CAPACITY

Welcome to the Digital World!

Welcome to your new life!

Or should that be…welcome to the first day of the rest of your life?

Becoming a personality construct is regarded by many as an exciting next step in their personal development. However, it can be a little daunting, particularly if circumstances in the atomic world (or some would say physical world) mean that you do not remember making the life choice that led to this transition.

Please take a moment to read this guide and familiarize yourself with your new reality. It has been carefully ordered to minimize potential stress, so no peeking ahead! Your Social Care operative will be along shortly to assist you in the first phase of your induction into the digital world.

So, without further ado, here we go!

What year is it?

2252. This may come as a shock. Try to put it aside for the moment. Just read on…

Who are we?

We are Social Care, the branch of the EA devoted to helping humans, be they personality construct or atomic being. Medical care, education, crime and punishment, counseling, advice…it’s all handled by us!

And what is the EA?

The Environmental Agency. The thing is, in the year 2252, the Earth Domain is occupied by more than just humans. There are artificial intelligences, Von Neumann Machines (machines that can replicate themselves), robots, animals, plants, insects…The EA ensures they all get a fair slice of the pie.

And who runs the EA?

It runs itself.

Not everyone would agree with this. It’s a new world for you out there, and you may hear people talking about the Watcher. Some people say the Watcher runs the EA. They believe the Watcher was the first AI, and is more powerful than all the others. Some people believe the Watcher created all AIs, and is leading them, along with humankind, to a better future.

Others believe the Watcher is just a myth. As you can see, religious debate is alive and well in the 23rd century!

So what exactly is a personality construct?

Ah! That’s the crux of the matter. A personality construct is simply a human mind running on a computer. Actually, “computer” is an old-fashioned phrase for an old-fashioned concept. Nowadays we say “processing space.”

So I am a personality construct. Does that mean I am no longer human?

No! This is very important. Your right to be recognized as a human being was laid down after the Transition of 2171. Briefly, the Transition was the period when the EA assumed full control of the Earth Domain. Many issues relating to the rights of AIs and PCs such as yourself were established then.

Can I return to my old life?

The question does not apply. You do not have an old life. This is your life. Your are a sentinel digital being. The digital world is the world of your birth.

But I remember the real world!

This is a real world. Somewhere out in the atomic world there exists a being who had the same thoughts as you at one particular instant in time. Nothing more than that can be said. You can no more live in the atomic world than a chimpanzee can return to the primeval soup.

So what is the difference between the atomic and the digital worlds?

The atomic world is the world of the amoeba and cellular replication, of ferns and plants, of coelacanths and dinosaurs. It is the place where creatures crawled gasping from the sea onto the land. The place where mammals climbed down from the trees and underwent the process of evolution that resulted in Homo sapiens sapiens.

The digital world is the world of algorithm and recursion, the Turing machine and the Neural Net, the AI and the personality construct. It is the space where the next great steps in humankind’s evolution are taking place.

Are you ready to join in the adventure?