Saturday, December 3, 2011

Stories



When the singularity arrives, if I'm still alive, I'm screwed. Machines are super fast, while I am slow. I am unable to take in a lot of information all at once - when presented with too much, I shut down. For instance, when two people are talking at the same time, I can't hear either one of them. So what's going to happen when suddenly I have a super-power, when my neural network is entwined with a digital presence? I foresee an identity crisis or perhaps even worse.

As the singularity approaches, people would be wise to stock up on psychoactives: tranquilizers, mood stabilizers, antidepressents. Fill up your liquor cabinets, people! We might also all need to become crack addicts in order to cope with the lightning-fast workings of technology. I foresee a whole lot of personal chaos, oh yeah.

Can anyone tell I've been thinking about writing a science fiction book? Poor Vega, thrust into the future, dealing with her digital implants. She would still be a spy - some kind of super futuristic spy, I'm thinking.

NaNoWriMo unleashed a surprisingly powerful beast within, the Secret Fiction Writer hidden deep inside my psyche till now. Maybe I'll just think about it for awhile, then let it go, or maybe it'll be a story instead of a book. As you can see, Jack's beanstalk may have been cut down, but it's not dead yet!

11 comments:

Carolina Linthead said...

I am very glad that new sprouts are emerging from the beanstalk. I was more than a bit saddened by that chopping down post. This one freaked me out at bit...thinking about the singularity...and then made me smile. Love your pics for this one!!! Love to you, and best wishes to Vega :-)

Reya Mellicker said...

Vega will need some good wishes, believe me!

Pauline said...

Interesting, this projection into the future. I have long been of the mind that we are fictional characters and our stories are just that - what we make up about ourselves and others. You're in my chapter called fascinating cyber friends ;)

Rebecca Clayton said...

When I try a new skill, I usually binge on it for a while, then I calm down and work on it in a more measured way. (Crocheting for hours at a time, until it activated my carpal tunnel syndrome last year, for instance.) Maybe that's happening for you with fiction writing. You certainly have writing discipline in your journal and blog.

Balance is important, but there's nothing wrong with the thrill of a new project, either. Have fun!

Reya Mellicker said...

Yay! Rebecca you are so smart! Yes, this is a binge - definitely. Oh yeah - thanks.

Tom said...

i think you'd be excellant at writing sci-fi - you seem to live in another dimension already, so it should come pretty naturally. Vega lives amidst conflict, so the stories are bound to be out of this world

Mary Ellen said...

Reya, after you cut loose from the NaMoWriMi energy, you very soon started to do just what would be next steps - writing a bit of the backstory, etc. Could you start again in a mode of structured/limited bits? There was so much juice going on, so much playfulness, as you recounted the process. My progeny, having "won" the challenge, is planning a much more leisurely ongoing development, and has started a new endeavor at the same time - taking daily dreams and expanding them a bit as the core of possible sci-fi or fantasy stories. Storing seeds for later. Vega as sci-fi augmented being - sounds similar. As for me, I'm not quite jealous, and not quite motivated to start something myself - but something is stirring down there. Perhaps I'll fool around in the direction of NaMoWriMo camp in July or August.

Kerry said...

I'm so out of it that I had to google "the singularity"!! It's already here for me, kind of. Most of my devices are already smarter than me.

Reya Mellicker said...

Mary Ellen, you should! They say getting started is the hard part, but since I write every day anyway, that wasn't the challenge.

Writing something I care about - that scares me. But I'm thinking about it, oh yeah.

Steve Reed said...

Yay! I'm glad Vega still lives! As for the singularity, I hope it NEVER arrives.

Reya Mellicker said...

It's coming, Steve. Get ready for it!