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Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?
Posted By: Steve LevinsonDate: 7/29/02 5:42 p.m.

In Response To: Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels? (Ernie)

: I believe I will take write terminal messages in the form of
: communication ment for non-Jjaro readers.
: (Just a side question: If the Jjaro would have left very simplistic
: messages like the NASA-type ones you brought up... how did they
: send a English Speaking Jjaro Hologram to Earth in PiD... back
: in 1994?)

That’s really an excellent question. Obviously they had the means to have an AI or something similar learn an alien culture’s language and render the appropriate message at the appropriate time. My response is that the PiD message was targeted and urgent, and worth the investment in a higher level of technology than might otherwise be used.

: For any who have read the Fan fic. my scenario is based upon
: 'Where Monsters Are in Dreams'

That's a very interesting starting point, and it certainly holds promise. I wouldn't get too hung-up on the balance thing, though. I'm sure that the Jjaro have their own interests to protect, but having left the galaxy behind, they cannot judge who is right and who is wrong, and as we've seen, AIs can develop agendas of their own that don't match those of their creators. The simplest way to insure that their technology isn't used for evil purposes is to try to maintain a balance, even if it means helping those who are wrong.

: Back to the terminals ment for outsiders.
: I think that the Jjaro, having left this galaxy by progressing up the
: ladder of oranics->augmented organics->to a major change of
: uploading their minds/soul/essences/ into machines (hence 'Rise
: of the Spiritual Machine' I mentioned) would want to impart
: infornation to whoever found it. Information regarding this change,
: and any downfalls of what may be in store.

Why stop at the Spiritual Machine? In the book version of Arthur C. Clark's 2001, A Space Odessey, he suggests that the aliens that visited earth and that gave primates the push that led to man had gone that route, and beyond. They started as organics, and then learned to upload their essense into machines. They became the space ships, rather than riding in them. Imagine the possibilities! But they didn't stop there. They ultimately learned how to modify the fabric of space-time itself. They no longer needed physical entities in which to exist - they became beings of pure thought and could travel wherever and whenever they chose. This sounds to me more like what happened to the Jjaro.

: Ah, I'm at an impass... should I have the Jjaro want to impart
: information to some, while denying it from others, or want to protect
: their information from all to maintain some sense of cosmic balance?

I think that they would want to protect their knowledge, which could be very dangerous in the wrong hands, but that they would also want to be sure that any who came upon their knowldege independently did not misuse it. Again, I don't think that they would try to judge who is good and who is evil in the future - is anyone purely good or evil, after all - look at the Salinger Plank in Rubicon. I think that the Jjaro would take a 3-pronged approach to the kind of knowledge that could lead to widespread destruction - they would try to warn any and all who came upon it of the dangers and to not use it until they were truly ready, or if they ignored the warnings, the Jjaro would try to destroy them. As a last resort, if the acquisitors (sp?) became too powerful to destroy, the Jjaro would return to deal with them directly. Now that could be the basis for one hell of a plot!

My advice - the Jjaro terminals would be deliberately vague or nonfunctional in the beginning, and pretty much uselsess. In time, the palyer comes to recognize the basis of the ultimate in Jjaro technology - the kind of knowledge you're talking about - and it is that knowledge that serves as the key to unlock the true information in those terminals. The player would then have to decide whether to ignore the knowledge, recognizing that humanity just isn't ready for it, or to try to develop it as a weapon against the Pfhor, who might also develop it, but risking total anialation at the hands of the Jjaro. If he succeeds in fully developing the technology without being destroyed, however, unbeknownst to him, the Jjaro would return.

It's an idea, anyway.

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Pre-2004 Posts

Replies:

Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Ernie 7/28/02 10:25 a.m.
     Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Scifiteki 7/28/02 4:50 p.m.
           Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Ernie 7/29/02 12:10 a.m.
                 Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Steve Levinson 7/29/02 1:08 a.m.
                       Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Ernie 7/29/02 4:32 p.m.
                             Re: Jjaro Terminals in non-dream levels?Steve Levinson 7/29/02 5:42 p.m.
                             Re: Jjaro Terminals - one more thoughtSteve Levinson 7/29/02 9:26 p.m.
                                   Very interesting stuff Steve...Ernie 7/30/02 2:31 p.m.
                                         Re: Very interesting stuff Steve...Steve Levinson 7/30/02 3:23 p.m.
                                               Re: Very interesting stuff Steve...Mark Levin 7/30/02 8:18 p.m.
                                                     Re: Very interesting stuff Steve...Steve Levinson 7/30/02 8:32 p.m.



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