Target audience—beats me, really. It’s kind of set up to preach to the choir, in terms of the “moral”. I wrote it because I was pretty sure I could finish it (and I did), and I sorely need to learn to finish stories; I shared it because I compulsively share anything I think is remotely decent.
The general feeling I got from Key is female. I honestly don’t know why that is.
Hypotheses: I myself am female. Lace, the only gendered character with a speaking role, is female. Key bakes cupcakes at one point in the story and a stereotype is at work. (I had never heard of Key the Metal Idol.)
Could be. I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even consciously remember Key baking cupcakes by the time the story ended and I asked myself what might have influenced me.
I also had the feeling that the story wasn’t really about Key; ey just serves as an expository device. Ey has no unpredictable or even unusual reactions to anything that would establish individuality. The setting should then draw the most interest, and it didn’t do enough that, because it was too vague. What is the government? How does it decide and enforce allowed research, and allowed self-modification? How does sex-choosing work? What is the society like? Is Key forced at a certain age to be in some regime, like our schools? If not, are there any limits on what Key or her parents do with her life?
As it is, the story presented a very few loosely connected facts about Key’s world, and that lack of detail is one reason why these facts weren’t interesting: I can easily imagine some world with those properties.
Small communities, mostly physically isolated from each other, but informationally connected and centrally administered. Basically meritocratic in structure—pass enough of the tests and you can work for the gubmint.
How does it decide and enforce allowed research, and allowed self-modification?
Virtually all sophisticated equipment is communally owned and equipped with government-designed protocols. Key goes to the library for eir computer time because ey doesn’t have anything more sophisticated than a toaster in eir house. This severely limits how much someone could autonomously self-modify, especially when the information about how to try it is also severely limited. The inconveniences are somewhat trivial, but you know what they say about trivial inconveniences. If someone got far enough to be breaking rules regularly, they’d make people uncomfortable and be asked to leave.
How does sex-choosing work?
One passes some tests, which most people manage between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, and then goes to the doctor and gets some hormones and some surgical intervention to be male or female (or some brand of “both”, and some people go on as “neither” indefinitely, but those are rarer).
What is the society like?
Too broad for me to answer—can you be more specific?
Is Key forced at a certain age to be in some regime, like our schools? If not, are there any limits on what Key or her parents do with her life?
Education is usually some combination of self-directed and parent-encouraged. Key’s particularly autonomous and eir mother doesn’t intervene much. If Key did not want to learn anything, eir mother could try to make em, but the government would not help. If Key’s mother did not want em to learn anything and Key did, it would be unlawful for her to try to stop em. There are limits in the sense that Key may not grow up to be a serial killer, but assuming all the necessary tests get passed, ey can do anything legal ey wants.
Thank you for the questions—it’s very useful to know what questions people have left after I present a setting! My natural inclination is massive data-dump. This is an experiment in leaving more unsaid, and I appreciate your input on what should have been dolloped back in.
Small communities, mostly physically isolated from each other, but informationally connected and centrally administered. Basically meritocratic in structure—pass enough of the tests and you can work for the gubmint.
Reminds me of old China...
Virtually all sophisticated equipment is communally owned and equipped with government-designed protocols.
That naturally makes me curious about how they got there. How does a government, even though unelected, go about impounding or destroying all privately owned modern technology? What enforcement powers have they got?
Of course there could be any number of uninteresting answers, like ‘they’ve got a singleton’ or ‘they’re ruled by an AI that moved all of humanity into a simulation world it built from scratch’.
And once there, with absolute control over all communications and technology, it’s conceivable to run a long-term society with all change (incl. scientific or technological progress) being centrally controlled and vetoed. Still, humans have got a strong economical competition drive, and science & technology translate into competitive power. Historically, eliminating private economic enterprise takes enormous effort—the big Communist regimes in USSR, and I expect in China as well, never got anywhere near success on that front. What do these contended pain-free people actually do with their time?
How does a government, even though unelected, go about impounding or destroying all privately owned modern technology? What enforcement powers have they got?
It was never there in the first place. The first inhabitants of these communities (which don’t include the whole planet; I imagine there are a double handful of them on most continents—the neuros and the genderless kids are more or less universal, though) were volunteers who, prior to joining under the auspices of a rich eccentric individual, were very poor and didn’t have their own personal electronics. There was nothing to take, and joining was an improvement because it came with access to the communal resources.
Of course there could be any number of uninteresting answers, like ‘they’ve got a singleton’ or ‘they’re ruled by an AI that moved all of humanity into a simulation world it built from scratch’.
Nope. No AI.
What do these contended pain-free people actually do with their time?
What they like. They go places, look at things, read stuff, listen to music, hang out with their friends. Most of them have jobs. I find it a little puzzling that you have trouble thinking of how one could fill one’s time without significant economic competition.
Oh. So these communities, and Key’s life, are extremely atypical of that world’s humanity as a whole. That’s something worth stating because the story doesn’t even hint at it.
I’d be interested in hearing about how they handle telling young people about the wider world. How do they handle people who want to go out and live there and who come back one day? How do they stop the governments of the nations where they actually live from enforcing laws locally? Do these higher-level governments not have any such laws?
I find it a little puzzling that you have trouble thinking of how one could fill one’s time without significant economic competition.
Many people can. I just don’t find it convincing that everyone could without there being quite a few unsatisfied people around.
Oh. So these communities, and Key’s life, are extremely atypical of that world’s humanity as a whole. That’s something worth stating because the story doesn’t even hint at it.
I disagree: it doesn’t matter for the story whether the communities are typical or atypical for humanity as a whole, so mentioning it is unnecessary.
I’d be interested in hearing about how they handle telling young people about the wider world.
The relatively innocuous information about the wider world is there to read about on the earliest guidelists; less pleasant stuff gets added over time.
How do they handle people who want to go out and live there and who come back one day?
You can leave. That’s fine. You can’t come back without passing more tests. (They are very big on tests.)
How do they stop the governments of the nations where they actually live from enforcing laws locally?
They aren’t politically components of other nations. The communities are all collectively one nation in lots of geographical parts.
Many people can. I just don’t find it convincing that everyone could without there being quite a few unsatisfied people around.
They can leave. The communities are great for people whose priorities are being content and secure. Risk-takers and malcontents can strike off on their own.
They aren’t politically components of other nations. The communities are all collectively one nation in lots of geographical parts.
I wish our own world was nice enough for that kind of lifestyle to exist (e.g., purchasing sovereignity over pieces of settle-able land; or existing towns seceding from their nation)… It’s a good dream :-)
Target audience—beats me, really. It’s kind of set up to preach to the choir, in terms of the “moral”. I wrote it because I was pretty sure I could finish it (and I did), and I sorely need to learn to finish stories; I shared it because I compulsively share anything I think is remotely decent.
Hypotheses: I myself am female. Lace, the only gendered character with a speaking role, is female. Key bakes cupcakes at one point in the story and a stereotype is at work. (I had never heard of Key the Metal Idol.)
Could be. I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even consciously remember Key baking cupcakes by the time the story ended and I asked myself what might have influenced me.
I also had the feeling that the story wasn’t really about Key; ey just serves as an expository device. Ey has no unpredictable or even unusual reactions to anything that would establish individuality. The setting should then draw the most interest, and it didn’t do enough that, because it was too vague. What is the government? How does it decide and enforce allowed research, and allowed self-modification? How does sex-choosing work? What is the society like? Is Key forced at a certain age to be in some regime, like our schools? If not, are there any limits on what Key or her parents do with her life?
As it is, the story presented a very few loosely connected facts about Key’s world, and that lack of detail is one reason why these facts weren’t interesting: I can easily imagine some world with those properties.
Small communities, mostly physically isolated from each other, but informationally connected and centrally administered. Basically meritocratic in structure—pass enough of the tests and you can work for the gubmint.
Virtually all sophisticated equipment is communally owned and equipped with government-designed protocols. Key goes to the library for eir computer time because ey doesn’t have anything more sophisticated than a toaster in eir house. This severely limits how much someone could autonomously self-modify, especially when the information about how to try it is also severely limited. The inconveniences are somewhat trivial, but you know what they say about trivial inconveniences. If someone got far enough to be breaking rules regularly, they’d make people uncomfortable and be asked to leave.
One passes some tests, which most people manage between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, and then goes to the doctor and gets some hormones and some surgical intervention to be male or female (or some brand of “both”, and some people go on as “neither” indefinitely, but those are rarer).
Too broad for me to answer—can you be more specific?
Education is usually some combination of self-directed and parent-encouraged. Key’s particularly autonomous and eir mother doesn’t intervene much. If Key did not want to learn anything, eir mother could try to make em, but the government would not help. If Key’s mother did not want em to learn anything and Key did, it would be unlawful for her to try to stop em. There are limits in the sense that Key may not grow up to be a serial killer, but assuming all the necessary tests get passed, ey can do anything legal ey wants.
Thank you for the questions—it’s very useful to know what questions people have left after I present a setting! My natural inclination is massive data-dump. This is an experiment in leaving more unsaid, and I appreciate your input on what should have been dolloped back in.
Reminds me of old China...
That naturally makes me curious about how they got there. How does a government, even though unelected, go about impounding or destroying all privately owned modern technology? What enforcement powers have they got?
Of course there could be any number of uninteresting answers, like ‘they’ve got a singleton’ or ‘they’re ruled by an AI that moved all of humanity into a simulation world it built from scratch’.
And once there, with absolute control over all communications and technology, it’s conceivable to run a long-term society with all change (incl. scientific or technological progress) being centrally controlled and vetoed. Still, humans have got a strong economical competition drive, and science & technology translate into competitive power. Historically, eliminating private economic enterprise takes enormous effort—the big Communist regimes in USSR, and I expect in China as well, never got anywhere near success on that front. What do these contended pain-free people actually do with their time?
It was never there in the first place. The first inhabitants of these communities (which don’t include the whole planet; I imagine there are a double handful of them on most continents—the neuros and the genderless kids are more or less universal, though) were volunteers who, prior to joining under the auspices of a rich eccentric individual, were very poor and didn’t have their own personal electronics. There was nothing to take, and joining was an improvement because it came with access to the communal resources.
Nope. No AI.
What they like. They go places, look at things, read stuff, listen to music, hang out with their friends. Most of them have jobs. I find it a little puzzling that you have trouble thinking of how one could fill one’s time without significant economic competition.
Oh. So these communities, and Key’s life, are extremely atypical of that world’s humanity as a whole. That’s something worth stating because the story doesn’t even hint at it.
I’d be interested in hearing about how they handle telling young people about the wider world. How do they handle people who want to go out and live there and who come back one day? How do they stop the governments of the nations where they actually live from enforcing laws locally? Do these higher-level governments not have any such laws?
Many people can. I just don’t find it convincing that everyone could without there being quite a few unsatisfied people around.
The exchange above reminds me of Robin Hanson’s criticism of the social science in Greg Egan’s works.
I disagree: it doesn’t matter for the story whether the communities are typical or atypical for humanity as a whole, so mentioning it is unnecessary.
The relatively innocuous information about the wider world is there to read about on the earliest guidelists; less pleasant stuff gets added over time.
You can leave. That’s fine. You can’t come back without passing more tests. (They are very big on tests.)
They aren’t politically components of other nations. The communities are all collectively one nation in lots of geographical parts.
They can leave. The communities are great for people whose priorities are being content and secure. Risk-takers and malcontents can strike off on their own.
I wish our own world was nice enough for that kind of lifestyle to exist (e.g., purchasing sovereignity over pieces of settle-able land; or existing towns seceding from their nation)… It’s a good dream :-)
It was the first thing.
The exchange above reminds me of Robin Hanson’s criticism of the social science in Greg Egan’s works.