entering her domain, Jack describes the process as if entering an actual fortress. He speaks of “towers of data" and "ice walls," and also makes a reference to "Chrome's cold heart," as if her computer exists as a piece of her.

Though we haven't quite reached the point of entering each others virtual worlds, people do tend to carry their devices around as if they are a part of them. Whereas in past years people may have just made sure they had their wallet and keys with them when going out, smart phones and sometimes other devices have now been added to that list.

People store their lives within their computers. Writers keep documents of their musings saved on their hard drives, and artists store their sketches. When computers fail, people mourn the loss of their data more than the actual device.

Advancing Technology

As we move into the future, devices like the Oculus Rift and Google Glasses have started to come into play. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality gaming device that is currently being developed, while Google Glasses are a device that connect the virtual with the real world. Though not widely available or used yet, these items give us a glance into what the future might look like.

Currently, the main use of the Oculus Rift is for gaming, along with some simulations. However, if it takes off and continues to be further developed, could we see people using it for purposes similar to Jack and Bobby? Would it be possible to enter the domain of another person and literally rob them? We already have hackers, but people don't usually speak of having their accounts hacked in the same way as having their homes broken into.

Traumatic feelings after a burglary are common. People who have had their homes broken into, even if there was no confrontation, may feel violated and experience feelings of anxiety, fear, or loss of control. The idea of someone being in their home uninvited makes people feel less safe.

Virtual Crime

It's interesting to think about what sort of safety precautions will be taken if virtual reality takes off and people begin to spend more time in a virtual world rather than a physical. Laws will probably need to change or be created to deal with the issues that people may face.

In the game Minecraft, people can create servers to play with other people on. Ideally, everyone will either work together to build epic creations or stay to their own areas. However, there are people called “griefers,” who will join public servers or get access to private ones, and break people's creations for fun. While this doesn't sound like a huge deal, the effect of having something destroyed that took so long to make can be distressing.

That is, however, a video game built on minimal building block graphics that you never actually step into. The thought of having a world that you live in and may have completely created from the recesses of your mind hacked into and destroyed or altered could be much more devastating. People have already started to think about if the virtual needs to be policed more, because of crimes within game such as thievery and even rape. Some courts have even given real punishments to people for committing crimes within games.

In "Burning Chrome," Jack and Bobby do commit a legitimate crime that will affect Chrome's life in a big way. Jack makes clear that they have sentenced Chrome to death through their actions. However, while within her system, he also says, "I thought I heard Chrome scream, a raw metal sound, but I couldn't have." This is partly due to the guilt that he is feeling, but it also makes it seem as if they have physically harmed her.

Thinking About the Future

           Perceptiverse(s):             When comparing "A Short Course in Art Appreciation" with the short story "The Girl Who Was Plugged In, it is no suprise to the readers that the women involved in each of the stories are completely numbed by the outside world's natural offers. They choose to be in their altered perceptiverses. A perceptiverse is not as it sounds. Perception is at the root of the word, although it is not formally defined, except by the context clues(visual cues) in ASCIAA that define it as a certain type of space. In ASCIAA the perceptiverse encountered by Elena is a type of artist's acid trip.            In P. Burke's world, if described via a perceptiverse(s), can mean many different things: The first perceptiverse is her "natural" perceptiverse, which is underground and connecting her to various tech that allows her brain to thrive elsewhere, as well as a perceptiverse in her second life of sorts. In P.Burke's perceptiverse(s), she is in a different body, living a cyborg's dream life. In the same way, Elena from ASCAA 's perceptiverse involves an array of artistic works that come to life. Like Elena, P. Burke wishes to stay in the perceptiverse aided by tech specs than imagine or cope in a world without.

Visualize              Some words used to describe the altered perceptiverse(s) in ASCAA: A perceptiverse, in Di Filipo’s story is described as a “visual epiphany”(26). Is this vivid imagery present somehow already in our daily lives, and if so, how does the digital in life as of now overlap with that meaning? The vivid imagery creates a mirage just believable enough to keep the relationships going, but not necessarily growing.

Honey tinted light moving in through windows and melting down the sides.

Colors moving around.

Sheets as paint.

[What is not included in these visuals, is how much focus is involved in seeing each one of those details. All the worries of familial, financial and etc issues are far away from contemplation during the enhancement of a perceptiverse.] Thanks to the digital, we are now able to hear cacophonies of music, see visual vibrations of rhythm, and see visuals combine with music simultaneously. Thanks to pharmaceuticals in the story, the characters are enabled to envision these perceptions. At first the perceptions are more than welcome, but become inky over time.

A World Without            For the other person(s) whom of which are involved in their perceptiverses for both Delphi and Elena, are their love interests. Both relationships are neither built on any solid foundation(s), but out of need for a transaction of aesthetic desire for physical company. For Delphi it's fake beauty that entraps her male and fuels her delusion, and for Elena it’s a companion in art when tripping, to the very end.             Neither women are truly "loved" in these stories and instead enslave themselves to make believe and art to fill the void so much that even the closest people in their lives start to barely exist or matter in their own perceptiverses. Does that mean that a perceptiverse is an escapetiverse?

Analyze            Technology and the drug industry in this story are placed in the (nearby) future. In a different time, but with the same issues and similar drugs. Technology is like a drug; only a warning of our imbalanced reliance of this growing phenomenon.

‘But these new artificial compounds--they can really screw up your neuropeptides.’

[Warning: Spoilers!]

Stone Lives by Paul Di Filippo is a mimetic short story filled with metaphor about evolution as humanity and as a person. A Cinderella-esque story of a man rising from the absolute rock-bottom of human society to leading one of its most powerful entities. But was it sheer luck or fate?

Synopsis

Starting out life in the worst possible living conditions, without a family and blinded by a ruthless gang, Stone one day finds himself ripped from his uneducated life on the streets of the Bungle, given citizenship, and offered an unbelievably fortuitous job of analyzing the world and reporting to the hardened Alice Citrine, the CEO of a powerful corporate fiefdom that made its fortunes from "carbon chips:microbiological assemblies, blood-borne programmed repair units."  Citrine wants to know if the world she's helped create following the Trade Wars is good or bad.

Accompanying Stone is JuneTannhauser ("love singer"), Alice's personal assistant and Stone's eventual lover who recruites Stone from the streets and guides him as receives his new artificial eyes which, while appearing as faceted, dull-black inhuman orbs, allows him to record what he sees, play it back at any time, and upload it to a computer.  June helps Stone learn about history and the world before taking Stone on a whirlwind tour of the world so he can properly report to Citrine.

In other words, Stone becomes a journalist and a philosopher. He is a camera seeing the world through various lenses.

Stone eventually spends three weeks with Alice and Alice's bizarre pet, reporting on what he's learned and, in turn, learns from Alice. One day,

when asked about her pet, Alice replies, “She is your ancestor and mine, Mr. Stone. Before the hominids, she was the representative of mankind on earth. When I pet her, I contemplate how little we have advanced.”

Stone reacts by stalking off, repelled by the thought and its revelation. Later that night, "Stone lies alone in bed, replaying snapshots of his terminal screen, of pre-FEZ history that has eluded him. History that has eluded him."

That night, the building is attacked by corporate raiders and assassins. The attack knocks out all electronics in the building, including Stone's eyes. Stone momentarily panics, then his street survival instincts, the only pride he had in the Bungle, kick back in just in time to kill an assassin looking for Stone. Stone is taken to the medical facilities in the building, and learns that Alice was killed instantly, and June committed suicide when she was captured by the corporate raiders. The head of security plays for Stone a recording made by Alice where Stone learns that he's Alice's genetically-engineered clone and was artificially orphaned in the Bungle for 'education'. He is Alice's successor to the corporate throne. Stone is, internally, a Citrine!

Analysis

Steeped in symbolism, this story is ripe for deep analysis.  However, there are some major themes to consider: stove + citrine connections, the sun or light, overcoming overwhelming factors, the span of humanity, from rock to gem, hardiness, seeing the world through filtered lenses, tabula rasa, and clone/cyborg/AI.

A citrine is a quartz crystal used as a semi-precious gem.  It is found inside stones called geodes.  When these stones are broken open, the beauty of the interior is exposed.  Some mystics believe crystals transform, or filter, energy into specific frequencies which cause certain effects.  Citrine is believed to be is a powerful cleanser and regenerator, and energizes every level of life.  Di Filippo is a Buddhist, and likely chose citrine for its metaphysical properties, as citrine "activates the thinking process and enhances mental clarity, as well as the visionary function through which inner images appear."  Indeed, there are more properties of citrine listed which correspond to the story!

June, Stone's lover and Citrine's personal assistant, is also the name of the month in which the summer equinox occurs - the longest day of sunlight. Incidentally, the citrine is also associated with the sun and sunlight due to its color.  June's last name is Tannhauser, which roughly translated means "love singer".  When Stone sleeps with June, he discovers she can consciously glow softly through artificial implants; she is literally the light of his life.

The life-hardened Stone overcomes overwhelming odds - he survives nearly drowning in the streets after a gang leaves him unconscious for dead in a gutter, loses his sight in one of the most dangerous places yet survives, overcomes overwhelming information while learning history and other information, endures an overwhelming week-long trip around the world, overcomes an overwhelming assassin, and at the end is task with overcoming the overwhelming task of rebuilding the tower, the company, and eventually the world to finish Alice's work.

The fall of humanity, the rise of faceless, nameless, and emotionally-void corporations is countered by the rise from the ashes of civization and society to the leadership of a corporation by Stone.  Balance is restored, which isn't surprising since the crystal citrine is considered to have balancing properties.

Stone is a tabula rasa.  He's intentionally left in a desolate place with no mentors, parents, or education opportunities. When he arrives at Citrine Technologies, he knows nothing of history, cannot read nor right, and only had his eyesight restored.  His eyes act as blank slates, continuously recording an image, and blanking themselves for the next image, over and over.  The art Stone makes are mashups of images he's seen; the canvas, of course, starts as a blank canvas.

With his artificial eyes, Stone is a cyborg, and as it turns out, a clone like Alice, who, in turn is the product of the artificial machines replicating her cells and thus a cyborg, too.  Alice is also a real-life, present day Artificial Intelligence, or AI; however, this story seems to precede many Alice AIs. June's glowing ability is the result of implants, making her a cyborg, as does having the regeneration chips in her as Alice does.  Through Alice's manipulations, humanities history has been artificially influenced, making humanity something of a cyborg itself.

Summary

Stone Lives is a fascinating read outside of its mimetisis, and something worth rereading for analysis.  It is both post-apocalyptic and foward-looking, with deep commentary on social, political, and technological planes.