by Paul Anlee
6) What would a battle between Gods look like? While they could conceivably unleash huge energies at each other, it always seemed more likely to me that they would try to distort each other’s reality. Can you imagine other ways in which beings with the ability to alter the underlying physics of their opponent’s world might fight? What kinds of plausible defenses would you engage, if you were a God?
7) How did you feel at the end of the second last chapter when you realized the Living God had won? Did that seem like a proper outcome for the series? After all, though I may have focused on the side of the rebels, Alum was just trying to create a perfect Heaven for everyone to live in forever. What’s so bad about that? If the Creator of our universe (if you believe in such a being) were to turn the entire universe into such a Heaven, would that be a good thing?
8) There has been a fair bit of discussion on the web about the opportunities and perils of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and of the ability of such a machine to rapidly self-evolve into a super AGI (SAGI). I wrote about Brother Stralasi deciding to become like other Esu (by accepting to be connected to his own Cybrid “Familiar”) to show one possible way in which humans could avoid a conflict with a machine intelligence. Do you think machine GAIs will be forever beyond our reach? Does biology have anything to offer an SAGI machine-based being? Is conflict inevitable if we continue developing the field of artificial intelligence? If you care to discuss this particular question with others, please note, this chapter can be downloaded for free from my website as the short story, Distributed.
9) Darak unleashed a virus for lattice development in humans and Cybrids without consulting anyone. Similarly, Darian decided to promote the billions of judges to Gods. Were Darak and Darian “right” to do that without asking? Does the outcome outweigh their ethical transgressions? Given the time restraints and pending danger, could the results have been achieved any other way? How do their decisions compare to the respect that Darak showed Darya in not tampering with her mind until she gave permission? Is it consistent thinking, or how does that thinking or scenario differ?
10) At one point, Brother Stalasi says, “At the risk of an even greater headache, what do you mean?” How did you feel about the many “deep science” and high concept passages in this series? How do you deal with complex information in your own life, do you try to balance curiosity and the effort required to learn new or complex concepts? How do you feel about the presence or absence, and the depth and breadth of scientific information in mainstream and social media?
11) Upon meeting Darak Legsu, Brother Stralasi dealt with a steep learning curve, and he does so again in his relationship with his Esu love interest, Crissea. The monk’s worldview and perception of reality were challenged as he traveled, and he had to rebuild it and adapt. Multiple times. How would you respond to such paradigm-shifting information if you were in his shoes?
Has your worldview ever been seriously challenged, either as a child or as an adult? Have you travelled outside of your comfort zone, say for example, outside of your home country to a place where people did not speak your language or perhaps held different worldviews? How did you find the experience? Was it challenging, exciting, tiring, energizing, scary, rewarding, easy, difficult? Did your experience change how you viewed yourself, your home country and culture, or did it solidify the view you held before you left?
12) To his credit, the Good Brother maintains his curiosity, his drive to know and understand the truth, to understand the people and universe around him, and how things work. He asks questions, even though he anticipates that the answers will be challenging to digest. He frequently struggles but pushes through moments of feeling exhausted, confused, shocked, overwhelmed, and resentful, and tries to keep an open mind. Where do you think this character might go from here, from the end of this story? Could he ever go back to being a monk, a leader of the people on his home planet? Being a man with a long history as a caring, compassionate leader of his people, would he ever be able to abandon them? Now that his people have enhanced lattice-assisted intelligence and archives of knowledge, how would Brother Stralasi’s role change?
13) Alum is a murderer, perhaps the most horrendous the universe has ever known. When He conspired to release the Eater on Earth, He knowingly caused the death of billions. Now, His Divine Plan will destroy all life in the universe. And yet, He also treasures life. His Heaven has no carnivores or prey; every being passes between vegetative and animal states and gets energy directly from Heaven’s Divine Light. He has very carefully set up the physics of Heaven to avoid death and suffering. His two perspectives of life—that it is both precious and inconsequential—seem contradictory. How could He rationalize this? How can He not be bothered by this? Is this a sign of cognitive dissonance, compartmentalization, or is His perspective less paradoxical than it might appear? How does society reconcile this same contradiction?
Further Reading
This series contains a lot of real science and speculates heavily on possible advances in several fields. If you’re interested in learning more about some of the areas discussed in this book, I suggest the following:
Lawrence Krauss, A Universe From Nothing.
An excellent review of cosmology and the possible origins of the universe.
Andrew Thomas, Hidden In Plain Sight.
A great series of eleven books (and growing) covering everything from gravity, relativity, quantum mechanics, time, space, consciousness and the particles that comprise all matter.
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion.
A powerful analytic indictment of religious belief that applies logic and reason to spirit and faith.
Francis Collins, The Language of God.
A famous scientist’s perspective on reconciling belief in God with scientific studies of evolution.
Jerry Coyne, Why Evolution is True.
A fact-filled romp through the scientific evidence in support of evolution.
George M. Church and Ed Regis, Regenesis.
Inside the mind of one of the world’s leading synthetic biologists. Includes the origins of the field, current practices, and stunning visions of the future.
James Rickards, The Death of Money.
Analysis of how modern currency wars will be fought among major countries of the world, resulting in the collapse of the international monetary system.
Matt Strassler (https://profmattstrassler.com/), Of Particular Significance.
Insightful and informative website from a theoretical physicist with essays on a variety of topics in physics.
http://igem.org/Main_Page
iGEM is the International Genetically Engineered Machines annual competition. This is *the* place to go to learn about the exciting research done every year by university undergrads from around the world.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Lee
for being the most patient editor imaginable, and to my great team of ARC readers and reviewers. This is a much better series thanks to your invaluable and insightful feedback.
A special thanks to the members of Cuenca: Writing Our World for your support.
Science fiction writers owe a debt to the giants who have gone before us, many of whom still produce prolifically. I have been influenced by many of the best, though none bear the responsibility for any of my errors. Isaac Asimov, Iain M. Banks, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Ray Bradbury, David Brin, Arthur C. Clarke, Peter F. Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, Sheri S. Tepper, and John C. Wright, you have all been great inspirations.
The scientific community crosses many borders and intellectual boundaries. My career in biology has been guided by great scientists like David Baillie, David Pilgrim, and David Wishart. No, I don’t know why I always worked for guys named David. My love of developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics was inspired by Bruce P. Brandhorst during my undergraduate years at Simon Fraser University. I also owe a deep debt of gratitude for the exciting and i
nspiring researchers in synthetic biology including: Drew Endy, George Church, Tom Knight, Pam Silver, Chris Voigt, and Jay Keasling.
In coming up with the speculative science, philosophies, and sociopolitical economics in the Deplosion series, I built upon the ideas of many great thinkers. The following have all been sources for ideas, but none of them can be blamed for any misinterpretation or where I may have gone astray with the inspiration: Lawrence Krauss, Richard Dawkins, Andrew Thomas, Matt Strassler, John Mauldin, John Hussman, James Rickards, and Thom Hartmann.
About the Author
Canadian author Paul Anlee writes provocative, epic sci-fi in the style of Asimov, Heinlein, Asher, and Reynolds, stories that challenge our assumptions and stretch our imagination. Literary, fact-based, and fast-paced, the Deplosion series explores themes in philosophy, politics, religion, economics, AI (artificial intelligence, VR (virtual reality), nanotech, synbio (synthetic biology), quantum reality, and beyond.
“When I was young, a teacher asked our class to write about what we wanted to be when we grew up. My story was entitled ’Me, The Everything!’ I've been fortunate to come close to fulfilling that dream in my life, at least intellectually. Computer programming, molecular biology, nanotechnology, systems biology, synthetic biology, business consulting, and photocopy repair, I've worked in many fields. I've spent way too much of my life in school, eventually earning degrees in computing science (BSc) and in molecular biology and genetics (PhD). I’ve even had the chance to work with some of the best researchers in the world at The National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton, Canada.
“After decades of reading almost nothing but high-tech science fiction and thirsting for more, I decided to take a shot at writing some. I aim for stories that are true to the best available science while pushing my imagination beyond the edge of what we know today. I love biology, particle physics, cosmology, artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, politics, and economics. My personal philosophy is empirical physicalism and I blog regularly about the science and ideas found in my novels. I believe fiction should educate and stimulate, as much as it entertains.”
Paul and his wife currently live in Cuenca, Ecuador, where they study Spanish and Chen-style Tai Chi when they’re not working on exciting and provocative new stories.
Follow Paul Anlee on Facebook or write me at: [email protected]. Even better, visit me at my website, https://www.paulanlee.com/, read the blog, leave a comment, and sign-up on my email list to be the first to hear about new books, new posts, and special announcements. That’s the best way to hear about FREE offers and special deals.
Copyright © 2019 by Paul Anlee
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Darian Publishing House ([email protected])
Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Book Layout & Design ©2013 - BookDesignTemplates.com
Design Cover - Elizabeth Mackey Graphic Design
Author Photo - John Keeble
Background image on cover art - Copyright Jean-Michel ALIMI, DEUS Consortium
The author thanks Jean-Michel ALIMI, Scientific Director of DEUS Consortium (deus-consortium.org) and Director of DEUS Consortium for making available the background cover image obtained through DEUS numerical simulations. This image reproduces the distribution of dark matter in a universe with a cosmological constant.
Visit the author’s website at: www.paulanlee.com
Follow the author on Facebook at: Paul Anlee or Paul Anlee Fans
Email the author at: [email protected]
The Deplosion Saga / Paul Anlee – Special Chronological Edition
ISBN: 978-1-9991812-1-5
