Michael E. Smith [mesmith@home.net] wrote:
I still haven't read this book yet, but it seems to me that it may well
be a prerequisite for a story of human life in a nanotech society, rather
than a prediction. Widespread SI changes so many things that a society
like this may be impossible; he could be laboring the point a little to
justify not including SIs because he wants to write about a more normal
human society, not because he doesn't think they could exist.
>I know that the novel has been mentioned favorably on this list before, but
>has anyone else noticed how "UNextropian" the novel is? I'm referring to
>the novel's apparent prediction of the failure of artificial intelligence.
>As I've re-read certain passages, it doesn't seem like an oversight to me;
>it appears to be a central theme of the novel.
Mark