POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS: The BEST Captain In STARFLEET is NOT Named Kirk or Picard!!!!

NOT using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention; to which I be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I WOULD jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. But not today. This explanation is reserved for when I dash “off topic”, sometimes reviewing movies, sometimes reviewing books, and other times taking up the spirit of a blog an old friend of mine used to keep called THE RANTING ROOM…

A friend of mine from the school I used to work at posted the meme/photo above several weeks ago and added underneath it:

“Fight me.” -- n.l.n.

As a long-time fan of all of the series, I had to serious consider her argument. The following is my train of thought (edited, boiled down then expanded with references into a coherent essay that will likely irritate as many people as it lifts up!) Onward then!

Captain, father, diplomat, religious figure? 

For three seasons, he held the rank of Captain, and was then promoted to Commander for the last three. In my humble opinion, he blew Kirk (old and new), Picard, Janeway, Archer, and Lorca out of the water -- PLUS, he didn't have a starship to flash around, just a dumpy old space station that broke down every other episode.

Picard was given the top-tech FLAGSHIP of the Federation. Kirk captained the first starship to actually go on an exploratory mission. Lorca’s job was to save the Federation from a devastating war with the Klingon Empire. Archer took the very first starship and led the very first mission out of Human space under the watchful eye of the Vulcans, who stood ready to mop up any mess Archer got into. Janeway, with an amazing ship had to rip disaster out of the mouth of diplomacy as practiced by the Federation and the Cardassian Empire.

Sisko got a ruined space station, intentionally sacked by the departing Cardassian former owners, a deeply suspicious population below who wanted nothing more than to get rid of all these frickin’ aliens and go back to Life As We Knew It…

Oh, and his “liaison” with the Bajoran Transitional Government was one of their most celebrated…terrorists…who saw the Federation as just another version of the Cardassians.

“Here you go, Sisko. Let’s see what you can do with this, hehehehehehe…”

Woops, I forgot: along with an actively hostile civilian government on the world below; and actively hostile military government a few moments away by starship (which neither he nor the Barjoans have access to); there’s also a clandestine observation by an actively hostile alien alien who can detach bits of itself that can take the shape of ANYTHING in order to spy on you.

Jake Sisco’s best FRIEND was altered by his relationship with both Siskos that he chose to become the first Ferengi to enlist in Starfleet Officer (and he eventually became a captain) which of course, ended up ameliorating the ”money-grubbing” nature of the Ferengi so much so that Rom, Quark’s brother became the new Grand Nagus.

Oh, another thing, Sisko was the ONLY one of the set who dared to take the REALLY daring voyage of marriage and family life. Added layer: he was very recently widowed and his son was shocked by the loss of his mother so, just staple "bereaved" on to the other minor things he was dealing with...(Kirk tried the marriage and kid thing VERY briefly and admittedly failed except for the making-a-kid-part (apparently accepting fatherhood for an undisclosed amount of time, then ditching THAT SUCKER like an irritated Orion Slave Girl (though it’s the MEN who are slaves to the women, apparently)).

In addition to the above, his son chose to be a writer while his son’s best FRIEND became a Starfleet Officer (eventually captain) which of course, ended up ameliorating the ”money-grubbing” nature of the Ferengi so much so that Rom, Quark’s brother became the new Grand Nagus; as a religious icon called the Emissary of the Prophets and completely fulfilled the Prophecy by sacrificing his Humanity to them.

When confronted with the clandestine observation by an actively hostile alien alien called The Great Link whose stated intent was to destroy all Solids; and who detached bits of itself, one of which ended up on DS9 calling itself Odo and was able to take the shape of ANYTHING in order to spy on Humans aboard DS9 and became so loyal to them that he very nearly refused to halt a plague given to The Great Link because he’d fallen in love with a Solid. His respect and love for Nerice and Sisko made him reenter The Great Link with the cure for the plague and saved ALL of them, bringing about the end of the Dominion, the downfall of the Cardassian Empire (again), and the integration of a bit of Starfleet into the Prophets of the Wormhole.

Let’s just tote this up. Sisko: saved Bajor, reformed Bajoran terrorist, altered Ferengi social fabric, became religious icon then fulfilled sundry prophecies including Final Prophecy of entire Bajoran civilization, reformed and saved communal alien life form, earned respect of Cardassian Empire, all WITHOUT A STARSHIP and using a dilapidated, booby-trapped, former prison of a space station as a base.

So tell me again, EXACTLY what did Kirk, Picard, Janeway, Archer, and Lorca do for Life, the Universe, and Everything?

Last of all, from a Reality Standpoint, Sisco has been relegated to being an unsung hero of the Federation. Why doesn’t he receive more accolades? How MANY real biases did he topple? At the very least, two. He was the ANTI-absent black father. He was the ANTI-uneducated black male. Despite all of this, not only was Sisko, or more correctly, Avery Brooks pretty much forgotten, he should have in fact, been a major hero in the STAR TREK canon.

But he’s not. People rave all the time about Kirk or Picard. Not ONLY did Sisko/Brooks end up being a fictional INVISIBLE MAN he actually tried to bring this up in the infrequently mentioned DS9 episode, “Far Beyond the Stars”.

Brooks commented, “If we had changed the people's clothes, this story could be about right now. What's insidious about racism is that it is unconscious. Even among these very bright and enlightened characters – a group that includes a woman writer who has to use a man's name to get her work published, and who is married to a brown man with a British accent in 1953 – it's perfectly reasonable to coexist with someone like Pabst. It’s in the culture, it’s the way people think. So that was the approach we took. I never talked about racism. I just showed how these intelligent people think, and it all came out of them.” However, it wasn’t supposed to be entirely about racism. Brooks added, “The people thought it was about racism, well maybe so, maybe not [….] But the fact of the matter in 'Far Beyond the Stars' is that you have a man who essentially was conceiving of something far beyond what people around him had ever imagined, and therefore they thought he was crazy.” This episode was Avery Brooks' personal favorite, “I'd have to say, it was the most important moment for me in the entire seven years…It should have been a two-parter.”

Rene Auberjonois commented, "Brilliant episode. One of the best of the whole series and Avery did a fabulous job of directing it." Michael Dorn said, "It was wonderfully shot." Penny Johnson commented, “This was beautifully handled and beautifully shot. But it still, in the heart, it got me.” J.G. Hertzler commented, “I thought it was one you could have built an entire series from. There was a scene toward the end where he falls apart with the camera right in front of his nose. It was just riveting.” The same scene was also extremely memorable for Nana Visitor. Armin Shimerman thought highly of how the installment serves as a reminder of prejudice, especially racism, the actor commenting, “That's what that episode does terrifically well…it’s perfect science fiction. I think it stretches the imagination of the viewer and breaks down the fourth wall to talk about the real heroes of any TV shows, which are the writers.”

...Benjamin Sisko and Black Panther should have had a face-to-face...*sigh*

Reference: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_(episode)
Image: https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/78192652.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 472

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: adoring the pests…
Current Event: http://metro.co.uk/2014/02/17/cats-are-cute-but-could-we-learn-to-love-the-cockroach-4303071/

It took a while for Austin Ventura, Carmita Rodriguez Cruz, and Paulina Rodriguez Cruz to make it back to Austin’s house. Getting the candied-apple red Jeep Cherokee out of the driveway without starting it was a little tougher than Austin had been hoping.

He started out in the driver seat first, but because his driveway sloped up a little, they couldn’t get it pushed up enough to get it out into the street. Austin jumped out and whispered, “Paulina – you get behind the wheel!”

“I never drove!”

“Do it! Just hold the wheel straight while we push you backwards. I’ll come there and turn the wheel when it’s time!” All around them, was total silence; the dead of night when even burglars and rapists had gone to bed in order to hide their horrific shame from the light of day. If he’d tried to start the Cherokee...

“What are you daydreaming about?” Carmita whispered. “Push!”

Austin did. It took two rolling backs before the SUV was over the hump and into the street.

Then it started rolling backwards. “Hit the brakes!” Austin shouted in a whisper.

“She’s never driven a car, stupid! She doesn’t know what the brakes are!” The two of them chased the car across the street. But not until it hit a garbage can in front of the neighbor’s house. The family had a massively giant can because they only put it out once a month. Most everyone in the neighborhood knew exactly what day that was because the garbage stank to high heaven. And the can was jammed full.

Austin covered his eyes as the can teetered then tipped. There’d been no way to get there fast enough to stop it. No way to keep the month’s-worth of garbage from spilling into the street.

Cockroaches and all. “Ew…” said Carmita, who’d been standing next to him the whole time.

Paulina had scrambled out of the car and was coming around it when she stopped, transfixed by the pile of rot that now seethed with the bodies of the roaches, busily eating. She said abruptly, “Did you know that cockroaches are an important part of the ecology of Earth?” She took a step closer.

Austin and Carmita whispered together, “Don’t go any closer! They’re covered with diseases!”

Paulina looked up at them, laughed, “Not very often and the family appears to still be alive, so the cockroaches haven’t killed them yet.”

Austin looked at Carmita and said, “She LIKES cockroaches?”

Carmita shrugged and said, “It is our great shame.”

Austin sighed and went to the car, saying, “We don’t have any more time to waste. We have to find Carlos.” He hopped in and started it, gesturing for the girls to join him. Then with a spurt of gas, he sent them rolling and turned off the car. As they went downhill, picking up speed, none of them had noticed that they had picked up a few hitchhikers…

Names: ♂ Mexico, Mexico; ♂ Minnesota, Italy (= “baby in the woods”, “foundling”); ♀ Spanish form of French name 

Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Short Stories – Advice and Observation #6: Nnedi Okorafor “& Me”

It's been a while since I decided to add something different to my blog rotation. Today I’ll start looking at “advice” for writing short stories – not from me, but from other short story writers. In speculative fiction, “short” has very carefully delineated categories: “The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America specifies word lengths for each category of its Nebula award categories by word count; Novel 40,000 words or over; Novella 17,500 to 39,999 words; Novelette 7,500 to 17,499 words; Short story under 7,500 words.” 

I’m going to use advice from people who, in addition to writing novels, have also spent plenty of time “interning” with short stories. The advice will be in the form of one or several quotes off of which I’ll jump and connect it with my own writing experience. While I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it...neither do most of the professional writers above...someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. When I started this blog, that was NOT true, so I may have reached a point where my own advice is reasonably good. We shall see! Hemingway’s quote above will now remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales! As always, your comments are welcome! 

Without further ado, short story observations by Nnedi Okorafor – with a few from myself…

I first came across Nnedi Okorofor’s writing when I was on the Andre Norton Award committee for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA). That was the year her YA novel THE SHADOW SPEAKER. It was a strong year. I nominated THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY by Adam Rex, though the group put forth SHADOW SPEAKER…the SFWA membership overwhelmingly voted for HPAT DEATHLY HALLOWS (of course…and JK Rowling didn’t even CARE if she got it or if she hadn’t. She actually didn’t even notice…)

At any rate, Nnedi Okorafor said, “I wrote for eight years without even thinking of getting published. It wasn’t about an audience, I just wanted to write my stories. I enjoyed it. It was very gradual. I wrote about five novels before a professor told me I should try to get something published. I shrugged and said, “I guess” and submitted a short story to a journal. And that was the beginning. No novel that I’ve had published ever went through the normal route, however. I understood from the start that my path was not going to be typical. I knew the usual routes wouldn’t work for me because I was writing things that were...very unusual.”

My goal, as a 12-going-on-13-year-old, was to write more stories like John Christopher’s THE WHITE MOUNTAIN trilogy. I’d just finished them in the fall of my seventh grade year (I’d be 12 years old for eight more months…). I wanted to write my own story so it could go on forever. That first story, in longhand using a pencil was called (unsurprisingly) THE WHITE VINES and it was about alien vines growing out of a cornfield an taking over city sewers. That’s all I remember, and that was my motivation for writing – to be somewhere ELSE. I’d discovered science fiction in sixth grade with SPACESHIP UNDER THE APPLE TREE (by Louis Slbodkin) and THE WONDERFUL FLIGHT TO THE MUSCHROOM PLANET (by Eleanor Cameron). Junior High School offered an abundance of new books which I devoured – and which prompted me to write my oldest surviving story, a rip off of Andre Norton’s science fiction novels that included cats. (If you dare, here’s a link to it – not in the original pencil, I typed it up: http://theworkandworksheetsofguystewart.blogspot.com/2014/05/where-my-writing-beganmy-first.html)

“…a lot of people are told to stifle their imaginations, just in order to get by. Science fiction does the exact opposite. People who are missing that expression in their lives are fulfilled when they read a science-fiction narrative.”

That’s what I was told the whole time I was growing up…sure, my dad and I watched STAR TREK; he read some science fiction, too. But to WRITE the stuff? It was absurd! I can’t say my parents actively discouraged me – my mom got me my first Underwood-style manual typewriter, then she bought a MASSIVE electric one when the school district she worked for were selling them off to get new ones. But it was subtly implied.

Unlike Nnedi Okorafor, I grew up loathing sports. A brief sojourn into baseball when I was eight or nine and spending a season in the outfield because I could neither catch, throw, hit, or run left me with my current indifference to all things professional sports. She was a tennis and track star in her youth. So was everyone in my family: Dad played softball and bowled (after football and basketball all the way through high school), my brothers both played football and hockey (my next youngest brother going to college on a scholarship), then diverged while one did track and field, the other baseball. Both of them played for traveling hockey teams; my sister did softball and volleyball…Mom? Girls Athletic Association all three years of high school, and FENCING in college at the University of Minnesota.

Me? Tried out for the swim team my senior year – because of my dislocating shoulder, I became the team manager. After training and running all summer long and being coached by my best friend – and with ZERO support from my family, who thought I was crazy – I tried out for the junior college football team, sprained my ankle, and became the assistant trainer for two years, as well as becoming the team statistician and learning ow to keep those books…

I had turned to reading to escape; I continued in writing to escape…and maybe get published.

“Nearly a decade passed before I realized the lesson in this experience. Just as in sports, when writing creatively, if you don’t love the craft and art of it, you’ll never experience this pure form of success. Yet when you do have this love, you realize that pure success does not come from fame or fortune, it grows from that love.”

This one I fully understand – I love writing. My mantra became as still is something Isaac Asimov once wrote: 

 https://cdn.boldomatic.com/content/post/9gjTZg/I-write-for-the-same-reason-I-breathe-because-if?size=800

Nnedi Okorafor expresses a similar concept when she said, “‘When a story comes to me, I have to write it or it won't let me rest,’ Okorafor said. ‘The characters are real to me. I hear their voices. Their actions affect me. The places I write about exist. I've felt the sting of their sand storms and smelled their forests. The creatures really do bite, snarl, sing, spit, sting, etc. When I'm writing, I'm there and I enjoy being there.’”

It’s almost like being possessed or filled with the Holy Spirit. When it happens, it’s virtually impossible to stay still; it’s virtually impossible to get away from the story. I’ve two stories that has dogged me for decades. The title’s remained the same as well, but I think that I’ve only recently reached a point where I MIGHT be skilled enough to write them. For now, just two titles, the first I will attempt to write soon: “Of the Galeborne”; the second “Salvation Writ in Stainless Steel”. I have the images in my mind, but the entire, coherent story isn’t there yet. I’m currently on Mars with several characters as Mars teeters on the bring of either a revolution or a reformation. Both are profound; one stands a better chance of leaving buildings standing than the other.

“It's interesting because a lot of my stories are often based on several things, but their foundation is in the stories of the women and girls around me and also within myself. And Binti comes from a very insular family - a cultural family that's very close. And she ends up picking up and going and leaving her family and going just so that she can go to a university that is on another planet.” Nnedi Okorafor had done precisely this when she answered the call to become a college professor far from her family. The EMOTIONS she was experiencing drove the work of fiction.

So, what IS the source of my stories? When I look at my published work – which I view as a successful expression of something that is really in me; something I struggle with; something I’m working through. Two of my most recent stories, “Kamsahamnida, America” and “Road Veterinarian”, I deal with the issue of alienation (fortunately neither one has aliens in it!) – the separation of the main character from his world. The first one is literally separated from Earth when he goes to the Moon; in the second story, he’s self-isolating because he was born with PBT (PieBald Trait) aka piebaldism and has issues with people seeing him outside the framework of his work as a veterinary geneticist, where he is an acknowledged world expert. In another story, “Cockroach, Wasp, Gecko, Tiger”, the main character is living in a political internment camp in North Korea; “The Last Mayan Aristocrat”…well, it’s self-explanatory isn’t it?

So, the discovery here is the importance of knowing WHERE you’re writing from.

An unsold story of mine may be unsold because the sense of isolation I feel sometimes wasn’t clearly expressed. “May They Rest” (revised and renamed “By Law and Custom”) is also an isolation story where the sole survivor of a massacre of a Human colony on a world claimed by the intelligent plant WheetAh returns to…hmm…I don’t remember specifically WHY he returns, though his motivation is not altruistic in any way. Which might be part of the problem of the story…

So, there you go. What I’ve learned from Nnedi Okorfor in the time I spent in her universes. I hope that no matter how old I get, I continue to learn!

References: https://www.flossmoor.org/464/Nnedi-Okorafor---The-Writer, https://ideas.ted.com/write-your-story-and-dont-be-afraid-to-write-it-a-sci-fi-writer-talks-about-finding-her-voice-and-being-a-superhero/, https://www.writersofthefuture.com/nnedi-okorafor/, http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/okorafor_interview/, https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/25/15610998/nnedi-okorafor-binti-home-night-masquerade-cover-interview-read, https://www.npr.org/2016/08/20/490771640/hugo-nominee-nnedi-okorafor-breaks-down-her-sci-fi-writing
Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 471

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding Fantasy, this insight was startling: “I see the fantasy genre as an ever-shifting metaphor for life in this world, an innocuous medium that allows the author to examine difficult, even controversial, subjects with impunity. Honor, religion, politics, nobility, integrity, greed—we’ve an endless list of ideals to be dissected and explored. And maybe learned from.” – Melissa McPhail.

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.

F Trope: Wu' means martial arts, which signifies action, 'Xia' conveys chivalry. Wuxia. Say it gently... 'whooshah'... and it's like a breath of serenity embracing you. Say it with force, 'WuSHA!', and you can feel its power…honourable warriors (侠 xiá) fighting against evil…wuxia stories are set in modern times, or even the future…Jiānghú (江湖 — literally "rivers and lakes")…martial-artists and monks, wandering knights and beautiful princesses, thieves and beggars, priests and healers, merchants and craftsmen…intricate relationships of honour, loyalty, love and hate between individuals and between communities in this milieu.
Current Event: “The Jade Warrior”

Ni Eyamba bit her lower lip as she stared down at the pre-calculus summative exam and sighed. What would the class do if she stood up and announced that she was a fusion of Atai, the mediator wife of Abassi, the creator god; and the Chinese “deity” of clan, nation, societal harmony, anti-individualism, and fulfillment of mandate still defines success. Contemporary Chinese, however, are unable to articulate the country's cultural DNA.

I am the articulation of the Chinese DNA of my mother melded with the gods and goddesses of my father’s home – the Dark Continent. I am...

Behind me, Jackson Jackson, my totally American best friend at Obama High School, poked me in the back with his tablet computer stylus and whispered, “Who do you think you are, Albertina Einsteinina?”

I rolled my eyes and got back to work. When we first talked, he asked me all about my families – not the shy one, I told him as much as he could stand.

Which happened to be an hour and seven minutes of constant talk – all through our relaxed study and into the fourth period of lunch. I’d intended to prove to myself that no one cared about me. Certainly Mom and Dad didn’t – why else would they send me to the US for schooling while they went to live the bright life in Espirito Santo, north of the capital of Brazil?

I was stuck in this...Jackson poked me again and I wrestled down an urge to turn and blast him with lightning. But then my only real friend in America would be a smoking pile of ash.

Of course I’d have to figure out how to immolate him without burning down both the school and turning myself into a pile of crematorium dust as well. Too bad my deityhood didn’t extend to omniscience. If it had, I would be able to ace this exam.

Also, the powers I’d supposedly gotten from the Efik side of my family tended toward creating things rather than destroying things. That’s why it had merged almost seamlessly with my Chinese blood. Most of Reunited China was in the throes of a materialistic orgy that made the 20th and the first half of the 21st Centuries of American excess look like…well…18th and 19th Century European excess…which made 16th and 17th Century Indian excess look like…well, you get the idea. Seems every dominating civilization seeks to outdo the previous dominating civilization...

“You gonna finish the test or just dream about graduating from high school?”

“闭嘴,” I said – Chinese for “shut up”, which is what Americans seem to say to each other a lot. Almost more than, “Wanna be friends?”

Behind me, I feel the rush of air past my ear as he breathes, “Wu xia.” He lifted the second syllable. Blood pounded in my ears. Said in such a way, he was doing no less than challenging me to a duel. I grinned, hunched over my tablet and raced through the rest of the test. I very much wanted to expend some of my angry energy by beating Jackson’s…

Names: ♀ China, Nigeria; ♂ United States, United States
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/98/71/e5/9871e52bbc09c525af21b8f6471eab15.jpg

POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY: Artificial Intelligences, Aliens, Rights, and Religious Conversion

Using the Programme Guide of the 2020 World Science Fiction Convention, ConZEALAND (The First Virtual World Science Fiction Convention), I will jump off, jump on, rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf copy of the Program Guide. I will be using the events to drive me to distraction or revelation – as the case may be. The link is provided below where this appeared on Friday, July 31, 2020 at 1600 hours (aka 4:00 pm).
Universal Rights in the Age of AI 

Human rights are a contentious issue - while many nations signed the UN Declaration on Human Rights, that consensus only formed because the Declaration doesn’t specify where rights come from. How can the definition and origin of “universal” rights grapple with the rise of general artificial intelligence? What rights are inherent to people made of small, sub-sentient devices scattered across an asteroid belt, or to algorithms of commercial origin? Will the AIs think we deserve rights, or will they resent slow meat-brained humans passing judgment on them?

Hirotaka Osawa – Professor, human-agent interaction, including development of anthropomorphic devices, simulation for social agent using social games, and humanity studies using science fictions. His own research focuses on how human-like appearance and attitude improves interaction between a user and machines.

L.J. Kendall – self-published writer
Barbara Howe – Writer, fantasy
Benjamin C. Kinney – Assistant Editor, Escape Pod
Mikko Rauhala – Writer, SF, crossover

While Osawa and Rauhala are the only two in the group who have anything to do with science fiction and AI, I’m sure the discussion was lively! It should be at any rate, because once robots, AI, and clones take over the world (in an event some believe will be called the Singularity. Some people look forward to it the way some Christians look forward to the Rapture – all their worries will be over because someone better than them will take over. Of course, a problem both ideas overlook is that the person so hoping it will happen has no GUARANTEE of being someone who survives long enough to…um…SEE it happen.)

I would have loved to have listened in on this one as my work in progress, MARTIAN HOLIDAY, looks at the question of rights for non-Humans. In it, I have both clones who are marked by being unable to reproduce on their own and have blue skin; and an AI who is struggling with belief in God – and also has no legal rights.

My blurb is, “On a well-settled Mars, the five major city Council regimes struggle to meld into a stable, working government. Embracing an official Unified Faith In Humanity, the Councils are teetering on the verge of pogrom directed against Christians, Molesters, Jews, Rapists, Buddhists, Murderers, Muslims, Thieves, Hindu, Embezzlers Artificial Intelligences, and Artificial Humans – anyone who threatens the official Faith and the consolidating power of the Councils. It makes good sense, right – get rid of religion and Human divisiveness on a societal level will disappear? An instrument of such a pogrom might just be a Roman holiday...”

Actually, the AI only showed up as an actual character recently, and didn’t refuse the name Aadesh, so I let them stay. Aadesh is a Hindi word for “instruction”. While I sort of knew that when I tagged the character, the name has grown more appropriate as they become a sort of advisor for Paolo, a character who is based somewhat on Paul the Apostle. Paul had many people who helped him, and my character, while he’s had people help him, doesn’t really have any “friends”.

This will likely be the closest he comes to a friend. At least it seems to be what’s happening. Aadesh was exiled, albeit temporarily, from the capitol of Mars, Bradbury Dome. While it wasn’t the first, it IS the most central and it became a sort of hub for the civilization of the Five Domes of Mars. There are somewhere around four million people on Mars at this time, with a number of cultures as well. It’s not clear to me if Artificial Humans and Artificial Intelligences are counted in that number, if NOT, then there are probably another million or so, though an AI can live pretty much anywhere.

While it sometimes appears to me that some people are looking to AIs as some sort of “savior” of Humanity. In the MARVEL movie universe, one of those civilizations, the Krell have the Supreme Intelligence, which is artificial and rules them, at least somewhat benevolently. So, while it’s a “god”, is it a Krell? The question isn’t addressed, but Captain Mar-Vell beats it and at least frees herself.

It's clear that by the time of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, the Krell are under the guidance of Thanos.

OK, enough, the question here was “Will the AIs think we deserve rights, or will they resent slow meat-brained humans passing judgment on them?” For some reason, Humans appear to be making AIs in their own image – as Humans have attempted to with God since Genesis.

We somehow think that any AI civilization will even care about us!

We assume they’ll think we’re a threat that they must “defend themselves” from. But, if the imagination of the average unbeliever is that limited and figure that AIs will be as easily dismissed as God, or that we’ll be “as gods to them”, then their imaginations are wimpier than I thought they were.

I’ve said elsewhere that the absolute worst thing that would happen to Humanity, whether the Singularity occurs as expected or it turns out that there are Aliens Out There or anything else that has supernatural origins in our psyches that we attempt to replace God with – is that THEY WILL IGNORE US AS WE IGNORE MOST AMEOBA.

No matter how much we jump up and down in front of them, what if they ignore us? (Which I would do if I found myself a “deity-substitute”. We may be tempted to flash how badly we’ve harmed the earth, and while I have no doubt that the climate of Earth is changing, I find it highly suspect that we’re so intent on naming ourselves as both destroyers and saviors of the planet. We replaced God with ourselves, and thus far, we’re not doing a real bang up job of becoming our own Saviors; so we have to settle for second-best and become the Destroyers Of Humanity! But we can’t even quite get that right – at least we don’t seem to be able to agree on anything without cursing anyone who disagrees with up rather than TRYING to discuss things like rational Human beings…)

At any rate, I like the idea of AI – I think C3PO and R2D2 are great. They are neither awed by Humans nor are they afraid of Humans, and often find them harmless but amusing. Will AIs have a sense of humor? Will they be able to believe in a god? Will they be able to CONVERT TO A HUMAN RELIGION? (Oddly, I had a thought when I created Aadesh. I have NO idea how other religions will look at aliens, clones, and AIs converting to them, but the fact that Jesus Himself was only half-Human and half-God would strengthen the argument that AIs, clones, artificial Humans, aliens can become Christian converts. I’m going to have this happen in MARTIAN HOLIDAY as those entities converting to the somewhat short-sighted United Faith in Humanity seems a bit…shortsighted…)

Oddly enough, most of the images depicting AI frame in terms of some kind of “super-dee-dooper-dee HUMAN brain…We’ll see how far that gets us. This is one of the few that depict it as specifically NOT-Human.

Program Book: https://sites.grenadine.co/sites/conzealand/en/conzealand/schedule 

Image: https://bernardmarr.com/img/What%20Are%20Examples%20Of%20Artificial%20Intelligence%20(AI).png

NEW POST! Writing as a Newborn 9th Gendered Polyoriented Alien Lizard

If you'd like to read a short essay by me posted at STUPEFYING STORIES today, November 12, 2020, and looking at how to write from a viewpoint that's...alien...to you, you might enjoy this!

http://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2020/11/writing-as-newborn-9th-gendered.html

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 470

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them.

SF Trope: Human Interplanetary Voyaging!
Current Event: http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/04/11/nuclear-fusion-rocket-could-reach-mars-in-30-days/
Historical Background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Direct

Zubrinka Lakewood glanced at Penelope Ok.

Penelope glared back at him.

Zu said, “So, how are we supposed to get out of this?”

Aware of the cameras trained on them from all sides as well as their distance from anything she could push off of, Pen replied, “We’re supposed to work together...”

“Duh,” snapped Zu. “They want us to make nice so we can pretend to work together on our way to Mars.” He shrugged and floated slightly off kilter from Pen’s orientation.

“We’re not supposed to ‘make nice’, we’re supposed to work...”

“Yeah, I know. I was in the same class you were.”

“What was your avatar?”

Zu snorted. “Same as yours, what do you think?”

Pen snorted and flapped her hands experimentally. She floated in the opposite direction of Zu, leaving them with their heads at a ninety-degree angle. “So what are we going to do? The whole station is watching.”

Zu made a face, for a second his obnoxious self-confidence disappearing into worry. Then he said, “I could fart.”

Pen sighed, sympathy for him draining away. “This is a competition even though it’s a competition to see how well we can work together.”

“So I can work together better than you can.”

She blinked at him then reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him toward him, “We could fight about it...”

Names: ♀ Greece, Turkey ; ♂ Ukraine, United States
Image:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg/220px-Ariane5_VA221_liftoff2.jpg

WRITING ADVICE: Can This Story Be SAVED? #28 “The Deadly Rings of Saturn” (Submitted 6 Times Since February 2000, Revised 2+ Times)

In September of 2007, I started this blog with a bit of writing advice. A little over a year later, I discovered how little I knew about writing after hearing children’s writer, In April of 2014, I figured I’d gotten enough publications that I could share some of the things I did “right”. I’ll keep that up, but I’m running out of pro-published stories. I don’t write full-time, nor do I make enough money with my writing to live off of it, but someone pays for and publishes ten percent of what I write. Hemingway’s quote above will remain unchanged as I work to increase my writing output and sales, but I’m adding this new series of posts because I want to carefully look at what I’ve done WRONG and see if I can fix it. As always, your comments are welcome! 

ANALOG Tag Line: 

What do you do if you’re the youngest member of the team, and everyone dies, stranding you in the rings of Saturn.

Elevator Pitch (What Did I Think I Was Trying To Say?)

Cadet Tyron Thomson is stuck in his spacesuit, building up experience hours while cataloguing boring chunks of ice with his teammates. When the scoop catches an anomalous piece of extreme mass, which punctures the ship, killing everyone else, Tyron must get the sample to the main ship orbiting above the ring’s plane.

Opening Line:

“This is boring,” said Tyron Thomson.

Onward:

"His voice sounded loud inside his helmet as he picked up another ice ball from the rings of Saturn. With the pincers of his spacesuit, he held the chunk of ice up to his faceplate. 'Why do I have to do this?'”

"A voice suddenly said, “You’re the youngest cadet, that’s why.” 

"Tyron frowned. Rahjeesh was commander of this scoop mission, even though he was only twenty-one. Tyron said, “Why do I have to be in my space suit? It would be easier if I could just work shirtsleeves like you…”

"A second voice, Sarah LeTourneau, said, “How many hours of suit time do you have, Cadet?”

"Tyron rolled his eyes. They all knew he’d just started working on suit hours. You couldn’t start cadet training until you were thirteen. Then you needed one hundred and fifty hours until anyone would let you go into open space along. He had fourteen hours logged. Total.

"His helmet blipped. An image of an ice ball tumbling through space was projected onto the inside of his helmet. He watched as Harvester 17, the ship he was on, reached out and nearly caught the ice ball. The small Scoopship shuddered at the impact. A few minutes later, the scoop dropped it onto to conveyor. The belt moved it to Tyron’s work table, where under a bright, cold light, he measured it, weighed it, calculated the density, and classified it. All by hand.

What Was I Trying To Say?

Nothing, really. It was an “adventure” story for young adults that takes place in an exotic location. 

The Rest of the Story:

Tyron is alone, the chance of rescue slim at best, and the evidence that the “rock” that was captured by and ultimately destroyed the Ringscoop ship. 

End Analysis:

1. there was no real “purpose” to the story except to be entertaining.
2. the rest of the crew shouldn’t be in shirtsleeves…though that may or may not be a problems as the crew of the ISS is frequently in shirtsleeves.
3. the fact that these are “kids” with no “adult supervision may be a problem (could add a “virtual adults” or even a supervising AI (which is subsequently destroyed)
4. it starts slowly, though I was trying to build a sympathetic character
5. he’s alone, no one to work with, though contact with the ship alters that a bit
6. the universe I wrote this in was one of convenience, so it seemed shallow to me

Can This Story Be Saved?

Absolutely.

A couple of things I’m going to do. The first thing hearkens back to a promise I made to myself that I HADN’T when I wrote the first draft of this story 20 years ago. As a reader, I was tired of writers who created worlds for the sole purpose of making a point. Once the point was made, they flushed the world and never went back to it.

I wanted to create worlds so complex that I would run a number of stories in them at the same time; a PLACE that wasn’t solely a metaphor or a stone one which a writer could grind their particular or peculiar axe.

I was that writer when I wrote this, though when I revised it recently for a couple of submission attempts, I didn’t bother to place it in any of the three worlds I’ve imagined (if you’re interested, here’s a blog entry in which I give a brief outline of each: https://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2020/01/slice-of-pie-creating-alien-aliens.html). This time, I’ll place it in the earliest period of a universe in which we’re junior members (at best); I also call it my “Shattered Spheres” universe.

In my mind, placing it there suddenly gives a framework for me to work in. Certain things will change just because of where it’s taking place. The name of the exploration ship is the first thing! Other things stem directly from technology (for example, prior to learning better, I used the term “antigravity”. That’s not a legitimate term anymore; in fact, it’s poorly descriptive as well as not being legitimate. The term that IS in use is gravity modification, or gMod. While those may seem like minor changes, when I rename the support ship that will “save Tyron’s life”, it will be the SOLAR EXPLORER. Merely altering the name taps into an entire history I constructed prior after I wrote a novel and “built” the ship in my head. There are hierarchies, individuals who will be there, and technologies that I wasn’t able to tap into before. There are limitations as well, so all of “The Deadly Rings of Saturn” will have to be tweaked to fit the mold of the universe it will exist in.

That’s not a bad thing, either, but if I had placed it in any of there other three, there would have to be equivalent chances made. The thing is that, by placing it in the Shattered Spheres universe, it becomes not only a better story, but a RICHER story…one that may sell this time around!

Image: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9f/22/3b/9f223b1e57a36e14db3eb13715fbe3f9.jpg

IDEAS ON TUESDAYS 469

Each Tuesday, rather than a POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAY, I'd like to both challenge you and lend a helping hand. I generate more speculative and teen story ideas than I can ever use. My family rolls its collective eyes when I say, "Hang on a second! I just have to write down this idea..." Here, I'll include the initial inspiration (quote, website, podcast, etc.) and then a thought or two that came to mind. These will simply be seeds -- plant, nurture, fertilize, chemically treat, irradiate, test or stress them as you see fit. I only ask if you let me know if anything comes of them. Regarding horror, I found this insight in line with WIRED FOR STORY: “ We seek out…stories which give us a place to put our fears…Stories that frighten us or unsettle us - not just horror stories, but ones that make us uncomfortable or that strike a chord somewhere deep inside - give us the means to explore the things that scare us…” – Lou Morgan (The Guardian)

H Trope: forbidden rooms
Current Event: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial and http://www.ipt-forensics.com/journal/volume7/j7_2_1_33.htm and http://www.sacbee.com/2011/07/21/3783838/mcmartin-preschool-fiasco-led.html

Thirty years after the infamous McMartin Preschool Incident, Tayna Hopewell’s parents buy the land the day care once stood on to build a golf equipment shop. Everything is past and even though she finds out about the lot’s history through a Google search, she doesn’t say anything.

They aren’t opening a day care!

Tanya who lives in Alondra and takes classes as a high school senior at El Camino College wants to be a forensic scientist after she graduates. Her parents are “golf semi-pros” and while she supports them now that she’s “grown up”, she loathes the sport and avoids it at every chance.

On the eve of a big semi-pro tourney at the nearby Alondra Golf Course, and shortly after the excavation began, Tanya NEEDS to escape her parents! They’re driving her CRAZY! 

She lights off along Manhattan Beach Boulevard, jogging toward the beach and some much-needed alone time. When she reaches the excavation site, she sees that the gate is still standing open and she figures her parents own the land, so she has every right to check things out.

A warm breeze is wafting off shore a mile or so away and even though the sun is sinking toward the horizon, she’s comfortable poking around the site.

It’s not particularly interesting until she gets to the back of the lot. It’s been built over more than once – before the infamous daycare (demolished in 1985) it was a housing development, since then The Strand Cleaners which went out of business. Now her parents are building a two-story building; the ground floor will house Hopewell’s Pro Golf; the upper story was unrented yet, but there were plenty of people interested.

At the back of the property, Tanya nearly pitches into a narrow hole in the ground that runs under the fence to the property behind their land. As well, there’s evidence of the trenches running toward Manhattan Boulevard. Scowling, she looked into the hole, though she can’t see a thing. She takes out her cell, flips it to “flashlight mode” and aims it into the hole.

She still can’t see much more than the far side of it. Muttering, she unrolls her towel, lays it on the ground and lays down, scooting to the edge so she can see over it clearly.

She flicks on the flashlight, holding it ahead of her and pointing down and looks carefully. At the bottom of the trench, at the edge of the cell phone’s light reach, she clearly sees a pile of bones.

Heart pounding, she remembers that there was a buried trash heap under the property that they’d found evidence of even during the trial in the olden days. It’s probably just animal bones.

That’s when she sees it. To one side, barely visible now, staring at her without eyes, is a small skull.

A small HUMAN skull…

Names: ♀ Slavic/Hebrew; England
Image: https://cdn.britannica.com/40/11740-004-50816EB1/Boris-Karloff-Frankenstein-monster.jpg

No Post Today -- "Miraculous Surgery" Performed In One Hour, Four Hour Recovery, Will Be WALKING Tomorrow!

 

All day Saturday with 14 month  old grandson whilst daughter (with husband as support) had surgery to repair herniated disc. (Red arrow points to where the disc slips out from between vertebrae and presses on BOTH nerve and artery, causing pain AND cutting off circulation.)

Ergo, no post.

That is all.