Tuesday, February 21, 2017

THE LIFECYCLE OF SOFTWARE OBJECTS

by TED CHIANG
For anyone who has played with companions as a gamer and wondered about cross-pollination of the virtual and the real. Chiang raises many questions: aesthetic, emotional, romantic, ethical. The questions transcend AI issues and are always there just underneath our conscious level of self-awareness.

At 150 pages, Chiang's longest work to date. I, for one, would like to see something even longer. Would have loved to have seen his characters fleshed out with the psychological depth possible in another 150 pages.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Alain de Botton THE COURSE OF LOVE

Quote:

The important books should be those that leave us wondering, with relief and gratitude, how the author could possibly have known so much about our lives.