Steve Jordan
I like SF. SF is cool.
Futurist Steven Lyle Jordan’s upcoming novel, Sarcology, bucks the current trend of human-enslaving and killing robots popular in media, in favor of a robot that can love its fellow man.
In Sarcology, a sexy and romantic detective-adventure novel set in 2040s Atlanta, robots can be so intelligent and built so realistically that they are capable of having relationships, and even sex, with humans. This is a far cry from the usual fare with robots or artificial intelligence (A.I.), wherein the robots tend to revolt and kill or enslave humans. Jordan sees robots as lovers and even sex partners as a much more likely scenario than as our human murderers.
“The idea of robots rising up to enslave and/or kill us is a natural one,” Jordan points out. “It stems from our psychological impression of ‘the Other,’ the stranger, whom we instinctually fear might hurt us, intentionally or not. Human-styled robots, in fiction and in reality, represent machines that can potentially substitute for human beings… and this worries us on that instinctual level. It’s quite natural for people to take this fear to its ultimate level and assume human-styled machines to be intentionally malevolent and dangerous… much as we have historically assumed the worst of other races and ethnicities that have abruptly become part of our society. But just as we’ve discovered over time that strangers from other countries, races or attitudes are not necessarily malevolent, so we will discover the same about robots.”
Jordan’s book Sarcology is his way of representing robotics in a more optimistic light. “As robots become more sophisticated, they’ll become better servants of humanity, doing the tough jobs that endanger us, like law enforcement and emergency assistance, because they are better equipped for it. Eventually, they‘ll be capable of working alongside us as partners. I don’t believe they will somehow decide to rise up against humans and fight for survival; that would suppose a sense of mortality robots won’t have, because they’re essentially able to transfer their brains, their essential selves, into new bodies as needed. More likely, they’ll become part of our lives and loves, and even members of our families… maybe as pets and servants at first, but eventually as equals.”
Indeed, Sarcology presents its main robotic character as a person, not as a mere machine. “I believe robots can eventually carry an intelligence that roughly equals ours; and at that point, they will effectively be our equals. We would have more to fear from humans intent on keeping them down, than we’d have from the robots themselves.”
More detail on the upcoming novel can be found in Behind Sarcology, at Steven Lyle Jordan’s blog. Sarcology is due to be released in Spring 2013.
Steven Lyle Jordan grew up in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1960s and 70s, at just the right time and place to witness the space race, the American racial and social revolutions, the beginnings of the transistor age, the first color television programs, and America’s 1970s environmental crisis. His natural interest in the world has combined with his creative leanings to develop unique and realistic novels about our future.
Steven has offered his futurist fiction in ebook formats since 2006, and has been called one of the pioneers of the ebook industry. He has been interviewed for articles in the New York Times and in various blogs over the years. He has also lent his talents and support to the Read an E-Book Week website, http://www.ebookweek.com, elucidating on and encouraging reading in ebook formats around the world.
About Right Brane
Right Brane ePublications is the official name of Steven Lyle Jordan’s publishing arm, established in 2006 and dedicated to quality novels in multiple ebook formats, at reasonable prices, and without digital rights management (DRM), available to audiences worldwide. Right Brane embraces the digital publications market, recognizing ebooks as “distilled literature,” more flexible and dynamic than paper-based books; it encourages their development to spread entertainment and literacy, and discourages the wasteful and ecologically damaging practices of print publishing. Right Brane’s mantra: We need trees more than we need paper.
In Sarcology, a sexy and romantic detective-adventure novel set in 2040s Atlanta, robots can be so intelligent and built so realistically that they are capable of having relationships, and even sex, with humans. This is a far cry from the usual fare with robots or artificial intelligence (A.I.), wherein the robots tend to revolt and kill or enslave humans. Jordan sees robots as lovers and even sex partners as a much more likely scenario than as our human murderers.
“The idea of robots rising up to enslave and/or kill us is a natural one,” Jordan points out. “It stems from our psychological impression of ‘the Other,’ the stranger, whom we instinctually fear might hurt us, intentionally or not. Human-styled robots, in fiction and in reality, represent machines that can potentially substitute for human beings… and this worries us on that instinctual level. It’s quite natural for people to take this fear to its ultimate level and assume human-styled machines to be intentionally malevolent and dangerous… much as we have historically assumed the worst of other races and ethnicities that have abruptly become part of our society. But just as we’ve discovered over time that strangers from other countries, races or attitudes are not necessarily malevolent, so we will discover the same about robots.”
Jordan’s book Sarcology is his way of representing robotics in a more optimistic light. “As robots become more sophisticated, they’ll become better servants of humanity, doing the tough jobs that endanger us, like law enforcement and emergency assistance, because they are better equipped for it. Eventually, they‘ll be capable of working alongside us as partners. I don’t believe they will somehow decide to rise up against humans and fight for survival; that would suppose a sense of mortality robots won’t have, because they’re essentially able to transfer their brains, their essential selves, into new bodies as needed. More likely, they’ll become part of our lives and loves, and even members of our families… maybe as pets and servants at first, but eventually as equals.”
Indeed, Sarcology presents its main robotic character as a person, not as a mere machine. “I believe robots can eventually carry an intelligence that roughly equals ours; and at that point, they will effectively be our equals. We would have more to fear from humans intent on keeping them down, than we’d have from the robots themselves.”
More detail on the upcoming novel can be found in Behind Sarcology, at Steven Lyle Jordan’s blog. Sarcology is due to be released in Spring 2013.
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About Steven Lyle JordanSteven Lyle Jordan grew up in the Washington, D.C. area in the 1960s and 70s, at just the right time and place to witness the space race, the American racial and social revolutions, the beginnings of the transistor age, the first color television programs, and America’s 1970s environmental crisis. His natural interest in the world has combined with his creative leanings to develop unique and realistic novels about our future.
Steven has offered his futurist fiction in ebook formats since 2006, and has been called one of the pioneers of the ebook industry. He has been interviewed for articles in the New York Times and in various blogs over the years. He has also lent his talents and support to the Read an E-Book Week website, http://www.ebookweek.com, elucidating on and encouraging reading in ebook formats around the world.
About Right Brane
Right Brane ePublications is the official name of Steven Lyle Jordan’s publishing arm, established in 2006 and dedicated to quality novels in multiple ebook formats, at reasonable prices, and without digital rights management (DRM), available to audiences worldwide. Right Brane embraces the digital publications market, recognizing ebooks as “distilled literature,” more flexible and dynamic than paper-based books; it encourages their development to spread entertainment and literacy, and discourages the wasteful and ecologically damaging practices of print publishing. Right Brane’s mantra: We need trees more than we need paper.
