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The Alpha Centauri Project
24th century. Three ethnic groups: humans, artificial intelligences and souls obtained by digitizing the brain. Deep differences, incompatible interests. An interstellar voyage to avoid a war, a sect determined to interfere. *** Suspense, action, but also considered thoughts. The main characters move in a context of epoch making events, rising to leaders. Their world, alien at the beginning, becomes plausible from the continuous references to the present reality until it seems an inevitable evolution. From this, a powerful and disquieting comparison with our current civilization emerges; that stripping away layer after layer of conventions and prejudices, leaves us at last face to face with the basic values and the fragility of a human being. In the novel, these same factors will give Mankind the strength to take courageous decisions for its own destiny. Meanwhile, the artificial intelligence reveals itself as the means of evolutionary progress towards superior states of awareness and sharing...
- GenresScience Fiction
180 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2008
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Marco Santini
37 books7 followersMarco Santini graduated in Engineering and specialized in Business Administration. Deeply interested in high-tech trends, he has written “Evolution: the future” and “The Alpha Centauri Project”, novels depicting a near future dominated by technology. He has made the ebooks free in order to share their content with the widest audience and to contribute to discussion about great themes.
The novels are available only in free digital format and updated regularly. They have been translated into English, Spanish, French and Italian. The last editions of the ebooks can be downloaded for free from the Author's website: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
A script is also available.
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According to future studies, the world will be dominated soon by disruptive technologies, able to plunge Mankind into an era of accelerated progress. Main outcomes will be the achievement of immortality, the creation of smarter than human Artificial Intelligence and the spread of the new species through the universe.
“Evolution: the future” collects the chapters full of suspense and action of the ”The Alpha Centauri Project” in a breathtaking story set in a near future altered almost beyond recognition by disruptive technologies.
24th century. Humans live on Earth and the Moon, last strongholds of their past power. Mars and the Net are inhabited by artificial intelligences and souls, these last obtained by digitizing the brain after death. The virtual reality allows the two races to communicate. Their differences are deep, their interests incompatible.
With digitization, humans have postponed real death to an indeterminate future, but they are not happy. Towards the virtual beings they feel admiration but also envy and inferiority.
The digital creatures instead cannot bear being relegated in worlds too small for their unbounded ambitions. Their Martian experience has allowed them to develop the competence necessary in extra-terrestrial environments, most of all to acquire the self-confidence indispensable for the colonization of other star systems.
The Alpha Centauri project obtains the humans’ support, in exchange for the waiver of any expansion on the Earth. Just before departure, Earth Security intercepts a suspect message from the Space Agency. Terrorism? The evidence leads to the Elects, a sect that entered Net fifty years before through a collective suicide...
Eve and Victoria, the main characters, are “souls”, digital beings whose brain was digitized after death. They move in a context of epoch making events, becoming more and more involved and finally merging their destiny with that of the digital people.
The novels are available only in free digital format and updated regularly. They have been translated into English, Spanish, French and Italian. The last editions of the ebooks can be downloaded for free from the Author's website: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/vie...
A script is also available.
--------
According to future studies, the world will be dominated soon by disruptive technologies, able to plunge Mankind into an era of accelerated progress. Main outcomes will be the achievement of immortality, the creation of smarter than human Artificial Intelligence and the spread of the new species through the universe.
“Evolution: the future” collects the chapters full of suspense and action of the ”The Alpha Centauri Project” in a breathtaking story set in a near future altered almost beyond recognition by disruptive technologies.
24th century. Humans live on Earth and the Moon, last strongholds of their past power. Mars and the Net are inhabited by artificial intelligences and souls, these last obtained by digitizing the brain after death. The virtual reality allows the two races to communicate. Their differences are deep, their interests incompatible.
With digitization, humans have postponed real death to an indeterminate future, but they are not happy. Towards the virtual beings they feel admiration but also envy and inferiority.
The digital creatures instead cannot bear being relegated in worlds too small for their unbounded ambitions. Their Martian experience has allowed them to develop the competence necessary in extra-terrestrial environments, most of all to acquire the self-confidence indispensable for the colonization of other star systems.
The Alpha Centauri project obtains the humans’ support, in exchange for the waiver of any expansion on the Earth. Just before departure, Earth Security intercepts a suspect message from the Space Agency. Terrorism? The evidence leads to the Elects, a sect that entered Net fifty years before through a collective suicide...
Eve and Victoria, the main characters, are “souls”, digital beings whose brain was digitized after death. They move in a context of epoch making events, becoming more and more involved and finally merging their destiny with that of the digital people.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 29, 2012
The book has some interesting future speculations, but I didn't find it a successful novel. Substantial parts of it are recitations of a "future history". The characters didn't have much development. Some parts I felt had stilted wording. And to one degree or another, the title is misleading as the planned mission to Alpha Centauri is more of a context in which events take place rather than centering on building & preparing a starship, or focusing on events at Alpha Centauri. It's more a book about AI's and human consciousnesses transferred to electronic (with what story there is focusing more on good vs. bad electronic consciousnesses.)
There is food for thought. Some readers may want to read it as a contemplation about possible futures - as distinct from reading it as a work of fiction. The book is available free online & the author updates it periodically, so later versions may improve on these issues.
There is food for thought. Some readers may want to read it as a contemplation about possible futures - as distinct from reading it as a work of fiction. The book is available free online & the author updates it periodically, so later versions may improve on these issues.
February 12, 2013
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La vita “pensata” è meglio di quella reale?
Ho avuto un impatto non felicissimo con il cyberpunk. È successo un paio d'anni fa quando ho letto per la prima volta un libro di William Gibson (“Luce vituale”). Ciò che allora mi aveva però lasciata perplessa non era tanto l'argomento in sé, ma il modo farraginoso in cui era stato presentato all'interno del libro.
Fortunatamente, pur avendo deciso di mettere da parte la lettura di altri libri di Gibson, non ho fatto altrettanto con questo sottogenere della fantascienza, le cui premesse mi affascinano. La possibilità di esistere, di avere coscienza di sé, di vivere una vita “pensata” come creatura digitale all'interno di una realtà virtuale è qualcosa che non è semplicissima da concepire, ma che contiene in sé delle implicazioni di grande interesse.
Se la nostra coscienza non è altro che il risultato di reazioni chimiche ed elettricità, dal punto di vista concettuale immaginare una coscienza digitale non appare una cosa assurda. E all'interno di questo romanzo Marco Santini prova a delineare uno scenario futuro in cui questa pratica rappresenti la normalità fino a fare di questo popolo virtuale quasi una minaccia per quello reale, limitato dal proprio corpo. Il bello infatti di essere digitali è il non avere limiti. Si possono creare mondi virtuali in cui vivere, ma allo stesso tempo si può scaricare la propria coscienza in androidi che vivano nel mondo reale, inoltre si può esistere per sempre e viaggiare nello spazio senza preoccuparsi delle distanze, visto che il tempo non è un nemico. Questa assenza di limiti permette all'autore, dotato di grande fantasia, di creare una storia intricata e avvincente. A dire la verità all'interno di questo libro c’è materiale per ben più di un semplice romanzo. Santini avrebbe potuto farne una trilogia o addirittura un ciclo di romanzi, permettendo al lettore di divertirsi più a lungo e allo stesso tempo di approfondire un tema non sempre facile da comprendere.
In ogni caso il risultato è più che buono. Si tratta di una lettura piacevole, con aspetti controversi, ma che offrono numerosi spunti di riflessione. E tutto questo a costo zero, visto che nella versione ebook il libro è addirittura gratuito. Sempre in questa versione inoltre l’autore sfrutta al meglio le potenzialità del digitale aggiornando periodicamente il testo. Se volete immaginare un futuro lontano che sia completamente diverso dal presente in cui viviamo, “Il progetto Alfa Centauri” può darvi ciò che cercate.
Is “thinking” life better than the real one?
I was not happy in my impact with cyberpunk. It happened a couple of years ago when I read for the first time a book by William Gibson (“Virtual light”). What then had me puzzled, however, was not the topic itself but how cumbersome it was presented within the book.
Fortunately, even though I decided to put aside reading other books by Gibson, I did not do the same with this sub-genre of science fiction, whose premises fascinate me. The chance to exist, to have self-awareness, to live a “thinking” life as a digital creature within a virtual reality is something that is not easy to conceive, but it contains within itself implications of great interest.
If our consciousness is nothing but the result of chemical reactions and electricity, from this conceptual point of view imagining a digital consciousness does not appear absurd. And within this novel Marco Santini tries to outline a future scenario in which this practice is the norm so much to make this virtual people almost a threat to the real one, limited by their body. The beauty of digital is the fact of being limitless. You can create virtual worlds where to live, but at the same time you can download your own consciousness into androids who live in the real world, moreover you can exist forever and travel through space without worrying about the distances, because time is not an enemy. This absence of limits allows the author, with great imagination, to create an intricate and compelling story. To tell you the truth inside of this book there is material for much more than just a novel. Santini could have made a trilogy or even a series of novels, allowing the reader to enjoy longer and at the same time to further investigate a topic which is not always easy to understand.
In any case the result is more than good. It is an enjoyable read, with controversial aspects, but they offer many insights. And all this at no cost, as the ebook version is even free. Also in this version the author also takes full advantage of the potential of digital by periodically updating the text. If you want to imagine a distant future that is completely different from the present in which we live, “The Alpha Centauri project” can give you what you look for.
La vita “pensata” è meglio di quella reale?
Ho avuto un impatto non felicissimo con il cyberpunk. È successo un paio d'anni fa quando ho letto per la prima volta un libro di William Gibson (“Luce vituale”). Ciò che allora mi aveva però lasciata perplessa non era tanto l'argomento in sé, ma il modo farraginoso in cui era stato presentato all'interno del libro.
Fortunatamente, pur avendo deciso di mettere da parte la lettura di altri libri di Gibson, non ho fatto altrettanto con questo sottogenere della fantascienza, le cui premesse mi affascinano. La possibilità di esistere, di avere coscienza di sé, di vivere una vita “pensata” come creatura digitale all'interno di una realtà virtuale è qualcosa che non è semplicissima da concepire, ma che contiene in sé delle implicazioni di grande interesse.
Se la nostra coscienza non è altro che il risultato di reazioni chimiche ed elettricità, dal punto di vista concettuale immaginare una coscienza digitale non appare una cosa assurda. E all'interno di questo romanzo Marco Santini prova a delineare uno scenario futuro in cui questa pratica rappresenti la normalità fino a fare di questo popolo virtuale quasi una minaccia per quello reale, limitato dal proprio corpo. Il bello infatti di essere digitali è il non avere limiti. Si possono creare mondi virtuali in cui vivere, ma allo stesso tempo si può scaricare la propria coscienza in androidi che vivano nel mondo reale, inoltre si può esistere per sempre e viaggiare nello spazio senza preoccuparsi delle distanze, visto che il tempo non è un nemico. Questa assenza di limiti permette all'autore, dotato di grande fantasia, di creare una storia intricata e avvincente. A dire la verità all'interno di questo libro c’è materiale per ben più di un semplice romanzo. Santini avrebbe potuto farne una trilogia o addirittura un ciclo di romanzi, permettendo al lettore di divertirsi più a lungo e allo stesso tempo di approfondire un tema non sempre facile da comprendere.
In ogni caso il risultato è più che buono. Si tratta di una lettura piacevole, con aspetti controversi, ma che offrono numerosi spunti di riflessione. E tutto questo a costo zero, visto che nella versione ebook il libro è addirittura gratuito. Sempre in questa versione inoltre l’autore sfrutta al meglio le potenzialità del digitale aggiornando periodicamente il testo. Se volete immaginare un futuro lontano che sia completamente diverso dal presente in cui viviamo, “Il progetto Alfa Centauri” può darvi ciò che cercate.
Is “thinking” life better than the real one?
I was not happy in my impact with cyberpunk. It happened a couple of years ago when I read for the first time a book by William Gibson (“Virtual light”). What then had me puzzled, however, was not the topic itself but how cumbersome it was presented within the book.
Fortunately, even though I decided to put aside reading other books by Gibson, I did not do the same with this sub-genre of science fiction, whose premises fascinate me. The chance to exist, to have self-awareness, to live a “thinking” life as a digital creature within a virtual reality is something that is not easy to conceive, but it contains within itself implications of great interest.
If our consciousness is nothing but the result of chemical reactions and electricity, from this conceptual point of view imagining a digital consciousness does not appear absurd. And within this novel Marco Santini tries to outline a future scenario in which this practice is the norm so much to make this virtual people almost a threat to the real one, limited by their body. The beauty of digital is the fact of being limitless. You can create virtual worlds where to live, but at the same time you can download your own consciousness into androids who live in the real world, moreover you can exist forever and travel through space without worrying about the distances, because time is not an enemy. This absence of limits allows the author, with great imagination, to create an intricate and compelling story. To tell you the truth inside of this book there is material for much more than just a novel. Santini could have made a trilogy or even a series of novels, allowing the reader to enjoy longer and at the same time to further investigate a topic which is not always easy to understand.
In any case the result is more than good. It is an enjoyable read, with controversial aspects, but they offer many insights. And all this at no cost, as the ebook version is even free. Also in this version the author also takes full advantage of the potential of digital by periodically updating the text. If you want to imagine a distant future that is completely different from the present in which we live, “The Alpha Centauri project” can give you what you look for.
May 13, 2012
I start with a short description of the digital worlds presented in “The Alpha Centauri Project”.
“A ring structure.
The outer ones with earthly landscapes and cities. Same legislation, economic and social fabric. A perfect simulation of physical laws. Destination of the virtual tourism by the humans. The possibility of maintaining the appearance of the past life. The virtual reality to communicate with parents and friends on Earth. Alternatively, installation in an android, even with one’s own features, for a journey in the material world. But also, the possibility of altering appearance with the same ease with which a dress is changed, of moving almost instantaneously among Net computers and covering the interplanetary spaces at light speed, having themselves transported by radio or luminous signals. A progressive separation from terrestrial life.
The inner rings. A world built on information instead of matter. The absence of the rigid laws of physics and biology that regulate man, clipping his wings. Time beaten by a clock infinitely quicker than the earthly one, incompatible with human physiology. The kingdom of souls and intelligences eager to reach deeper and deeper states of understanding. Daily updates of the characteristics of the species, able to modify the very foundations of the virtual society. Frenzied evolution.
In all rings, solidarity, democracy and justice. The awareness of existing for a common object. And the joy of feeling it nearer every day.”
Eve and Victoria, the main characters, are souls – humans whose brain was digitized after death. They live in the outer ring of the digital world and maintain strong links with Earth. This is actually a serious limit for them. Only passing through a strong transformational arc, they can realize their new identity and plunge into a full digital life.
From this, a powerful comparison with our present civilization emerges. Current conventions and prejudices are questioned and stripped away layer after layer. In a sort of purification, Eve and Victoria eventually master their new nature. For us humans, this is an opportunity to realize the basic values and the fragility of a human being, but also a way to prepare ourselves to the habits and the morals of a world that one day we might share. Reassured by the fact that artificial intelligence is going to provide us with the tools necessary to reach superior states of awareness and sharing.
“A ring structure.
The outer ones with earthly landscapes and cities. Same legislation, economic and social fabric. A perfect simulation of physical laws. Destination of the virtual tourism by the humans. The possibility of maintaining the appearance of the past life. The virtual reality to communicate with parents and friends on Earth. Alternatively, installation in an android, even with one’s own features, for a journey in the material world. But also, the possibility of altering appearance with the same ease with which a dress is changed, of moving almost instantaneously among Net computers and covering the interplanetary spaces at light speed, having themselves transported by radio or luminous signals. A progressive separation from terrestrial life.
The inner rings. A world built on information instead of matter. The absence of the rigid laws of physics and biology that regulate man, clipping his wings. Time beaten by a clock infinitely quicker than the earthly one, incompatible with human physiology. The kingdom of souls and intelligences eager to reach deeper and deeper states of understanding. Daily updates of the characteristics of the species, able to modify the very foundations of the virtual society. Frenzied evolution.
In all rings, solidarity, democracy and justice. The awareness of existing for a common object. And the joy of feeling it nearer every day.”
Eve and Victoria, the main characters, are souls – humans whose brain was digitized after death. They live in the outer ring of the digital world and maintain strong links with Earth. This is actually a serious limit for them. Only passing through a strong transformational arc, they can realize their new identity and plunge into a full digital life.
From this, a powerful comparison with our present civilization emerges. Current conventions and prejudices are questioned and stripped away layer after layer. In a sort of purification, Eve and Victoria eventually master their new nature. For us humans, this is an opportunity to realize the basic values and the fragility of a human being, but also a way to prepare ourselves to the habits and the morals of a world that one day we might share. Reassured by the fact that artificial intelligence is going to provide us with the tools necessary to reach superior states of awareness and sharing.
April 25, 2012
El escritor Marco Santini nos presenta a través de su novela de ciencia-ficción “The Alpha Centauri Project” una interesante perspectiva del futuro de la humanidad, que se desarrolla bajo los parámetros de una sociedad inmersa en el contexto de un explosivo desarrollo de la inteligencia artificial. El anhelo de la humanidad por alcanzar una vida satisfactoria, saludable y longeva, incluso eterna, desencadena la más frenética de las investigaciones en el campo de la IA donde sus creadores pierden el control sobre sus creaciones. Inevitablemente las IAs, superan la obra de sus creadores estableciendo una hegemonía e independencia absoluta, que irán conquistando a través del tiempo consolidándose con exhaustivos triunfos, que el autor relata meticulosamente en el contexto de una sociedad, donde cada sector de la misma aporta sus particulares intereses y puntos de vista.
El Proyecto Alfa Centauri es la consolidación de una nueva sociedad estructurada por nuevos seres, producto de la evolución de la inteligencia humana. Las superinteligencias y las “almas” obtenidas mediante la digitalización del cerebro humano después de la muerte, dirigen a través de sus personajes, Eve y Victoria una clara visión de trascendencia hacia el conocimiento y la conquista de todo el universo.
La visión de Marco Santini, nos invita a la reflexión y al análisis frente a la perspectiva actual de los seres humanos, inmersos en la ciencia y la tecnología que en este momento cobran relevancia a través de la inteligencia artificial, la cual evoluciona a pasos agigantados, y nos involucra a la sociedad a tal grado, que nos encontramos comprometidos con un mundo sustancialmente tecnificado, que difícilmente podemos percatarnos de la penetración y dependencia que tal fenómeno, ejerce en general sobre nuestra vida cotidiana.
El ser humano por primera vez se cuestiona su existencia y busca desesperadamente trascender en el conocimiento mismo para acceder al espacio de un vasto universo que lo contiene. Un final extraordinario, lleno de emotividad y positivismo. Una novela indispensable en el acervo de cualquier lector interesado en conocer una nueva propuesta de ciencia-ficción, donde la ciencia supera con creces la fantasía de cualquier escritor.
April 28, 2012
Suspense, coups de théâtre, moments de réflexion. Les protagonistes évoluent dans un contexte de mouvements d’époques en s’intégrant de plus en plus dans les histoires de leur communauté. Leur monde, au début étranger, devient plausible pour les références continuelles à la réalité actuelle jusqu’au point d’en sembler l’inévitable évolution. Dans l’intervalle, l’intelligence artificielle se révèle l’instrument de l’évolution pour progresser vers des états de conscience et de partage supérieurs. Il en ressort une analyse puissante de la civilisation d’aujourd’hui qui en nous dépouillant de nos conventions et de nos préjugés, nous laisse face à face aux valeurs fondamentales.
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