I’ll only list the items I consider 5⁄5 stars, and would be willing to reread or rewatch as many times as I feel like (and have done so for many), all dealing with transhumanist themes, self-improvement, or the challenges thereof.
Books:
Heart of the Comet, by David Brin and Gregory Benford. A story about the first humans who attempt to create a living society on a comet, encountering alien life forms, genetic self-modification, cloning, advanced robotics, AI, and uploads.
Armor, by John Steakley. A war story on foreign planets about a man who encounters intense pressures yet overcomes through mental transformation into someone who can handle it all, and more.
Aristoi, by Walter Jon Williams. A story about advanced humans dealing with multi-tiered society, near-gods at one end and unaltered humans at the other, and how they interact with each other.
After Life, by Simon Funk, free online. An exploration of the consequences of greater than human intelligence on human society as it progresses from the first upload to galactic civilization.
Dune, by Frank Herbert. A story about a very different society on far-off planets dealing with the philosophical and mental effects of a substance which alters reality in interesting ways.
Revelation Space, by Alastair Reynolds. A hard sci-fi look at human offspring, the separate formats they might take, and challenges they might encounter once they begin spreading throughout the galaxy.
Marooned in Realtime, by Vernor Vinge. A mystery novel about a small group who survived the Singularity, not knowing what happened to the rest of humanity, and having a range of technology and cultures from different time frames thanks to an impenetrable stasis field.
Neuromancer, by William Gibson. A sci-fi story which created the genre of cyberpunk, examining AI, body modification through technology, and greater than human intelligence.
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov. One of the foundational (heh) novels regarding AI and how it might interact with humans, with many possible flaws and benefits.
Movies:
Colossus: The Forbin Project. A story about the first computer to gain intelligence, and how recursive self-improvement might play out.
Limitless. Follows the exploits of a man who finds a drug which improves his thought and motivation to superhuman levels, and what a normal person might accomplish with such a powerful benefit.
Dark City. An eccentric movie wondering what it means to be human, how different memories and pasts affect our present, and how the ability to reshape reality might play out.
Interview with the Vampire. A discourse on potential problems of long life and how it can be difficult to hold on to what it means to be human once you’re truly different.
Groundhog Day. My favorite movie of all time, and likely the category winner for self-improvement. A humorous, sad, and poignant look at how one person might change after living decades or even centuries in a single city, going through the same day time and again, and how they might find happiness.
What if we were to look at an alternative approach to Transhumanism? A non nano tech approach towards singularity. In keeping with the request of the thread, may I mention “Memories With Maya”. This is a story (fiction novel) that looks at emerging technology and how it’s affecting personal human relationships, even in death.
What if we were to look at an alternative approach to Transhumanism? A non nano tech approach towards singularity.
In keeping with the OP thread, may I mention “Memories With Maya”. This is a story (fiction novel) that looks at emerging technology and how it’s affecting personal human relationships, even in death
stories where main characters change themselves in ways which are basically improvements—getting beyond the usual human is a plus, but for purposes of this discussion I’m including any significant positive change.
I wouldn’t consider Dune or Neuromancer to meet those criteria.
Dune is a retelling of a very old colonial myth, where the white man goes to live amongst the savages, and, being white, immediately becomes the best of them. He then realizes the deep wisdom they have, the value of their connection to their environment, and leads them against the rest of the white men to eventually be the leader of the savages and possibly also whites. This is Dune, but also Avatar, Dances with Wolves, Fern Gully (IIRC) and several others.
Paul doesn’t improve—he is a superhero whose power is privilege. Since he never has to confront the privilege of being a colonial, I would say Paul never grows in any substantial way.
Neuromancer is a fun cyberpunk story, and definitely worth reading, but the main characters don’t really improve. They have incredible experiences, but the bleakness of cyberpunk means that these experiences are quickly ground to dust by the world they live in. I think the epilogue was pretty clear on that.
Dark City and Limitless are also basically superhero movies, except in Limitless the superpower is Adderall.
I’d be interested to see how any of the above display themes of characters improving themselves by figuring out what self-improvement tactics work or don’t work—they’re all fantastic stories and movies (Dune is a bit tired, but builds an evocative world at least), and I’d like to be able to go back to them and have something new to experience.
I’ll only list the items I consider 5⁄5 stars, and would be willing to reread or rewatch as many times as I feel like (and have done so for many), all dealing with transhumanist themes, self-improvement, or the challenges thereof.
Books:
Heart of the Comet, by David Brin and Gregory Benford. A story about the first humans who attempt to create a living society on a comet, encountering alien life forms, genetic self-modification, cloning, advanced robotics, AI, and uploads.
Armor, by John Steakley. A war story on foreign planets about a man who encounters intense pressures yet overcomes through mental transformation into someone who can handle it all, and more.
Aristoi, by Walter Jon Williams. A story about advanced humans dealing with multi-tiered society, near-gods at one end and unaltered humans at the other, and how they interact with each other.
After Life, by Simon Funk, free online. An exploration of the consequences of greater than human intelligence on human society as it progresses from the first upload to galactic civilization.
Dune, by Frank Herbert. A story about a very different society on far-off planets dealing with the philosophical and mental effects of a substance which alters reality in interesting ways.
Revelation Space, by Alastair Reynolds. A hard sci-fi look at human offspring, the separate formats they might take, and challenges they might encounter once they begin spreading throughout the galaxy.
Marooned in Realtime, by Vernor Vinge. A mystery novel about a small group who survived the Singularity, not knowing what happened to the rest of humanity, and having a range of technology and cultures from different time frames thanks to an impenetrable stasis field.
Neuromancer, by William Gibson. A sci-fi story which created the genre of cyberpunk, examining AI, body modification through technology, and greater than human intelligence.
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov. One of the foundational (heh) novels regarding AI and how it might interact with humans, with many possible flaws and benefits.
Movies:
Colossus: The Forbin Project. A story about the first computer to gain intelligence, and how recursive self-improvement might play out.
Limitless. Follows the exploits of a man who finds a drug which improves his thought and motivation to superhuman levels, and what a normal person might accomplish with such a powerful benefit.
Dark City. An eccentric movie wondering what it means to be human, how different memories and pasts affect our present, and how the ability to reshape reality might play out.
Interview with the Vampire. A discourse on potential problems of long life and how it can be difficult to hold on to what it means to be human once you’re truly different.
Groundhog Day. My favorite movie of all time, and likely the category winner for self-improvement. A humorous, sad, and poignant look at how one person might change after living decades or even centuries in a single city, going through the same day time and again, and how they might find happiness.
What if we were to look at an alternative approach to Transhumanism? A non nano tech approach towards singularity. In keeping with the request of the thread, may I mention “Memories With Maya”. This is a story (fiction novel) that looks at emerging technology and how it’s affecting personal human relationships, even in death.
More on the science and the book at Memories With Maya
What if we were to look at an alternative approach to Transhumanism? A non nano tech approach towards singularity. In keeping with the OP thread, may I mention “Memories With Maya”. This is a story (fiction novel) that looks at emerging technology and how it’s affecting personal human relationships, even in death
More on the science and the book at Memories With Maya
I wouldn’t consider Dune or Neuromancer to meet those criteria.
Dune is a retelling of a very old colonial myth, where the white man goes to live amongst the savages, and, being white, immediately becomes the best of them. He then realizes the deep wisdom they have, the value of their connection to their environment, and leads them against the rest of the white men to eventually be the leader of the savages and possibly also whites. This is Dune, but also Avatar, Dances with Wolves, Fern Gully (IIRC) and several others.
Paul doesn’t improve—he is a superhero whose power is privilege. Since he never has to confront the privilege of being a colonial, I would say Paul never grows in any substantial way.
Neuromancer is a fun cyberpunk story, and definitely worth reading, but the main characters don’t really improve. They have incredible experiences, but the bleakness of cyberpunk means that these experiences are quickly ground to dust by the world they live in. I think the epilogue was pretty clear on that.
Dark City and Limitless are also basically superhero movies, except in Limitless the superpower is Adderall.
I’d be interested to see how any of the above display themes of characters improving themselves by figuring out what self-improvement tactics work or don’t work—they’re all fantastic stories and movies (Dune is a bit tired, but builds an evocative world at least), and I’d like to be able to go back to them and have something new to experience.