Stephane’s Comments (group member since Apr 21, 2013)

Stephane’s comments from the EDCMOOC group.

One more question ?
What is the most valuable that we may gain from an encounter with aliens ?

I found this Kickstarter project before reading the novella (half-way now) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/... that's quite the game version of the linguistic research, isn't it ? :)
(more ideographic than semasiographic maybe...)

Kc wrote: "Q4. There was a theme of nature (what is natural - emotions/bodily functions) - what other examples were there in the theme of nature vs synthetic?"
I didn't perceive this theme very well - in fact it's a very urban setting, drugs and bodily modifications are a big part of the novel. It's maybe this lack of contact to the nature or to a more favourable environment, that gives this will to experiment more intense sensations via artificial enhancement. The "Fall" pursues on a headlong rush that is not toward natural innocence.

Kc wrote: ""Being in the world but not of it"
Q3. What virtue was there to being 'unmodified'. Did it have advantages over the Moddies?"
I think it's much more an ethic or an attitude - moral, based on religious principles in the novel - a fear - a bit like refusing to use social networks or smartphones nowadays. It doesn't seem to contradict any negative effects. It's a refusal to take part to a mainstream movement to defend other values. Even the one of being an outsider among outsiders like Marîd.
For my part, I'm not against new technologies or modifications - in the contrary - but I'm more waiting to have a real use of it (one of my mottos - it's not because it exists that we have to use it) or to get a more developed technology.

Kc wrote: "Stephane wrote: "Q2. The manipulation of moddies is quite sensitive. Would you use such a technology ? For which application and whose personality would you like to experiment ?"

Mmm. good questio..."
Q2. The personality modules could be quite interesting for an assignment in a classroom, don't you think ? Let organize a meeting between the Enlightenment philosophers - Hobbes, Kant and Voltaire for example with some language add-ons (daddies)to debate. Ok, it's maybe less harmful to organize a classical role playing session (or video-games).
It's still very practical to experiment another point of view, one of some genius, on some situations or researches.
Sadly, it seems that there are no unwired long-term effects (The film "limitless" is very close to this utilization of add-on and drugs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THE_h...)

Kc wrote: "Stephane wrote: "Q1. I was surprised to read that the story is supposed to take place near the end of the 22nd century (published in 1986 though). Year 2015, I'd set the story in maybe 20 years fro..."
Q1. yes, the story was written before the collapse of the soviet Union and even in 1989, the majority thought it could last more decades with the tensions between the 2 blocs (3 with the so called Third world that is the setting here). Now the situation is more indistinct - and even in the EU, the Nation State system is still the rule. I'm curious to see countries like Estonia taking big steps in the development and use of new technologies and other like Slovakia that seem to stay in the 20th century.
France has a lot of potential with a lot of start-ups, but seems to hold back (one of the most pessimist countries) as it has to redefine its identity between the idea of "France éternelle" and the modern multicultural society. That are the exacerbate debates on the public (media) sphere. It may be that a society that is more oriented to innovation could be more optimistic and bring more openness as it forges a new culture. Against disparities, a renewal of education politics and practices seems to be necessary.

Kc wrote: "Stephane wrote: "Q0. Our traditional first impressions on the book. Did you like it ?"

I found it a gripping crime novel and read it very quickly. The sci-fi elements were a big part of the contex..."

Q0. The language and situations could be felt as a bit rude but it felt very authentic in the hard life of Budayeen with our, a bit cynical and ironic - and multi-addicted - Marîd Audran.
I wasn't so impress about the sci-fi elements (old computer terminals and phones). The daddies and moddies were interesting but came quite late in the novel. It felt in fact quite familiar - the setting could be contemporary or a bit outdated : it reminded me of the film "Pépé le Moko" - 1936 (great trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83ftf...) - even the sexchange habits felt quite normal (maybe as we can nowadays read more about the actual Queer culture)
Enjoyable in its quality of roman noir - and curious geopolitical situation.
There are more books in this Marîd Audran serie and even a video game ! https://archive.org/details/msdos_Cir...

Q2. The manipulation of moddies is quite sensitive. Would you use such a technology ? For which application and whose personality would you like to experiment ?

Q1. I was surprised to read that the story is supposed to take place near the end of the 22nd century (published in 1986 though). Year 2015, I'd set the story in maybe 20 years from now, except maybe for the geopolitical background.
How do you see your country in 2050 ?

Q0. Our traditional first impressions on the book. Did you like it ?

We won't be enough participants for our Tweet chat this month - but we still can try to make a Questions & Answers round on Goodreads that will let us, say the weekend, to answer to. Just post the questions, reactions or reflections on the book. Let's try it - are you okay ?
I begin with one question per thread.

Interesting - "When Gravity fails" has been used as a background universe for the role playing game "Cyberpunk 2020" - here it is https://fr.scribd.com/doc/258111053/C...

Budayeen is a rude place - but I hadn't read detective stories since long.
Which new themes have interested you in this story ?
I can think about geopolitical changes in the future, the transgender topic, the very convenient moddies and the identity switching daddies...

Is 9pm GMT ok for Saturday ? it's 2 hours more on continental Europe - even 1 more in Lithuania for Asta - that's quite late

Thank you Kirstie,
It can be found here as an epub document : http://tinyurl.com/n7jvj2h
Do we have anyone for moderation already ? If not, I can do it.

I won't be there - sorry
Have a nice exchange

"The city of silence" is part of the Anthology "Apex book of world SF 3" that contains two explanatory footnotes.
One is about the Arvardan's encounter with the swearing man whose name (Hiroshi Watanabe) "is also the name of a present-day Japanese animator". (I should watch some animes to understand)

The second - "Wang Er is the name of the protagonist in stories by the Chinese writer, Wang Xiaobo" - has more meanings after some research, as it directly refers to the Cultural Revolution and to the themes elaborated by Wang Xiaobo in the novels "2015" (!) and "the Golden Age" : http://www.popmatters.com/review/wang...
One more link to an essay of Wang Xiaobo called "The Silent Majority" (as a pdf here and the reference here :http://paper-republic.org/authors/wan...)

Thank you for your questions, Asta. I particularly like the ones concerning the comparison with the virtual world.
I'm curious to know what could be the occupation of the amphibians. Any idea ?
I'm not so convince about the fact that people are getting "cheerful and interesting" once they're outside of the body. Is the loss of the weight of the body the only reason ?
The question of fear seems to be related with the one of power. But isn't it still existent even in the virtual world independently from physical matters ?

I downloaded it : ) Thank you for the link !

Kc wrote: "The film 'The Joneses' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Joneses - thanks Stephane for the comparison!"

And the Surrogate too, the film based on a comic : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrogates

oh, I wrote down to check the title of a Black Mirror episode (the 3rd one from season 2 - great series) about the tyranny of the audience and a remotely controlled cartoon figure (!) and it's called... "The Waldo Moment" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...)
ps. I don't understand the term Waldo in the book.

One interesting point is although the question of creation/art that is adapting to the audiences response : "The idea that art thrives on creative flamboyance has long been torpedoed by proof that what art needs is computers. Because this showbiz has something TV and Hollywood never had—automated inbuilt viewer feedback." Do we have to fear the tyranny (strong word ?) of buzz and mainstream as a weakening of art ?

About advertising (stealth marketing) and education, should we let enter in schools companies like Apple, Windows or Google, that proposed hardware and educational programs and that could shape future consumption habits ?