andree@uokvax.UUCP (11/24/83)
#N:uokvax:5400011:000:1097 uokvax!andree Nov 23 00:33:00 1983 I have just finished the two Brin books recently discussed on the net (Sundiver/Startide Rising - I nth the various good things said about the book.) One of the details that Brin put into this universe struck me very strongly. Since I haven't seen it mentioned before, I decided to bring it up. What I am talking about is @i(the library). Brin postulates a multi-racial galactic civilization that has, for the last 2 billion years, been recording EVERYTHING that happened to any of the races in the civilization. Since the average racial lifespan in this universe appears to be under 100 million years, this means that the answer to any question that ANYBODY is liable to ask can be found in the library (oh, before I forget - the interface is a fairly good AI text search program, so the things is fairly easy to use). The races in this universe are greatly affected by the library - it's considered gauche to actually do research; you should look in the library. Does this concept strike anybody else strongly? Any comments on what life would be like with something like that around? <mike
preece@uicsl.UUCP (11/29/83)
#R:uokvax:5400011:uicsl:10700063:000:465 uicsl!preece Nov 28 09:23:00 1983 Some of the characters in Startide Rising are searching for evidence that the Library is not the unbiased fact reservoir it claims to be, but rather is specifically tailored to the race it has been provided to and provides answers filling some unnamed other race's intentions for us. The question of equal access to information is fast becoming central to our society, so it's interesting to see it raised in this context. scott preece ihnp4!uiucdcs!uicsl!preece
lmc@denelcor.UUCP (Lyle McElhaney) (11/30/83)
Brin goes to a lot of pains pointing out the problems inherent to such an approach to life - particularly on Kithrup, the men & fen are always approaching problems (mnamely, getting out of there) in original ways not covered in the library. Most of the thesis of Sundiver results from the library's failure to find any experience parallel to the beings living in the Sun. It is apparant that, while the library is a fantastic help in getting things done, its not the final answer, or even a particularly good answer - at least for Earth. The only systems that failed on the Sundiver vehicle were the ones taken, without understanding, from the library. Lyle McElhaney ...(hao,nbires,brl-bmd)!denelcor!lmc
friedman@uiucdcs.UUCP (friedman ) (12/03/83)
#R:uokvax:5400011:uiucdcs:12500056:000:300 uiucdcs!friedman Dec 2 08:54:00 1983 "The only systems that failed on the Sundiver vehicle were the ones taken, without understanding, from the library." That was true, but it was also stated that the reason was probably that the saboteur ignored the human-developed systems, assuming that they would be useless to save the expedition.