r/printSF • u/PermaDerpFace • 2d ago
Learning the World Spoiler
Just finished this book by Ken MacLeod, I thought it was quite good. I liked how both sides, human and alien, were equally relatable, and I didn't find myself rooting for one over the other. The humans had flaws, and conflicts among themselves, which made them feel more real.
There's a discussion at the end about cosmological natural selection - in this case it was the idea that universes with intelligence might tend to create more universes (with intelligence). It goes on to say that because of this, and the conservation of information in a universe, the first intelligent species that arises in a new universe will tend to be the most primitive. I'm not sure I understood, does anyone know what he was getting at here?
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u/mjfgates 2d ago
It's not particularly deep. MacLeod is just generating an explanation of why the local people on-planet are morally superior to the "advanced" humans who show up in their generation ship. There aren't any scientific papers or anything about this, except maybe that MLK quote about the moral arc of the universe bending toward justice.
Kind of a disturbing book really, when you look at how badly humans react to the fact that OTHER HUMANS are fully persons even if they're from Poland or Somalia.
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u/Undeclared_Aubergine 2d ago
I just looked up the scene (final two pages), and agree with this.
You said information is conserved. How much information?'
'More than you might think,' said the Oldest Man.
So, universes spawn new universes with a preference for universes which are capable of spawning more universes. This scene implies that the universe-spawning part of the new universes tracks the parent universe very closely - meaning that everything directly affecting human development is essentially the same across the string of universes (the use of the capitalized "Oldest Man" hinting that a version of Constantine has existed essentially unchanged across them all?), but everything which doesn't directly affect the initial development of starship engines can - and will - develop more advantageously for the creation of ever more universes.
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u/Undeclared_Aubergine 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember quite liking this book. It felt very accessible, and in my mind is the transition point - combining the best of - the Engines of Light / Fall Revolution (which were excellent but gnarly), and his later works (which I've experienced as a bit simpler and a lot more uneven).
It's been too long since I read it to recall anything about your question. I'll try to remember to pick up the book tomorrow to see if I can swiftly jog my mind about it.