S
SamIO
Guest
My muse got chatty after reading through Filia Flammae's interest check; if you're especially interested in playing with the sociocritical themes of artificial intelligence, I recommend you take a look at his premise. :3
If you've got any comments, suggestions, questions, et cetera you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to write me here or in private! :D
([ The State of the World ])
[ 2089 ]
After decades of political restructuring, the European Union now endorses significant portions of Africa and Asia, obsoleting the twentieth century superpowers. Its economic clout and political stability is unrivaled, but with the western hemisphere and southern Asia largely out of its scope, it is hardly uncontested. While many independent nations oppose the Union's globalization policy, the world's collective affluence has averted most serious conflict.
The American nations have been especially isolationist regarding the Union; though there has been little else in the way of animosity between the two hemispheres, the loose band of American nations are about the only competition the EU has to concern itself with, and they have taken advantage of their de facto ties with each other to keep their counterpart on a leash. As a result, the Union considers America to be a political nuisance; a quiet arms race has slowly been rolling along, though neither side has any intention of provoking the other.
The underground world is an entirely different matter, however. Especially among south Asian and southeast African nations, there is a sentiment of dread regarding the European Union's rather swift encroachment. Cyber-crime has become synonymous with terrorism as a result of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligences and the world's heavy reliance on technology. EU candidate-nations are often targets of various invasions such as rolling blackouts, media hijacking, communication obstruction, and information tampering, all serious threats to public safety and government stability.
[ 2089 ]
After decades of political restructuring, the European Union now endorses significant portions of Africa and Asia, obsoleting the twentieth century superpowers. Its economic clout and political stability is unrivaled, but with the western hemisphere and southern Asia largely out of its scope, it is hardly uncontested. While many independent nations oppose the Union's globalization policy, the world's collective affluence has averted most serious conflict.
The American nations have been especially isolationist regarding the Union; though there has been little else in the way of animosity between the two hemispheres, the loose band of American nations are about the only competition the EU has to concern itself with, and they have taken advantage of their de facto ties with each other to keep their counterpart on a leash. As a result, the Union considers America to be a political nuisance; a quiet arms race has slowly been rolling along, though neither side has any intention of provoking the other.
The underground world is an entirely different matter, however. Especially among south Asian and southeast African nations, there is a sentiment of dread regarding the European Union's rather swift encroachment. Cyber-crime has become synonymous with terrorism as a result of increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligences and the world's heavy reliance on technology. EU candidate-nations are often targets of various invasions such as rolling blackouts, media hijacking, communication obstruction, and information tampering, all serious threats to public safety and government stability.
([ The Information Golden Age ])
[ Transhumanism ]
The steady march of progress has been particularly generous to the field of prosthetics; many of the more advanced cases surpass natural human ability to the point of being desirable to perfectly healthy individuals. While popular convention holds that such machinery ought to be reserved for the ill and injured, it isn't unusual especially among wealthy company to hear of an augmented organ or two for longevity's sake.
[ Virtual Reality ]
Increasingly precise interpretations of brain signals have helped to track down the key to human consciousness, allowing for the digitalization of memories, thoughts, sensations, motor signals, and so on. While there remains a significant population which is concerned about the implications of removing a person from their own mind, there is no way to confirm or deny the plausibility of copy-delete deaths as a result of virtualizing; as such, the Internet has become popular real-estate thanks to the low cost of living and potential immortality it provides.
[ Artificial Intelligence ]
Simulating human consciousness inspired experimentation with null simulations — instances without a real human for source data, but maintaining all the interfaces necessary to provide an environment for a self-aware intelligence — which eventually became the basis for sentient artificial intelligence. The entities resulting from this process require an incredible amount of template data to achieve even infantile reasoning skills, but as they are essentially indistinguishable from uploaded humans, the effort has been worth the results.
[ Microengineering ]
The exponential pattern of miniaturization has made malleable the structure of molecular compounds; taking particular interest in this development are pioneers in chemistry, genetics, and engineering, making possible many of the unobtaniums of the early twenty-first century and practical the mass reproduction of previously tedious, unreliable processes. As a result, technologies which had been only theoretical before have begun to be made a reality in the past decade.
[ Nuclear Fusion ]
With new radioactive shielding compounds available en masse, safe nuclear power has become a reality, quickly becoming a popular alternative energy source in light of the impending oil scarcity crisis. However, cold fusion remains in the realm of experimentation for the most part, preventing application of this energy revolution in anything much smaller than a combustion engine.
[ Transhumanism ]
The steady march of progress has been particularly generous to the field of prosthetics; many of the more advanced cases surpass natural human ability to the point of being desirable to perfectly healthy individuals. While popular convention holds that such machinery ought to be reserved for the ill and injured, it isn't unusual especially among wealthy company to hear of an augmented organ or two for longevity's sake.
[ Virtual Reality ]
Increasingly precise interpretations of brain signals have helped to track down the key to human consciousness, allowing for the digitalization of memories, thoughts, sensations, motor signals, and so on. While there remains a significant population which is concerned about the implications of removing a person from their own mind, there is no way to confirm or deny the plausibility of copy-delete deaths as a result of virtualizing; as such, the Internet has become popular real-estate thanks to the low cost of living and potential immortality it provides.
[ Artificial Intelligence ]
Simulating human consciousness inspired experimentation with null simulations — instances without a real human for source data, but maintaining all the interfaces necessary to provide an environment for a self-aware intelligence — which eventually became the basis for sentient artificial intelligence. The entities resulting from this process require an incredible amount of template data to achieve even infantile reasoning skills, but as they are essentially indistinguishable from uploaded humans, the effort has been worth the results.
[ Microengineering ]
The exponential pattern of miniaturization has made malleable the structure of molecular compounds; taking particular interest in this development are pioneers in chemistry, genetics, and engineering, making possible many of the unobtaniums of the early twenty-first century and practical the mass reproduction of previously tedious, unreliable processes. As a result, technologies which had been only theoretical before have begun to be made a reality in the past decade.
[ Nuclear Fusion ]
With new radioactive shielding compounds available en masse, safe nuclear power has become a reality, quickly becoming a popular alternative energy source in light of the impending oil scarcity crisis. However, cold fusion remains in the realm of experimentation for the most part, preventing application of this energy revolution in anything much smaller than a combustion engine.
([ Potential Arcs ])
[ Virtually Global ]
In light of the world's increasingly cooperative political theater, patriots and isolationists alike find their lifestyles invaded by foreign influence and political dereliction. While some find themselves helpless, an underground revolution has begun to earn quite a disreputable name for itself. Cyber-crime sweeps entire cities into days and even weeks of crises one after another, discouraging governments from joining the globalization bandwagon.
Political Thriller, Noire;
[ Alone in a Crowd ]
The growing influence of artificial sentience on everyday living has brought back many of the twentieth-century concerns regarding robot overlords and the like; while many are excited for the new breed of intelligence, there remains an air of doubt among various communities. When the first generation of sentient androids are brought into the world, the public polarizes on the issue, exaggerating the hostility of the androids' new, alien home.
Social Drama, Slice of Life;
[ Systematic Failure ]
While virtualization has made it possible to isolate mind from body, conspiracy theories rise regarding some of the nuances of the process; of particular interest is an old question among science fiction theorists: Is it transferral or duplication? When failed transfers start to make their way into public interest, urban myths begin to saturate paranormal discussion boards. Legend or not, however, some have dedicated quite a lot of their time to learning more about these stories.
Psychological Horror, Paranormal Fantasy;
[ ??? ]
The world is a rather large place; while there is chaos on the frontier, there is tranquility and affluence beyond and afore it; many scales of conflict exist from private drama to social revolution. Naturally, there are many more issues to be explored than are listed here.
Make A Suggestion, Your Idea Here;
[ Virtually Global ]
In light of the world's increasingly cooperative political theater, patriots and isolationists alike find their lifestyles invaded by foreign influence and political dereliction. While some find themselves helpless, an underground revolution has begun to earn quite a disreputable name for itself. Cyber-crime sweeps entire cities into days and even weeks of crises one after another, discouraging governments from joining the globalization bandwagon.
Political Thriller, Noire;
[ Alone in a Crowd ]
The growing influence of artificial sentience on everyday living has brought back many of the twentieth-century concerns regarding robot overlords and the like; while many are excited for the new breed of intelligence, there remains an air of doubt among various communities. When the first generation of sentient androids are brought into the world, the public polarizes on the issue, exaggerating the hostility of the androids' new, alien home.
Social Drama, Slice of Life;
[ Systematic Failure ]
While virtualization has made it possible to isolate mind from body, conspiracy theories rise regarding some of the nuances of the process; of particular interest is an old question among science fiction theorists: Is it transferral or duplication? When failed transfers start to make their way into public interest, urban myths begin to saturate paranormal discussion boards. Legend or not, however, some have dedicated quite a lot of their time to learning more about these stories.
Psychological Horror, Paranormal Fantasy;
[ ??? ]
The world is a rather large place; while there is chaos on the frontier, there is tranquility and affluence beyond and afore it; many scales of conflict exist from private drama to social revolution. Naturally, there are many more issues to be explored than are listed here.
Make A Suggestion, Your Idea Here;
If you've got any comments, suggestions, questions, et cetera you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to write me here or in private! :D