Guest guest Posted September 5, 2002 Report Share Posted September 5, 2002 The science fiction I was thinking of was " Transhuman Space " , by Steve Jackson Games. It's a very well thought out setting for a roleplaying game where massive advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and nanotechnology have enabled non-human intelligent life to emerge. All the technology is realistic (there are no transporters or faster than light drives, for example), but extremely optimistic. Genetic engineering produces fully intelligent versions of animals such as cats, dogs, octopi and cows which can communicate with humans on an equal level. (It also produces memetically and genetically engineered slaves called " bioroids " , alas.) The three hyperpowers - USA, EU, and China - differ in their respect for pan-sapient rights, with the EU by far the most liberal. Throwaway chronology entries are: 2077 : * EU, USA, China, Pacific Rim Alliance all impose limited trade sanctions on the [collectivisers of intellectual property] Transpacific Socialist Alliance * In Europe, the transgenic calf Ermintrude is a spokesperson for the growing movement demanding an end to the raising of animals for food * Construction of the space elevator begins on Mars 2081 : * The first titan consortium tritium tankers reach their Lagrange 4 [lunar orbit] collection point. * European Union passes laws that will phase out the raising of meat animlas in favor of fauxflesh * The [AI] ghost of Kazuhiro Nishimori is first posthuman to visit [Jovian moon] Triton, his conscioussness transmitted via laser communicator to a cybershell there. * [GM] Green Duncanites sponosered by Avatar Klustercorp begin secretly seeding [Jovian moon] Europa's oceans with GMOs. I saw the first draft. In the first draft, Ermintrude was assasinated. It seems she was saved by the editor. Okay, I didn't need to copy out *all* of that, but I liked the setting. They rest of the entries added colour. www.sjgames.com/transhuman > " k@ " wrote: > > > Ian McDonald [ian] > 02 September 2002 20:50 > > Re: Re: no you should not leave! > > > O, go on, then, Ian. I would like to hear the science > fiction scenario. Anything to keep me optimistic... > > xxk@xx > *nod*. We live in a society full of meat-eaters. Although we > can whittle > down the numbers, we're not going to become mostly-veggie > for a century > or two, at least. (I could go all science fiction here and > talk about > genetically uplifted animals campaigning for an end to > animal farming. > But everyone would just look at me as if I was odd.) -- Ian McDonald http://www.mcdonald.me.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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