Notes for the Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul - Rudy Rucker

Notes for The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, by Rudy Rucker
(a) If firing go to rest 0 state.
(b) If rest i state then go to rest i+1 state.
(c) If rest N-1 , go to ready state.
(c) If ready state and a neighbor is firing, go to firing state.
(d) If ready state, also with probability DRIVER_PROBABILIITY go to firing.
Actually, leaving out (d) this is the same as an N-LUKY rule with L=U=1, K=Y=0.
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Society really has many colors of sand.
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The Ramones paved the way for Green Day. Cyberpunk paved the way for Neal
Stephenson. Kerouac 1956 paved the way for Kerouac 2004. Each failed artifact brings
some brains closer to being primed for a derivative or reissued work.
***
I need to mention Langton’s point that a city is a natural phenomenon much like a
wasp hive or a copper accretion fractal.
***
A street in Manhattan, lined with human-made cars and buildings. Some men are
tearing out and retrofitting some apartments. Wires run across the street bringing power. A
garbage truck is picking up trash. A police car goes by. Stores sell books and summer
dresses.
***
Gnarliness as a measure of art quality. Minimalism only works with an fascinating
explanation. Or if you just happen to get a lucky acupuncture-type hit upon a key node. Less
is less.
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Asimov, “The Last Question,” has that “now there is” line after the people as the
computer if there’s a god.
There’s a Sheckley story about a society that asks one guy his opinions to settle an
election.
“The science fictional megatext.”
August 17, 2004. Blogging at www.boingboing.net
It was fun, I got quite a bit of feedback, fan letters, etc., which felt nice.
I just read an expensive book about McLuhan called On McLuhan, with snippets from
him and his followers plus the usual wasteland of cruddy big photos one expects in this kind
of book. He talks a lot about, when analyzing a new medium, trying to ignore the figure and
see the ground. Ignore the so-called content (which is usually repackaged older media
forms) and look at how the medium changes behavior. Like cars producing roadside stands.
His friends said he made up his ideas in the context of talking, he called these minirants
"probes."
I'm thinking about M. M. because I'd like to come up with some profound aphorism
to stick into this chapter on Society and Computation in my nonfiction book, nearly done.
What are the side effects of the web? I guess the blog is a side-effect. Leaving your diary
out on the coffee table. What are the side effects of the blog?
The egoboo and mail bath was so nice. Like being connected. Like having a lot of
friends, which I don't in meatspace. Like having a cool place to hang out, which I don't in
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