Kc’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2013)

Kc’s comments from the EDCMOOC group.

This is the book for our next book chat on Saturday 2nd May 2015. (note, we are missing out April)

If anyone knows of a good link to download it please post below.

Post any comments and thoughts also.

Chat postponed till Saturday 7th March - our group had a few prior commitments! Still sticking with the Solace Pill.

I had a few thoughts/questions:

Technology is used to free up their time allowing them to consume more. Are they really free?

Who was poorer, the printers or the gunge eaters?

Were the reprints really the same people?

The story reminded me a bit of the Replicants in Bladerunner - anything authentic was valued.

What do we need to do now to experience 'reality', what is 'reality'? -- or, what is the difference in quality between "in real life" and virtual engagements?

What was the Solace Pill for? Do we have an equivalent of the Solace Pill?

If we could reprint ourselves afresh any time, what advantages would it have?

I think I'd agree Asta. There were almost too many ideas and I list track of the characters. Will be online later if anyone is about :-)

Will see who's around later. I read it a couple of weeks ago so will refresh my memory. There were some interesting ideas there, seemed to vary in pace a bit.

The Solace Pill by Jason Werbeloff is our read for January. We will be discussing this on Saturday 7th February 2015 at 21:30 UK time (follow the twitter hashtag #edcmchat)

There is a free ebook download here http://books.noisetrade.com/jasonwerb...

Or, it's pretty cheap on Amazon (and Kindle download).

Any other sources?

Please post comments below.

A brilliant read.

Who are the "appropriate authorities"? What is the point of a society like this?

The parallels to 1984 were striking, even down to the ending.

The theme of language and humanity raises question about AI, what it means to live a human life.
Something posted on Twitter by Fred Bartels today struck me as relevant to this:

"I'd argue that those pushing for artificial intelligence largely fail to understand that "natural" intelligence is inherently collaborative."

The quote about solving "the serious problems caused by anonymity on the Web" rang home as Facebook suspended my account a couple of weeks ago because I didn't have a proper name!! What are these problems, or, do they outweigh the right for us to be who we want to be?

Might put a few more thoughts down later

K

brilliant!

This short story is in two parts (see https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... - available online).

The chat will be Saturday (Sunday for NZ/Australia) 3rd January 2015 at 21:30 (Uk Time)

Please post comments or thoughts below.

K

Great questions!

Yes, please add to the shelf.

November 2014's read

New readers - we are reading Unready to Wear, a short story by Kurt Vonnegut for an online Twitter chat on Saturday December 6th.

Just join us at 21:30 (UK time) for an hour using the #edcmchat hashtag in twitter.

We will put up a poll for December's read soon.

If you want to add books to the group book shelf, please do.

Short stories are good, but anything related to the themes of the group is good too!

Best wishes
K

I could't find the whole thing online. I have a copy in 'Welcome to the Monkey House'. Well worth getting anyway!

November's read is the short story "Unready to Wear" by Kurt Vonnegut.

It can be found in the 'Welcome to the Monkey House' collection of short stories (well worth a read!).

I could only find this link online http://joelfinley.tripod.com/vonnegut...

Twitter chat will be Saturday 6th December 21:30 UK time, using hashtag #edcmchat

K

Hi all, not sure how many we are, but here are a few questions summarised from above.

1. Was this a Utopian or Dystopian vision?
2. What did you find most strange about this vision?
3. What did you think of the educational regime? Was it a meritocracy?
4. What aspect of this utopia did you like best?
5. Can Utopia be compatible with private property? (I came across a quote somewhere that utopia was seeking for a need for human community)

6. Tommaso Campanella wrote this book while being imprisoned for his heretic views. Do you notice any influence of his circumstances on the description of the "City of the Sun"?

Interesting! I wonder what was missed out?

Some themes and questions.

1. Utopia or dystopia?

What similarities were there in terms of the division of labour with News From Nowhere?

The interconnectedness of the society's structure mirrored the configuration of the celestial bodies.

Was this a reflection of a society based on Plato's philosophy?

What did you think of the educational regime? Was it a meritocracy?

Please add your thoughts!

You may know that the end of October is Daylight Saving time, so in the UK, we put the clocks an hour back. This caused some confusion last year, so we need to make sure we're meeting at the same time!

So, the chat will be 21:30 UK time, which on the 1st November is 21:30 UTC (I THINK, BUT MAY BE WRONG!)- add your timezone to the link here to check what that is for you http://www.worldtimebuddy.com/?qm=1&a...

If I'm wrong, please correct me, I get very confused around time zones!

K

Thanks Rick!

My thoughts and comments are very similar to yours Chris! Even down the quote you chose.

I wondered about the Zen references. Removal of suffering is a core part of the Buddhist philosophy, but sharing suffering was what Mercer's followers were seeking. Or perhaps suffering was a consequence of empathy. The fear of experiencing empathy was perhaps the fear of having to experience suffering,but when people touched the Empathy Box it wasn't the physical suffering they expected therefore it moved them on to a shift in thinking and acting.

Also, what was the alien nature of Mercer? Is it the alien nature of other's thoughts and feelings?

...and, are we the boxes? impenetrable to others, except through empathy?

Great story, I really enjoyed it.

K