04-09-2010, 01:57 AM | #1 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Why Germany Matters
As I've pointed out elsewhere, I am currently in the process of brainstorming for a proposal for a Germany sourcebook for Transhuman Space. I think I have hit on a major issue which could serve as a useful source of conflict (and thus, adventures) for Transhuman Space campaigns in Germany. My line of reasoning goes this:
- As of 2100, SAIs are still fairly rare. But as both hardware and software continue to get cheaper, it is possible (even likely) that eventually SAIs are going to be the majority of sapients in the Solar System. - There are currently only two major regions which permit SAIs to be citizens: The EU and the Islamic Caliphate. Of the two, the EU is more powerful by far. - Germany is the most powerful, in absolute terms the most prosperous, and (after Turkey) the second most populous nation in the European Union. Thus, it is likely that it has the single largest number of SAI citizens in the world. It is also likely that other EU nations - and the EU as a whole - either follows the German lead or is strongly influenced by EU policy decisions on the matter. Thus, as more people and more nations contemplate whether to give SAIs more rights, it is likely that the German model will be studied very closely by them. If Germany gives SAIs more power and more freedom (and just because they are citizens it doesn't mean that SAIs in Germany are as free and powerful as they potentially could be) and it works out well for Germany, then it might attract more emulators. Conversely, if Germany tightens restrictions on SAIs (because of scandals or toxic memes), then people elsewhere will be more easily convinced that granting SAIs more rights is not such a good idea after all. And the more powerful factions who deeply care about the status of SAIs one way or another will certainly recognize this. Thus, Germany in 2100 will certainly be the focus of many, many memetic campaigns revolving around SAI rights and freedoms. And therein lies the potential for plenty of high-stakes adventuring. What are your thoughts on this?
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GURPS Repository • Sunken Castles, Evil Poodles - translating German folk tales into English! |
04-09-2010, 02:51 AM | #2 |
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Oz
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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04-09-2010, 02:55 AM | #3 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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Of course, any direct action on Germany would have to be very, very careful to cover the tracks of the instigators. But it would be much more effective if it can be pulled off.
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04-09-2010, 04:12 AM | #4 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Why Germany Matters
*** MODERATOR: The edited post drew complaints, and there is no statute of limitations on enforcing forums rules, so . . . Please do NOT go around slamming entire real-world countries on our forums, even in alt-history threads. Thank you. ***
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04-09-2010, 04:15 AM | #5 | |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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For the purposes of this discussion, what matters is how Germany is described within the Transhuman Space setting, which shows a rather different picture.
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04-09-2010, 04:24 AM | #6 | |
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Copenhagen
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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Even if we were not discussing the official setting, I have a very hard time picturing present-day Germany (2010) descend into Third World status in a mere 90-100 year time frame. Tchüss, Max
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04-09-2010, 08:21 AM | #7 |
Join Date: Mar 2006
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Re: Why Germany Matters
Sounds great. I'd certainly be interested in material on 22nd Century Berlin, the 'rewilding' of the Black Forest (?), the German-Turkish population, and a run-down of domestic politics.
Last edited by Wise One; 04-09-2010 at 08:41 AM. |
04-09-2010, 08:41 AM | #8 |
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Re: Why Germany Matters
I already have copious notes on domestic politics. 22nd Century Berlin is certainly a place I need to detail a bit, but I need to research it first. The rewilding of many parts of Germany will certainly be mentioned, but I'm not sure in how much detail - they might be fairly "wild" when compared to the rest of Germany, but they are still fairly safe places when compared with wilderness areas elsewhere around the globe and not exactly prime adventuring locations.
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04-09-2010, 01:15 PM | #9 | ||||||
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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* As SAIs can vote in the EU, it seems that one unanswered question is the extent to which voting even matters in the Fifth Wave nations given how much seems to be run based on expert systems and AIs with advanced memetic campaigns guiding behavior. Quote:
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04-09-2010, 01:43 PM | #10 | |||
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oldenburg, Germany
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Re: Why Germany Matters
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SAIs, on the other hand, could be anything. Saint or monster, it all depends on the programming. So, who gets to do that programming, and what parameters are they allowed to choose? These questions will have a huge impact on the future of SAIkind. Quote:
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But one of the main questions about Transhuman Space is: "It's a fascinating setting, but what do I do with it?" And with apparently safe, wealthy regions this question is harder to answer than for others, since they don't easily lend themselves to action-oriented campaigns like they seem to be the default for most RPG campaigns. Thus, a sourcebook like Germany needs some really big issues which can be a driving force of conflict for a campaign - and thus, for adventures. And this issue seems to me to be a huge one - after all, what could be bigger than influencing the very shape of future posthumanity of the entire solar system?
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