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development of one single human through the various stages - the identical
connections.
'One would, of course, have to limit the speed of the messages transmitted
down those connections to a tiny fraction of their normal electronic speed,
but that would not be diffi-cult, nor would having these neuron-like
components act like their
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of 371) [5/21/03 1:54:10 AM]
Iain M. Banks - Use of Weapons biological equivalents internally, firing their
own messages according to the types of signal they received; all this could be
done comparatively simply. By building up in this gradual way, you could mimic
exactly the development of a human brain, and
you could mimic its output; just as an embryo can experience sound and touch
and even light inside the womb, so could you send similar signals to your
developing electronic equivalent; you could impersonate the experience of
birth, and use any degree of sensory stimulation to fool this device into
thinking it was feeling touching, tasting, smelling, hearing and seeing
everything your real human was (or, of course, you might choose not actually
to fool it, but always give it just as much genuine sensory input, and of the
same quality, as the human personality was experiencing at any given point).
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'Now; my question to you is this; where is the difference? The brain of each
being works in exactly the same way as the other; they will respond to stimuli
with a greater correspond-ence than one finds even between monozygotic twins;
but how can one still choose to call one a conscious entity, and the other
merely a machine?
'Your brain is made up of matter, Mr Zakalwe, organised into
information-handling, processing and storage units by your genetic inheritance
and by the biochemistry of first your mother's body and later your own, not to
mention your experi-ences since some short time before your birth until now.
'An electronic computer is also made up of matter, but orga-nised differently;
what is there so magical about the workings of the huge, slow cells of the
animal brain that they can claim themselves to be conscious, but would deny a
quicker, more finely-grained device of equivalent power - or even a machine
hobbled so that it worked with precisely the same ponderous-ness - a similar
distinction?
'Hmm?' the machine said, its aura field flashing the pink he was beginning to
identify as drone amusement. 'Unless, of course, you wish to invoke
superstition?
Do you believe in gods?'
He smiled. 'I have never had that inclination,' he said.
'Well then,' the drone said. 'What would you say? Is the machine in the human
image conscious, sentient, or not?'
He studied his cards. 'I'm thinking,' he said, and laughed.
Sometimes he saw other aliens (obviously aliens, that is; he was sure that a
few of file:///F|/rah/Iain%20Banks/Banks,%20Iain%20-%20Use%20of%20Weapons.html
(256 of 371) [5/21/03 1:54:10 AM]
Iain M. Banks - Use of Weapons the humans he saw each day were not Culture
people, though without stopping to ask them it was impossible to tell;
somebody dressed as a savage, or in some obviously non-Culture garb, was quite
possibly just dressing up like that for a laugh, or going to a party... but
there were some very obviously different species around as well).
'Yes, young man?' the alien said. It had eight limbs, a fairly distinct head
with two quite small eyes, curiously flower-like mouth parts, and a large,
almost spherical, lightly haired body, coloured red and purple. Its own voice
was composed of clicks from its mouth and almost subsonic vibrations from its
body; a small amulet did the translating.
He asked if he could sit with the alien; it directed him to the seat across
the table from it in the cafe where he had overheard it talking briefly to a
passing human about Special Circum-stances.
'... It is in layers,' the alien replied to his question. 'A tiny core of
Special
Circumstances, a shell of Contact, and a vast chaotic ecosphere of everything
else.
Bit like a... you come from a planet?'
He nodded. The creature glanced at its amulet for a transl-ation of the
gesture the man had used - it was not what the Culture called nodding - then
said, 'Well, it is like a planet, only the core is tiny; very tiny. And the
ecosphere is more disparate and less distinct than the wrapping of atmosphere
round a globe; a red giant star might even be a better compar-ison. But in the
end, you will never know them, because you will be like me, in Special
Circumstances, and only ever know them as the great, irresistible force behind
you; people like you and I are the edge; you will in time come to feel like a
tooth on the biggest saw in the galaxy, sir.' The alien's eyes closed; it
waggled all its limbs very energetically, and its mouth parts crackled.
'Ha ha ha!' the amulet said, primly.
'How did you know I was actually involved with Special Circumstances?' he
asked, sitting back.
'Ah! How much my vanity wishes me to claim I simply guessed, so clever I am...
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but I heard there was a new recruit coming aboard,' the alien told him. 'And
that it was a fairly human-basic male. You... smell right, if I may use that
turn of phrase.
And you... have just been asking all the right questions.'
'And you're in SC too?'
'For ten standard years now.'
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Iain M. Banks - Use of Weapons
'Think I should do it? Work for them?'
'Oh yes; I imagine it's better than what you left, no?'
He shrugged, remembering the blizzard and the ice. 'I suppose.'
'You enjoy... fighting, yes?'
'Well... sometimes,' he admitted. 'I'm good at it, so they say. Not that I'm
necessarily convinced of that myself.'
'No-one wins all the time, sir,' the creature said. 'Not through skill,
anyway, and the
Culture does not believe in luck, or at the very least does not believe it is
transferrable. They must like your attitude, that's all. Hee hee.'
The alien laughed quietly.
'To be good at soldiering,' it said, 'is a great curse, I think sometimes.
Working for these people at least relieves one of some of the responsibility.
I have never found cause to complain.' The alien scratched its body, looked [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]