I suppose it's redundant to talk about how spooky these prospects are, how the general-purpose mind is adapted for many things, and who can tell what kind of evolutionary dead-end we might find ourselves in?
I spoke to Mr. Vinge at a recent convention, asking him if focus was the main element of straumli realm's dysfunction, in the first book. He told me he hadn't thought about it, though he could certainly adapt such a plot line!
He also said that there's one other book coming out before a sequel to Deepness is released.
...oh, but the reason I had for dropping names, is that he's had several people come to him, wishing they could volunteer to be focused, how much more work they could get done! In the context of his book, it sounds like volunteering to be the star in a stephen king horror story. From the news article, it seems pretty harmless, I just dread the possibility (inevitability) of it being abused for advertizing/propaganda purposes.
Suppose one is only exposed to this effect while focusing on some subjects and not others? It makes me think of Larry Niven's Tasp, which could be used to enslave someone with their wholehearted cooperation.
Call me a nervous nelly, I just don't trust the new tech as long as we're still abusing the old tech.
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I spoke to Mr. Vinge at a recent convention, asking him if focus was the main element of straumli realm's dysfunction, in the first book. He told me he hadn't thought about it, though he could certainly adapt such a plot line!
He also said that there's one other book coming out before a sequel to Deepness is released.
...oh, but the reason I had for dropping names, is that he's had several people come to him, wishing they could volunteer to be focused, how much more work they could get done! In the context of his book, it sounds like volunteering to be the star in a stephen king horror story. From the news article, it seems pretty harmless, I just dread the possibility (inevitability) of it being abused for advertizing/propaganda purposes.
Suppose one is only exposed to this effect while focusing on some subjects and not others? It makes me think of Larry Niven's Tasp, which could be used to enslave someone with their wholehearted cooperation.
Call me a nervous nelly, I just don't trust the new tech as long as we're still abusing the old tech.