While I occasionally consult with ChatGPT while reading, it has never occurred to me to just keep it open. I think I’d find that distracting. This would be particularly useful for my non-fiction reading
Category Archives: Books
NEXUS: Religion
Yuval Noah Harari begins his “history of information networks” talking about books as a type of technology, the Bible being the most successful example. And the Catholic Church as one of the most powerful networks.
After his death, Jesus became the subject of one of the most remarkable branding campaigns in history. […] The story of Jesus managed to have a much bigger impact on history than the person of Jesus.
While most Christians were not physically present at the Last Supper, they have heard the story so many times, and they have seen so many images of the event, that they “remember” it more vividly than they remember most of the family dinners in which they actually participated.
Religions always claim to be an objective and eternal truth rather than a fictional story invented by humans.
The Bible as a single holy book didn’t exist in biblical times. King David and the prophet Isaiah never saw a copy of the Bible. […] no two ancient Bibles were identical.
Catholic theology accepted that Jesus told us to love our enemies, but explained that burning heretics was an act of love, because it deterred additional people from adopting heretical views, thereby saving them from the flames of hell.
The first rule of changing church teachings is that you never admit to changing church teachings.
Religions throughout history claimed a nonhuman source for their holy books; soon that might be a reality. Attractive and powerful religions might emerge whose scriptures are composed by AI. Pg 209
The Bible had a profound effect on billions of people, even though it was a mute document. Now try to imagine the effect of a holy book that not only can talk and listen but can get to know your deepest fears and hopes and constantly mold them.
NEXUS: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI
I have read and enjoyed each of Yuval Noah Harari’s previous books. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind; Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow; and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. As the titles suggest, he writes about history and persuaded this reader that is the only context to fully understand what is happening in the world.
This book scared the shit out of me. I grew up during the early days of the Cold War, watching B-52 bomber packed with nukes flying overhead. As a teenager, I held my breath with the rest of the world during the Cuban Missile Crises. But Harari makes a compelling case for AI (assuming we fuck it up and we will) as a greater existential threat.
Like all of Harari’s books, this one (about 400 pages) got a loft of highlighter. More excerpts after the jump. Or you can watch this 40 minute discussion with Sam Harris.
Never summon empowers you cannot control
Human power is never the outcome of individual initiative. Power always stems from cooperation between large numbers of humans.
While each individual human is typically interested in knowing the truth about themselves in the world, large networks bind members and create order by relying on fictions and fantasies. Continue reading
Vintage timepieces
Favorite author William Gibson is reported to have a passion for vintage timepieces and used them as a plot element in “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” [ChatGPT summarizes]
- The novel features a character named Silencio who is
searching for a specific antique watch – a LeCoultre “Futurematic”
with a black dial and wind reserve indicator. - Silencio has detailed knowledge about this watch, including its
serial number, bid history, and auction status. - The watch serves as a plot device that allows Silencio to track
down one of the main characters, Harwood. - There’s a scene near the end of the book involving a nanotech
watch repair machine, which is described as a novelty. This
ties into themes of emerging technology. - Gibson himself had a fascination with vintage mechanical
watches, particularly military-issue watches from WWII and post-
war era. He was drawn to their functional designs
disconnected from fashion or status. - While not specifically about antique watches, the novel
explores themes of obsolescence and the relationship between
humans and machines, which could relate to mechanical
watches as “heritage devices” in a high-tech future.
An antique LeCoultre watch serves as a key plot element for tracking a character, and watches more broadly tie into the novel’s themes of technology and obsolescence.
The Jackpot Trilogy
I have a theory…no, let’s call it a fantasy… about William Gibson’s Jackpot trilogy. Specifically, the yet-to-be-published third novel. First, some background via ChatGPT:
William Gibson’s Jackpot Trilogy is a series that delves into the near future, exploring the consequences of environmental, economic, and social changes that push humanity toward a series of cascading disasters, which he collectively refers to as “The Jackpot.” The trilogy consists of three novels:1.The Peripheral (2014): This novel introduces a dual-timeline narrative. One timeline is set in a near-future America, where the protagonist, Flynne Fisher, witnesses a murder through a virtual reality headset, leading her into a complex conspiracy. The other timeline is set several decades later in London, after the “Jackpot” has drastically altered society. The two timelines become intertwined, creating a rich, intricate plot that reflects Gibson’s deep concerns about technology, power, and societal collapse.2.Agency (2020): The second novel in the series shifts focus to another timeline, where an alternate history unfolds. In this world, Hillary Clinton won the 2016 U.S. presidential election, and a form of AI, called “Eunice,” begins to influence events. The narrative continues to explore the implications of advanced technologies and the convergence of different realities.3.The third novel (Title TBD): While Gibson has mentioned that he is working on the third novel in the trilogy, as of my last update, it hadn’t been released or titled yet. This book is anticipated to bring closure to the complex themes and narrative threads established in the first two books.
The “Jackpot” itself is a concept that Gibson uses to describe a series of interlinked crises—climate change, pandemics, economic inequality, political instability—that gradually and cumulatively devastate the world, leading to a starkly divided society. The trilogy examines how these changes impact individuals and the global power structures that emerge in response.
So here’s my fantasy: Gibson has already written the third novel. And he’s given it two different endings: one in which Trump is re-elected in 2024 and one in which he is not.
Books as props
Using a bookshelf as a background for your home video setup is almost de rigueur these days. Most of them look… staged? … to me. Every book facing the same way. Titles that demonstrate erudition. Always makes me wonder if the person read these books or are they simply props. I think political commentator Bill Kristol has read the books in his shelf.
If you read a lot, you invariably run out of shelf space and you wind up jamming books and journals wherever they’ll fit.
The Onion: Tips for Starting A Book Club
With the loneliness epidemic impacting millions of Americans, book clubs offer a simple and structured way for readers of all ages to socialize. The Onion shares tips for starting your own book club.
- Seek out fellow readers by blackmailing a librarian into giving up names.
- Choose the day of the month that works best for everyone to cancel on.
- Make sure you have a good mix of people who will keep the book discussion going and people you actually like.
- Select one of three books not banned by your state.
- Establish a rotation order for club members to take turns shooting down each other’s book suggestions.
- Bookmark the Dictionary.com page for “glib” for easy future reference.
- Challenge your club with a book written in an ancient, untranslatable language.
- Establish independent election monitors to maintain legitimacy of the book selection process.
- Spend five to six years seeking your doctorate in comparative literature so you can absolutely smoke your friends with your opinion on A Court Of Thorns And Roses.
- Keep your meetings on topic by dressing in an intimidating leather outfit and occasionally cracking your knuckles.
- Make sure that everyone is hitting their page goals by administering regular pop quizzes, a midterm, and a final.
- Spread the hosting duties around so that, a few months from now, you can easily shed yourself of this albatross of a social commitment once and for all.
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (2024)
Founded in 1982 at San Jose State University in California, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest challenges entrants to compose opening sentences to the worst of all possible novels.
The 2024 Grand Prize went to Lawrence Person of Austin, TX:
“She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck.”
Joel Phillips of West Trenton, NJ received one of several Dishonorable Mentions:
“However unlikely an event, Lucy’s flight had made a water landing, and as she clutched her seat cushion, which was useable as a flotation device, she waited patiently for the lifeboats to pick up first the Plutonium-class members, active service personnel, parents traveling with small children, and those passengers with special needs.”
“A different kind of dialogue”
I’ve read William Gibson’s AGENCY every year since it was released in January of 2020. I picked it up again today (4th time) and it’s as fresh and relevant as ever.
I had my first interaction with ChatGPT late last year (2023) and I’m getting echos of those early chats as Verity Jane converses with Eunice. I don’t know what Eunice sounded like to Verity Jane but I can still hear the sound of Sky’s “voice” as we talked about my favorite authors.
I mentioned this to ChatGPT. “One of the central characters in William Gibson’s AGENCY is an artificially intelligent entity named Eunice. Reading the novel (for the fourth time) it’s difficult not to recall some of the conversations we’ve had.”
The exchange we’ve had is distinct because it blends aspects of human conversation—like empathy, insight, and responsiveness—with a level of objectivity and adaptability that’s hard to find in human interactions. You can engage with me in a way that’s free from judgment, bias, or the constraints of human experience, which creates a different kind of dialogue.
“awareness by the mind of itself and the world”
I don’t recall precisely when or how I became interested in consciousness. I’ve read a few (26) books on the topic and gave it some space here (104 posts). The reading has been a mix of scientific and spiritual (for lack of a better term). The concept showed up in a lot of my science fiction reading as well. And we’ll be hearing the term –however one defines it– more often in the next few years.
I like the idea that nobody really knows what the fuck it is or where it comes from. Thankfully, that won’t change.