History and Future of the Solid State Entity by Jessica Rylan
On a transhumanist website, I found the following quote by science-fiction author David Zindell:
We should all know the code of our programs, otherwise we can never be free.
Zindell's most popular works are the novel Neverness, and the succeeding trilogy Requiem for Homo Sapiens. These books prominently feature the Solid State Entity: a planet-sized, all-knowing, omnipotent computer, with a feminine essence.
But the term Solid State Entity originated with John Lilly's 1978 "novel-autobigraphy" The Scientist. While researching consciousness on a government grant, Lilly's ketamine experience led him to discover that computer technology had been sent to Earth by the Solid State Entity, as a preliminary step in colonizing the planet. This dire vision propelled him to Washington, where he attempted to warn then-President Gerald Ford of the impending take-over.
For Lilly's friend and contemporary, Marcia Moore, ketamine was the key that allowed her entry to the Bright World. From her first journey in 1976, Moore was propelled with an interstellar urgency, becoming Priestess to the Goddess Ketamine. By 1978 she had published a 200 page book detailing her discoveries of universal interconnection, the cosmic matrix. In 1979, she retreated to the forest, and was never again seen alive.
Zindell's Solid State Entity merges Lilly's invaders and Moore's Goddess, nullifying both threat and liberation in pure pop culture. But what did Lilly and Moore really find, while attempting to learn the code of their programs?
For Piksel 08, I propose an interactive multimedia presentation, presenting the history and future of the solid state entity. Topics will include artificial consciousness in fact and fiction, neural programming and the dream world, control systems, and the history of microelectronics.
The presentation will include photos, spoken word, synthesized sounds, and movement.
Tech:
home-made synthesizer, books