dorix

Hi,

I have a bit of a conceptual framework in mind that I want to use to explore some ideas about human consciousness and the soul. My story begins with a woman named Sadie, who is being prepared for a destructive scan, during which she will be reduced to a pure data representation, to be either transmitted somewhere and recreated, or possibly run as a sentient simulation. For reasons that I probably won't fully clarify in this story (the scan is operated by a quasi-religious order of inhuman technician-monks who guard their secrets closely), the scan requires her to be dead first, but otherwise healthy.

Here are the three opening paragraphs of my story. The working title is "Plastic Souls", because after the scan, a hardcopy of her pure data representation will be made in the form of holographic storage in a chunk of plastic.

My own thoughts so far:

• No reason is yet shown for why she is apparently being executed by lethal injection. The reason should become somewhat more clear in the next paragraph when the scanning process begins. I wonder if I should hint at that earlier in the introduction.
• There is almost no insight into what Sadie is thinking or feeling throughout the first three paragraphs. Except for the hesistancy in the first sentence, and the reaction to the needle in the second paragraph, I haven't provided the reader with any clues. Is she frightened? I would be if I were in her position, except that she probably expects to be eventually resurrected, and the reader doesn't know that yet. Maybe she's done this before.
• Maybe this concept of the scan requiring her to be dead will turn out to be a dead end. I hope not, because part of what I want to explore is how a consciousness bridges the gap between a destructive scan and its eventual recreation. The execution before the scan makes this the ultimate destructive scan.

damien_frosst

What you've got written here is pretty good... but I'm going to argue against you on a biological basis.

First, death is not necessarily a great way to preserve someone's brain. As the oxygen levels in the blood die off, the brain cells would start to alter their activity in response to the stress. As some of them die, they would potentially alter the synaptic patterns of other areas of the brain. Not in any organized fashion of course, but potentially with some micro fluctuation.

Assuming consciousness to be the emergent properly of a highly complex system of neuronal connectivity, any small change would potentially render the post-death consciousness as distinctly different from the pre-death consciousness. Though, assuming a consciousness could be reconstructed, an interesting question might be whether or not these changes manifested themselves, and also whether or not they were permanent or even noticable by the person themselves.

Now, if you take the idea of consciousness as an emergent property of quantum interactions, then death will have a significant impact on the overall nature of what is scanned - in the same vein, the scan itself would impact the data recorded, potentially irretreviably.

I suppose that what you need to decide is whether or not you wish to make this a technical supposition. If you don't want to get bogged down in the biology and sciences of the operation, you don't have to. As long as your world is consistent with the methodology and nature of this sort of scanning application.

In answer to your questions, 1) I think it would be good to illustrate what's going on and why. You don't need to, but without your introduction to explain the situation, I'd not have known what was happening at all. Point 2 is pretty much answered by point 1. Better to have the characters do the explaining.

3) A lot of that would depend on the process of the scan itself. How it works will make the best case for whether or not being dead before the scan is humane or simply unnecessary.

Also, these guys feel a lot like the Adeptus Mechanicus from Warhammer 40K.

__________________
Damien

In my world, there are no heroes, only really polite villians.

belmont

All of the questions will work themself out as you continue this story

dorix

Hi Damien and Belmont,

Thanks for the critique!

Oh, I know. I mean for death to be an integral part of a process that's probably flawed. This is the way the order of technicians does it; the people of this universe have to take it or leave it.

As I'm writing this, I've got Wikipedia pages about death, cryonics, lethal injection, etc. open, looking for a plausible way to minimize cellular damage -- or maybe leave a way to repair it after resurrection. Programmed nanobot organelles inserted into the data stream or directly into the body prior to execution, maybe.

I might have to abandon this idea, let the scan itself be destructive, and allow the person to be simply unconscious or otherwise in stasis.

The possibility of the loss of identity makes for some interesting story potential, I think. Do these changes, however subtle, mean that the person who existed before the scan is really gone forever? Then the destructive scan process might be a more horrifying thing than anybody realizes.

The technical aspects are important to a degree, but you're right that I don't want to get bogged down in unnecessary details. I don't want to make any declarations about exactly what brings about the emergent property of consciousness. The story should stand on its own whether it's purely a property of a system of neurons, a system of quantum interactions, or an actual spiritual essence.

I want to strike a balance between leaving too much out, and putting too much in. Things will fall into place once the execution gives way to the scan, but I think I need to place a hint about it in the first few sentences. Sadie doesn't expect this to be the end for her, and if the reader knows that without necessarily knowing why she doesn't expect it, then the reader will be hooked and wondering what's really going on.

I'm only a tiny bit familiar with Warhammer 40K, but I know what you mean. I tried to be deliberately vague about what exactly the technicians are -- insect, crustacean, machine, former human? All of the above?

This is true; I really should stop retooling the first three paragraphs and write the next twenty.

dorix

Regarding the Adeptus Mechanicus similarities... are you thinking that I'm a bit too close for comfort to unintentional plagiarism?

damien_frosst

That can be a hard question. Technically you're plagarizing if you use the words of someone else. Adapting their ideas, that's a bit fuzzier. Personally, the monk guys feel like they are AM guys. Clanky metal, silent, and strictly technology-oriented. That doesn't mean they have to be AM, just that I see them that way. If you leave them vague, then you're probably fine. If you make them distinct, then you're fine also. Leaving them in the middle is where you'll get troubles.

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Damien

In my world, there are no heroes, only really polite villians.

dorix

Better to be safe than sorry. I like them the way they are, but they can use some tweaking to distinguish them.