See Mysteries Of Time.
At last, there is a consciousness that can experience events on different timescales:
"...in whose sight an eon was as a day and a day was as an eon." (p. 103)
This galactic brain comprises continuous communication on enormous bandwidths in every medium between many millions of "nodes" (interconnected organisms and machines) scattered and spreading through the spiral arms, the halo, the Magellanic Clouds and the shores of the Andromeda galaxy. Its thoughts are slow but vast. Its members remain unabsorbed individuals, able to separate and recombine their consciousnesses and to create whatever bodies and sensors are needed. One node remembers Earth and communicates with others until at last a decision to revisit Earth is relayed to "...the node best able to take action." (p. 103)
The nodes experience the memory, communications and decision-making as a dialogue between them. Does the galactic brain experience this identical process as its own internal thoughts? I will reread carefully to see what clues there are to galacto-psychology.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And that "node" best able to investigate old Earth would of course be the one nearest to man's ancient home.
Here we see Anderson transcending mere individual AIs!
Ad astra! Sean
Kaor, Paul!
I belatedly realized something! That line you quoted from GENESIS: "...in whose sight an eon was as a day and a day was as an eon" has Biblical echos. This is what I read in Psalm 89.4 (using the Vulgate numbering: "For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday which has passed, and as a watch in the night." And 2 Peter 3.8: "But, beloved, do not be ignorant of this one thing, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day."
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
i was just seeing if you were up to it!
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
It took me a little time, but I eventually caught on! (Smiles)
Ad astra! Sean
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