Stranger Ina Strange Land

Controversial novel in its day (1960) by RobertHeinlein. The saga of ValentineMichaelSmith.

Reportedly, it's no coincidence that the protagonist of this book shares the same initials as a(n) (in)famous operating system from DigitalEquipmentCorporation.

Contains the following quote which could be used in a discussion about computer consciousness: "He eternally was the action he had taken at cusp".

Essentially, a definition of self based on the reflection that absence of self is equivalent to absence of actions carried out by self and vice versa.

The relevance to computer consciousness is that a computer program empowered to act at cusp is at some fundamental level equivalent to a human being.

(Cusp as used in the novel is a moment at which a choice is presented and the future course of history diverges based on the action taken.)

-- Carl

Introduced GrokInFullness into the hacker lexicon.

CategoryScienceFiction