Less Wrong dystopian speculative fiction: An excerpt.
JulXutil sat, legs crossed in the lotus position, at the center of the Less Wrong hedonist-utilitarian subreddit. Above him, in a foot-long green oval, was his karma total: 230450036. The subreddit was a giant room with a wooden floor and rice paper walls. In the middle the floor was raised, and then raised again to form a shallow step pyramid with bamboo staircases linking the levels. The subreddit was well lit. Soft light emanated from the rice paper walls as if they were lit from behind and Japanese lanterns hung from the ceiling.
Foot soldiers, users JerelYu and Maxine stood at the top of each staircase to deal with the newbies who wanted to bother the world famous JulXutil and to spot and downvote trolls before they did much damage. They also kept their eyes out for members of rival factions because while /lw/hedutil was officially public, every Less Wrong user knew this subreddit was Wireheader territory and had been since shortly after Lewis had published his famous Impossibility Proof for Friendliness.
The stitched image of an envelope on JulXutil’s right sleeve turned red. He tapped it twice and the dojo disappeared and was replaced by his inbox. He tapped on the new message and its sender appeared before him.
Henry_Neil: Jul, I just heard from my source at Alcor. The procedure was successful. He’s been admitted. It’ll go public in the morning.
JulXutil: Exciting, terrifying news. What will happen to his account?
Henry_Neil: It won’t go anywhere. But users who haven’t logged in for thirty days don’t get counted when the server computes controlling karma. That leaves his 40% up for grabs.
JulXutil: How much support we end up with will depend on how organized the opposition is. We need full admin powers and enough backing to amend the constitution. Henry, I need you to take care of a few high karma players. They’d interfere with our plans. I’ll tell you whom. It’ll have to be timed just right. Contact me again when you’ve selected your men.
Henry_Neil: If the Blindsighters have heard the news they’ll try the same thing. Your karmic reputation is in danger. Take precautions, stay out of the main subreddits, especially EvPsych. You’ll hear from me soon.
It’s a real question where to, the Karma system leads. In a long run, we might see quite unexpected and unwanted results. But there is probably no other way to see that, than to wait where to it will actually go. I guess, a kind of conformism will prevail, if it hasn’t already.
He who controls the karma controls the world.
Less Wrong dystopian speculative fiction: An excerpt.
JulXutil sat, legs crossed in the lotus position, at the center of the Less Wrong hedonist-utilitarian subreddit. Above him, in a foot-long green oval, was his karma total: 230450036. The subreddit was a giant room with a wooden floor and rice paper walls. In the middle the floor was raised, and then raised again to form a shallow step pyramid with bamboo staircases linking the levels. The subreddit was well lit. Soft light emanated from the rice paper walls as if they were lit from behind and Japanese lanterns hung from the ceiling.
Foot soldiers, users JerelYu and Maxine stood at the top of each staircase to deal with the newbies who wanted to bother the world famous JulXutil and to spot and downvote trolls before they did much damage. They also kept their eyes out for members of rival factions because while /lw/hedutil was officially public, every Less Wrong user knew this subreddit was Wireheader territory and had been since shortly after Lewis had published his famous Impossibility Proof for Friendliness. The stitched image of an envelope on JulXutil’s right sleeve turned red. He tapped it twice and the dojo disappeared and was replaced by his inbox. He tapped on the new message and its sender appeared before him.
Henry_Neil: Jul, I just heard from my source at Alcor. The procedure was successful. He’s been admitted. It’ll go public in the morning.
JulXutil: Exciting, terrifying news. What will happen to his account?
Henry_Neil: It won’t go anywhere. But users who haven’t logged in for thirty days don’t get counted when the server computes controlling karma. That leaves his 40% up for grabs.
JulXutil: How much support we end up with will depend on how organized the opposition is. We need full admin powers and enough backing to amend the constitution. Henry, I need you to take care of a few high karma players. They’d interfere with our plans. I’ll tell you whom. It’ll have to be timed just right. Contact me again when you’ve selected your men.
Henry_Neil: If the Blindsighters have heard the news they’ll try the same thing. Your karmic reputation is in danger. Take precautions, stay out of the main subreddits, especially EvPsych. You’ll hear from me soon.
To be continued...
This is golden. I demand continuation.
It’s a real question where to, the Karma system leads. In a long run, we might see quite unexpected and unwanted results. But there is probably no other way to see that, than to wait where to it will actually go. I guess, a kind of conformism will prevail, if it hasn’t already.
The karma=wireheading angle is wonderful, and I think new.