Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre – review

October 23, 2014 – 11:27 am

virtual reality helmetIn 2003 Oxford University philosophy professor Nick Bostrom published The Simulation Argument. This states that "at least one of the following propositions is true": "The chances that a species at our current level of development can avoid going extinct before becoming technologically mature is negligibly small. Almost no technologically mature civilisations are interested in running computer simulations of minds like ours. You are almost certainly in a simulation."

As Ross Baker, the lead character in Christopher Brookmyre's brain-tickling novel, remembers it, this argument "suggested that if the human race survived long enough, in its endeavours to understand itself, it would surely develop 'ancestor simulations': hyper-realistic virtual-reality environments in which the minds inhabiting these worlds were themselves part of the simulation. Such advanced civilisations would … be able to implement billions of ancestor simulations, each containing billions of minds. Therefore, the vast probability would be that you are one of those billions of simulations rather than the single original reality that spawned them."

This argument matters to Ross particularly because his "mind" has somehow been rerouted into a computer game: "specifically, a 1996 first-person shooter called Starfire". He has recently woken up on Graxis, a planet with a sky of regally luxuriant purple where American marines are doing bloody battle with hideous flesh and metal cyborgs. More disconcerting still, he is one of the cyborgs, complete with grafted armour plates and so much wiring and metal on his face that he looks as though he has "faceplanted the clearance sale at Radio Shack".

Source: www.theguardian.com

You might also like:

Bedlam vol. 1 / graphic novel review
Bedlam vol. 1 / graphic novel review
Nosferatu the Vampyre novelization (unabridged audiobook)
Nosferatu the Vampyre novelization (unabridged audiobook)
Bedlam Stories Novel Trailer
Bedlam Stories Novel Trailer
EROTICA:ROMANCE: DARK BIG SEXY STRANGER MAN FANTASY (Best Friend Taboo Erotic Adult Short Sex Stories Books For Women): Contemporary Secret Online XXX (Naughty Contemporary Women's Fiction Tease)
eBooks ()

Related posts:

  1. 100 novels of all Time
  2. New novels
  3. New novels to read
  4. Novels for kids
  5. Novel - the Boston Girl
  • avatar When was the novel Kamikaze Girls written?
    • The novel Kamikaze Girls was written in 2002 by Novala Takemoto. The novel was later adopted into a Japanese manga and live action film in 2004. The film was released as a DVD in the US in 2006.