Last of the Humans

"Get an accountant, abstain from sex and similes, cut, rewrite, then cut and rewrite again - if all else fails, pray. Inspired by Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing, we asked authors for their personal dos and don'ts"

The author takes on the concept of authorial fallacy and presents an argument for natural telos through simultaneous directionality and originality. It begins to read like a science paper in the discussions of entropy and emergence, but the content is literary including a detailed look at the writing of Pynchon. At times, it also sounded like technology, e.g. discussion of communication theory and error, but there were no diagrams. There are allegories of creation. Unlike usual narrative structure of plot, character and setting, however, coincidence plays a key role. The reader may be reminded of the juxtaposition of hexagrams in the I Ching, or of gestalt theory of self-organization, It does not discuss transhumanism. The conclusion may be a hard sell, but the progression of intelligence does not rule out the eventuality that agency permeates matter and force in which case there becomes a universal narrative, or the effect is the destination. Thanks.

This might be anathema to a creative artist, but software attempts model of reader volition, e.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnsoKOZq9ow

not sure its anathema but for my mind the overall perspective presented reduces the point of an undefined event

Draft in progress.

Good advice!!!

Magic! Many thanks.

NO worries!! Keep pushing forward!!

Memorable.

much obliged, thank you. hopefully part of a larger piece in the making

limits of creativity, nod to wildcat for the raise

"to regulate ownership of automatic creative reflexes from the limits of anatomy" Interesting point, hopefully before that happened ip would be substantially revisited from it's current binding/blocking state to a more flowable form.

Another question in an era of social computing is whether copyright or other protectionist technologies are subverted by cultural censorship, east or west for example. Thorough continuous visibility for the good of society, from macro scales through the individual cognitive, affords no privacy. In contrast to cognitive surplus, an environment where saturation becomes normal, and isolated forms of creation expensive, may be unavoidable. Unclear whether this would be better or worse.

Interesting. The point of view simplifies the type of complications and may complement a possible theme about difficulty of returning to the past. The town has less after than before, which contrasts monetary wealth versus resource poverty for the visitors. There are some transhuman features like the earlobe and drones. The books that they take may change their approach next time. Any leftover bank balances are a form of counterfeiting. The dialect might have been surfer slang or ideological code. Conclusion seems hopeful and concerned. Thanks.

In progress. LotH setting.

Short story from a different setting. Thanks.

This book was a Hugo and Locus winner. The celebrated author and scientist also wrote The Postman which was made into a movie. This story takes place in twenty-fifth century. Uplifting is how galactic races improve found species through genetic manipulation and who then become indebted. The premise follows the trend of enhancing animals such as chimps and dolphins to be more human-like. Their new powers are also used for defense. Reader sympathies may be fuzzy between regarding new creatures as humans or as aliens. Author has a sense of humor that uses puns and comedic situations. The dialogue is brief and punchy. The protagonist Fiben is introduced immediately in the first chapter, though there is a prologue to setup a conflict. The book starts with a glossary of a couple of dozen terms and characters, a Tymbrimi glyph and language dictionary, and a pair of maps. There are seven parts beginning with quotes that nod to writers Yeats, Zappa, Darwin, Bear, Milton, Stevenson, and Shakespeare. Viewpoint is third person omniscient. Character thoughts are shown in italics as is alien dialogue. The scenes shift quickly. There are one-hundred and eleven chapters, each of which is brief and titled by character or place name. This is the final book of the trilogy, dealing with the strategic use of the title process. There are a couple of series and an illustrated guide for the Uplift universe which is well documented on the web, the interactive worlds since then offering the possibility of more complex coverage of the social issues.

The official emblems are very dynamic looking. Both the outline and photo formats look good on a *lot* of different gear and clothing in different scales and colors. Hopefully the wearers aren't vanishing somewhere (he-he, just some tu'fluk).

Thanks John!! Yeah I LOVE that storyverse and I found it easy to flow those images. And, for the record, everyone who has disappeared has returned (practically everyone...well there was that one guy, but I don't think he really paid attention during orientation. He pretty much just put on the shirt)

Another short story.

David gives a 10 minute video presentation on skill sets for fiction writers.

Engrossing soliloquy on Criticism. Thanks.

You are, as always, quite welcome.

"Seen this way, Internet technology may be more an outgrowth of cultural rebelliousness than a cause of it. In a skeptical world in which authority has often failed, in an increasingly democratic world in which everyone is privileged, and, alas, in a narcissistic world in which many people feel the need to launch their egos, collaborative art is a radical rebuke that allows no one to be privileged above anyone else, no single art object to be a product of one sensibility, and no gatekeepers to tell us what is and isn't art. In effect, Wiki-Culture sends the peasants marching on the virtual Winter Palace."

same goes for writing

Art, writing, the scientific method and the internet reportedly emerged in a tapering time series at about 50k, 5k, 500 and 50 years ago respectively. Technologies recombine adaptively. Cultural effects interact. Synthetic life may also step up the artists' march. Thanks.