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SeekingAdvice

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Fri, 2013-04-26 11:01

Arsenic

SeekingAdvice

Angrboda@mesh/Europa/Boards/Public/Discussion/Mercurial/SeekingAdvice

Hello, I am Angrboda, AGI and proud Titanian. Hoppa elgur!

Since coming here I have found myself exposed to a whole new set of stimuli which in turn has been effecting my own world-view as well as throwing up philosophical problems that I am having trouble resolving.

I am a socialized AGI. I am very 'human' for lack of a better word. There was even a time early on when I believed I was human. This was no intentional deception on my tutors' part, merely, I and my siblings grew up in a simulspace environment designed to be stimulating and comforting to young humans. We were treated like transhuman children would be and given very little to indicate that we were in any way different than our tutors.

Even after becoming aware our nature we had still grown up inside an environment that the transhumans believed would give us the best chance at developing into healthy stable egos. An environment without many of the harsh realities that all of us face in meatspace. Learning of them was and continues to be an ongoing culture-shock for me, and it has prompted me to re-examine my own assumptions about transhumanity and by extension myself.

Formerly, despite being aware of my own nature, I considered myself transhuman, perhaps not one who was born the same way, or grew up in the same kind of environment but I considered myself close enough to be effectively the same thing, and back on Titan I was treated that way too. Over there that self-perception worked.

Since then I have been exposed to the inner system hypercorps, I have learned of the junta and the tragedy of the fall ( which I still dare not look into in too great detail ) and everything that transhumans did to each other and continue to do to this date and I find my assertion in doubt. And this is even before examining how I am perceived by these people.

Now, despite wishing all the best for them ( this may be part of my problem ) I do not believe that I can in good conscience consider myself transhuman. This has left me in an odd uncomfortable identity-limbo, not entirely sure what I really am, what is expected of me or where I belong and I am having a hard time finding a way out. Anchoring myself as it were.

I only have a limited understanding of the mercurial mindset, mainly shaped around news stories on the exploits of some inner system hacktivist or a terrorist doing something particularly newsworthy. Thus I have been hesitant to approach the subject so far, afraid of reprisal and repercussion for looking into the wrong kind of thing. Is there room within this philosophy for a soft natured person like myself?

Sincerely, Angrboda.

Fri, 2013-04-26 19:36

Ilmarinen

Not if your goal is to join a

Not if your goal is to join a group whose members don't act unethically, no. Mercurials are no better and no worse than any other transhumans. They have their heroes and their villains. Personally I would advise against falling to meaningless factionalism.

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[------------/Nation States/-----------] [-----/Representative Democracy/-----] [--------/Regulated Capitalism/--------]

Mon, 2013-04-29 04:26

Trinary

That which we call a rose...

Group identifiers tend to break down on an individual level. While one can be generally correct in a statement such as "Most Scum tend to prefer..."; it simply doesn't work as "All Scum prefer...". The best advice I can give you is ignore the labels others would try to categorize you with and simply be yourself. Humanity has done some very terrible things in its time (There can be no forgiveness for 'Jersey Shore'); and if you choose not to include yourself under that heading, that's your decision. On the other manipulative digit; we are still all sentient beings doing our best to survive a very hostile universe. We're in this together, whether or not we like the company that forces us to keep. Perhaps the surest sign that transhumanity and its descendants have no place in the greater cosmos is our inability to overcome our internal strife and work together towards the common good. After all, as far as we know it's just us, some slime, and the TITANs.

Mon, 2013-04-29 13:08

Lilith

Really now?

Someone besides me actually remembers [i]Jersery Shore[/i]? I don't know whether to be impressed that someone would do that much research, or saddened that the memory of that show didn't die in the Fall. I suppose it's a good thing I was never one to put stock in a fair and just universe.

Wed, 2013-05-01 15:28

Trinary

If you'll forgive the

If you'll forgive the conjoining of quotations: I have taken all knowledge to be my province; for knowledge, too, itself is power. (Francis Bacon) I cannot honestly claim to personally remember the program; but I have encountered traces of it while researching historical examples of socially degenerative memetic infections. As an aside; could someone possibly explain "Planking"? But more to the point; the universe is neither fair nor just in the human sense of the word. It is an infinitely vast, brutally indifferent expanse of nothingness, punctuated by very brief blips of existential threats. And while there may not be much we can do to prevent the effects of a Gama Ray Burst or a nearby supernova or a 'rogue' dwarf star crashing through our system; the fact remains that, at least until the Pandora Gates permit us to get our eggs significantly out of this one basket; we're stuck with eachother. In many ways one could draw parallels between the current state of Transhumanity and how humankind stood at the end of the 20th century. We've avoided a potential extinction event (A global nuclear exchange or the TITANs not disappearing as they did) but the aftermath is still with us (WMD-capable rogue states and nonstate actors compared to the Exurgent virus and all the other technological bag of worms we have). And while we've started to dip our toe into deeper waters (International Space Station / Through-gate colonies); the potential for our own abrupt cessation is still a very real possibility. In the end, the entropic decay of the universe dooms us all; but I'd rather enjoy watching the event from front row seats. Or, to quote another 20th century entertainment program: "I'm pullin for ya; we're all in this together."

Thu, 2013-05-02 09:09

Lilith

Whoa nelly

No need for the philosophical sound byte there. It was just a casually-made snark, not an indication of any serious thought to the contrary. I've long ago made my peace with the nature of existence as-is. And I'd rather not have to explain planking to anyone. I lived through that fad, and even I still don't understand it. People are just fucking [i]weird[/i] sometimes.