“The Fall” is Ken’s personal nickname (although others in his universe picked it up and started using it) for that moment when the cultural taboo against widespread biological self-modification ceased to be overwhelming; when things like Bambi and Dove’s twins became commonplace and expected and the legal framework had to shift to handle these new realities; when the notion of “what is a human” becomes more abstract and nuanced than “Well, you know one when you see one.”

What I’m wondering about is how your concept of “The Fall” relates to the Vingean Singularity. Given that Pendor has had strong AI and cyberwear for a very long time, and a post-Scarcity economy, is the concept of “The Singularity” really relevant, or does the existing technological (and cultural!) base just make the transition to Singularity, the slope of the curve if you will, a more gentle one?

In Iain M. Bank’s “The Culture”, his stories are set in a time period in which most Culture citizens inhabit singleton, humanoid bodies. In the Journal Entries, up to now, we’ve seen the same (well, the singleton part, anyway). Will we be seeing more stories about beings that don’t inhabit singleton bodies? I remember Wish’s discomfort hanging around people who spent all their time in virtual space. I imagine reactions like that will make for plenty of grist for your mill.

Finally, I was curious as to your take on something I once read of Banks, wherein he said (and I agree) that one of the biggest dangers humanity faced was its instinct towards the formation of social hierarchies, and the climbing of same – which, for many, implies “by any means necessary.”

In The Culture, the individuals we see today are products of centuries of genetic modification, so if those instincts were a problem they could have been addressed. With Pendorians, I don’t see that same built-in drive. Do you, personally, think these primate instincts of ours are a danger?

Thanks, and thanks for 18 years of wonderful stories… and a world I’d happily live in given half a chance.

Are you interested in nit-picky corrections to your stories? If so, where should I send them?

Ta
Alan

I’ve read enough of the Journal Entries for the very occaisonal speeling error, or more often the wrong word with the write spelling, to annoy my not-so-inner pedant.

I’d mail you but I couldn’t find an address. I don’t have a backlog but I’m still reading and I can send them as I find them. Mail me if you’re interested.

Thanks!