I mean, does Sweetheart think drones are weird? Or remote control in general?
It’s only “weird” because they insist on treating a helicopter as if it’s an integral part of a human person, when in reality the only integral part of any human person is a human brain. The helicopter is a just a machine, the same way a corpse is a machine – if you can keep the machine in physical working order with appropriate maintenance and deliver the proper electrical signals to control how it functions, there’s no reason it shouldn’t function exactly as you desire, within it’s capabilities and your capacity to tell it what to do.
It’s probably as difficult for her to conceive of how a transorganic lives as it would be for us if we met a real life NHS with the ability to talk. In order to empathize, you have to be able to actually imagine how the other party thinks and feels, so even though Nick is her friend, she’s a little too grounded (so to speak) to be fully empathetic to him.
Right, but that still requires the ability to imagine what it must be like to be a rock, even if you’re wrong. And even then, the people who empathize with the rocks are anthropomorphizing them, not considering that an intelligent rock would have a very different mindset and set of priorities than a person.
Sweetheart is too focused on the practical to imagine how it must feel to not define oneself solely by morphology, the way Nick is able to.
I mean the helicopter absolutely IS an integral art of a human person! It’s Nick’s real body, last time we checked explicitly!
Possibly/it seems like the human body also is? Which might be the think I think Sweetheart is weirded out by — Nick is in two places at once plus all the places he is online right now, see look posthuman constructions of identity are useful for day-to-day living. Somebody give me a philosophy degree, and I’m not sure if Sweetheart has ever seen anything near that? The closest we’ve seen is Gavotte (who stays in one place) and the Cypress, who when she divided (although note that was divided, not just physically separated) one of them became the child of the other.
(I also think you’re a bit underselling the amount of thinking and emotions and identity and self is in broader endocrine systems, but that’s just quibbling and possibly underplayed in the narboniverse.)
Nick refers to the humanoid body carrying his brain around in its head his “meat peripheral”. So, no, not also his real body.
I think what disturbs Sweetheart is that he is able to control his helicopter body even with hundreds – if not thousands – of miles between it and his brain.
I’m surprised that Buck’s joining them, really. “Sorry guys, I need to stay near the Osprey. And Dr. Lee needs to come with to monitor my implants.”. And the two of them take a circuitous route to the Bahamas to throw Anasigma off. And other reasons.
We already knew Nick could control the Osprey from a very long distance, so saying he needed to stay near it wouldn’t fly (no pun intended). And Virginia can still monitor him along the way (monitor his implants, and other… things). They can go to the Bahamas on their honeymoon later.
Some communications satellites are as low as 2000 kilometers. (OTOH, any delay caused by the satellite receiving, processing, and re-broadcasting the signal – I don’t think they actually “bounce” signals – will be inescapable).
Nick’s a black-ops mad science prototype; maybe he does have a perfected “bounce signals off meteor trails” ionosphere radio. (And now he’s a Tigerlily/Dr Lee collaboration, maybe he can *make* the meteor trails. Tigerlily likes crashing satellites and Dr Lee’s transceiver packs a punch…)
We do, Nick! We do. But most of us are on the other side of the 4th wall. ^_^
To be fair to Nick, he IS the most consistently competent member of the Skin Horse team.
How awesome is Nick? Have you seen who he’s banging? He’s _that_ awesome and more!
Nick’s divided himself in two. But the half that Sweetheart is talking to has the most important part.
The opposable thumbs?
Hey, somebody’s got to deal with the doorknobs and can openers. 😉
Paying attention! My old nemesis!
I mean, does Sweetheart think drones are weird? Or remote control in general?
It’s only “weird” because they insist on treating a helicopter as if it’s an integral part of a human person, when in reality the only integral part of any human person is a human brain. The helicopter is a just a machine, the same way a corpse is a machine – if you can keep the machine in physical working order with appropriate maintenance and deliver the proper electrical signals to control how it functions, there’s no reason it shouldn’t function exactly as you desire, within it’s capabilities and your capacity to tell it what to do.
typo – last sentence, “its”, not “it’s”
Don’t show this to Sweetheart.
http://skin-horse.com/comic/the-new-2/ I can’t imagine why not?!
It’s probably as difficult for her to conceive of how a transorganic lives as it would be for us if we met a real life NHS with the ability to talk. In order to empathize, you have to be able to actually imagine how the other party thinks and feels, so even though Nick is her friend, she’s a little too grounded (so to speak) to be fully empathetic to him.
Yes, but the empathetic imagination doesn’t have to be accurate. Humans have empathized with rocks.
Right, but that still requires the ability to imagine what it must be like to be a rock, even if you’re wrong. And even then, the people who empathize with the rocks are anthropomorphizing them, not considering that an intelligent rock would have a very different mindset and set of priorities than a person.
Sweetheart is too focused on the practical to imagine how it must feel to not define oneself solely by morphology, the way Nick is able to.
I mean the helicopter absolutely IS an integral art of a human person! It’s Nick’s real body, last time we checked explicitly!
Possibly/it seems like the human body also is? Which might be the think I think Sweetheart is weirded out by — Nick is in two places at once
plus all the places he is online right now, see look posthuman constructions of identity are useful for day-to-day living. Somebody give me a philosophy degree, and I’m not sure if Sweetheart has ever seen anything near that? The closest we’ve seen is Gavotte (who stays in one place) and the Cypress, who when she divided (although note that was divided, not just physically separated) one of them became the child of the other.(I also think you’re a bit underselling the amount of thinking and emotions and identity and self is in broader endocrine systems, but that’s just quibbling and possibly underplayed in the narboniverse.)
That was supposed to be laugh emoji, but apparently they don’t post. Still, you’ve earned that degree.
Nick refers to the humanoid body carrying his brain around in its head his “meat peripheral”. So, no, not also his real body.
I think what disturbs Sweetheart is that he is able to control his helicopter body even with hundreds – if not thousands – of miles between it and his brain.
Good answer.
I’m surprised that Buck’s joining them, really. “Sorry guys, I need to stay near the Osprey. And Dr. Lee needs to come with to monitor my implants.”. And the two of them take a circuitous route to the Bahamas to throw Anasigma off. And other reasons.
Nick , not Buck. Stupid autocorrect.
They just had a stay on Bad Island…
We already knew Nick could control the Osprey from a very long distance, so saying he needed to stay near it wouldn’t fly (no pun intended). And Virginia can still monitor him along the way (monitor his implants, and other… things). They can go to the Bahamas on their honeymoon later.
I’m a talking dog, always.
Not a pollywog, always.
With this Kansas trip, I’m in charge, not Tip.
I will lead our ship, always.
Skin-Horse mission creep, always.
Getting in too deep, always.
Just because we care, we discharge our share,
Show we really care, for always.
Problematic foes, always.
Autopilot woes, always.
Allies who aren’t friends, Anasigma ends,
VR world transcends, always.
—from “Always,” written by Irving Berlin. (It’s in public domain this year.)
Lovely!
In before nick discovers latency and becomes unable to keep the drone body standing upright.
(Round trip delay for a satellite in geostationary orbit is on the order of 300ms)
Some communications satellites are as low as 2000 kilometers. (OTOH, any delay caused by the satellite receiving, processing, and re-broadcasting the signal – I don’t think they actually “bounce” signals – will be inescapable).
Nick’s a black-ops mad science prototype; maybe he does have a perfected “bounce signals off meteor trails” ionosphere radio. (And now he’s a Tigerlily/Dr Lee collaboration, maybe he can *make* the meteor trails. Tigerlily likes crashing satellites and Dr Lee’s transceiver packs a punch…)
Nick has not always been awesome, but he has been be-awsomed over the course of Skin Horse, which is one of my favorite things about Skin Horse.