Our first piece of audio fiction for October is "Staying Behind" written by Ken Liu and read by Kate Baker.
Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 61 - Staying Behind by Ken Liu [38:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7214)
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Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 61 - Staying Behind by Ken Liu [38:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (7214)
My first exposure to Clarkesworld. Very impressive indeed. Good enough, in fact, to make me sign up for citizenship in appreciation.
Staying Behind was compelling both as a story and as, amongst other things, an examination of some of the emotional and cultural issues raised by the possibilities of posthumanism. It will stay with me for a long time.
Like Kate and some of the other posters, I found the unaddressed questions of the Svalbard singularity's infrastructure, maintenance and longevity - and, more importantly, the Dead's attitude towards this remaining physical vulnerability - to be rather niggling, but certainly not enough to detract from the considerable power of the whole. All in all, excellent stuff, and I immediately looked for more by Ken.
Praise for Kate Baker, too. Wonderful voice and reading. What can I say? I'm hooked.
Oh and my choice was to join the Dead. These, sadly, are the comments of a brain-pulped ghost. Wooooooooooooooo.
Another magnificent tale by Ken Liu! In answer to your question, Kate...I think I would remain human. As a painter, an aerialist and a swordswoman, too many of of my passions are rooted in the physical world. While I respect the idea that creating such a virtual existence for humans would eliminate our negative impact on the environment, I would rather see humans learn to live harmoniously with our ecosystem than to leave Earth entirely behind. This is why I believe that any notion of immortality, such as an after-life, contributes to the lazy, apathetic and uncaring attitude towards our planet that is so prevalent. Why take care of this world if something better is supposed to come afterward? I think some aspects of science, especially the idea of space travel, are also guilty of creating this dangerous illusion. If we realized that this Earth were the only place for us and that we had only one life to live, then perhaps we would treasure it, cherish it and act more responsible.
I found this one interesting in part because of the use of language and how the story showed off how many people argue by using words that are argumentative and assume their own conclusion.
For example, in this story one of the characters says you're having your "brain turning into a bloody pulp," but I suspect the character saying that would not feel differently about the procedure if it left brains intact but dead.
The main question to me in this story (and genre) is whether, upon uploading, one's sense of self is literally transferred -- meaning that consciousness really continues there -- or is the uploaded version just a "copy."
This is a fascinating question because as much as I want to live for many thousands of years, would the me that I know I am right now continue to exist and think? Or would there just be a computer program acting like me and claiming to be me?
I wonder if we will ever know.