[extropy-chat] The Shared Futuristic World of Orion's Arm

[Amara Graps]

 From Boing-Boing, we have what looks like a creative group effort to
imaginatively build the world we want.


http://www.orionsarm.com/
{begin quote}
Orion's Arm: CC-licensed, post-Singularity shared world
Orion's Arm is a Creative Commons-licensed hard sf/post-Singularity
shared world where lots of fan writers are collaborating to build a
world and then write stories in it. There also seems to be some RPG
adaptation activity and illustration. The storyline is a pretty
thoroughgoing post-Singularity thinggum with lots of opportunity for fun
noodling.

     Our goal is to create a dramatic far-future universe that is
     internally consistent and abides as much as possible with the
     accepted facts and theories in the physical, biological, and social
     sciences. Thus matter cannot travel faster than light, matter and
     energy are conserved, no evolved humanoid aliens have been
     discovered, future ultratech social issues are likely to be very
     different to those of today, and so on. We embrace speculative ideas
     like drexlerian assemblers, mind uploads, posthuman intelligences,
     femtotech, magnetic monopoles, wormholes, as it is proposed that
     future sciences, technologies, and developments will make these
     possible. And we attempt a logical explanation for even the most
     fantastic-seeming elements in OA. We aim to paint a future that is
     plausible at every level, from the scientific to the social to the
     psychological...

     Somewhere between the years 2020 and 2050 researchers would develop
     the technology of Direct Neural Interface, allowing human minds to
     link with their computers. They would advance genetic engineering to
     the point of the first optional improvements or 'tweaks' to the
     human genome as well as create the first 'provolved' animals
     engineered for human level intelligence. The dream of nanotechnology
     would start to be realized, as nano-scale manufacture became a
     viable industry. And, using a combination of nanotech created
     advanced materials, robotics, and tele-operated devices, development
     of a truly viable and self-sustaining space infrastructure began in
     earnest. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, in the year 2040
     researchers created the first human equivalent, or turinggrade,
     artificial intelligence. The future would never be the same again.
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Amara Graps, PhD          email: amara at amara.com
Computational Physics     vita:  ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt
Multiplex Answers         URL:   http://www.amara.com/
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"Don't let me catch anyone talking about the Universe in my
department. " ---Ernest Rutherford