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

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Notes for The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, by Rudy Rucker Sent the site access info to my editor and publisher, and to Stephen Wolfram, John Walker, Brian Silverman, Charles Bennett, Scott Aaronson, and my SJSU colleagues Jon Pearce, Michael Beeson, and Chris Pollett. September 19, 2004. Wolfram calls. I had an interesting talk with Stephen Wolfram today, he called, and we were on the phone for about an hour. He's quite enthused about the book, though has only had time to leaf through it. He had some useful suggestions we can start thinking about. He's quite the businessman, as well as the science genius. (a) Work to remove as many of the equations/formulae as possible. (b) Clearly visualize the target audience. (c) Think of a subtitle that clearly explains what the book is about. (d) Think of a concise hook for PR purposes. (e) Have a clear plan of promotion. Hoping for a miracle doesn't work. (f) Consider designing the book, particularly the cover, so that it looks dramatically different from all the other science books out there. =============== (a) I'm of two minds about formulae. To me an equation makes things so much clearer. But they do scare some off. I'd kind of like to keep them. But I'll at least consider massaging out as many as I can. (b) Wolfram's A New Kind of Science sold about 250,000 copies, so if we could simply sell to a lot of these people we'd be in good shape. Wolfram said my book in some ways made him think of Hofstadter's Gödel Escher Bach. He remarked that a book like that appeals to a bright young person who wants easy intro to complicated things. I'm also thinking a bit of the Tao of Physics crowd, as I have a certain amount about enlightenment. I think we could also reach the more professional types who like my Infinity and the Mind. (b) This is one I'm grappling with, and it relates to (c). Ideally we get a subtitle that encapsulates a hook that's tuned to appeal to our target audience(s). Let me just brainstorm a few notions. What Wolfram Said A New Kind of Science for a New Kind of Century Twenty-First Century Science Computation and Beyond A New Kind of Science for Everyday Life Gnarly Computation and the Secret of Life Gnarly Computation, Ultimate Reality, The Meaning of Life, and How To Be Happy (c) I have on my desk two generic science books with exceedingly long subtitles. Linked: How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What It Means for Business, Science, and Everyday Life. The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economics, Societies and the Nation. These guys have their whole "concise hook" in the subtitle! I don't particularly admire these two books, by the way, but certainly I can learn from them. What I Learned in Silicon Valley About Life, The Universe and Everything What I Learned in Silicon Valley About Gnarly Computation and the Secret of Life p. 136
Notes for The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul, by Rudy Rucker How to Use a New Kind of Science to Change Your Life Waking Up From the Dream of Logic To Surf the Seas of Postmodern Gnarly Computation Secret of Reality? Secrets of the Universe What one cyberpunk learned in Silicon Valley about gnarly computation, ultimate reality, the meaning of life, and how to be happy. (d) Wolfram mentioned of course his own NKS and Misner, Thorne and Wheeler's Gravitation as being memorably striking books-as-totem-objects. He thinks it's useful if the cover without the dust jacket look totemic as well. Should I start kicking ideas around with Georgia? I kind of like that image I made for the title page, though it would be better if it were shaped more like a brain, which could be done. Does totemic have to mean black with yellow like NKS? *** Oakes says stick with the equations, don’t listen to Wolfie too much because, after all, W got famous first and then had a publishing success, he’s not necessarily that knowledgeable about publishing. Oakes likes the subtitle idea, though. I’m liking it like this: The Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul What Gnarly Computation Taught Me about Ultimate Reality, the Meaning Of Life, and How To Be Happy Or use “Teaches Us” instead of “Taught Me” to be less egotrippic? On the other hand, the transreal memoir aspect is good. December 3-6, 2004. Revising. 12/3/2004. So I didn’t touch the book for about two months. I was waiting for the peer suggestions, mostly I got them from Scott Aaronson and John Walker, also two of Wolfram’s assistants Boguta and Crawley chimed in. There were so many nitpicks that for awhile I couldn’t face them. Meanwhile I worked on getting my novel Mathematicians In Love going. A nice change, getting back to fiction. Got the first chapter done, and something of a plot outline. Then I was running into plot problems so went back to face the Lifebox music. I did all the fixes over the last couple of weeks, by the end I was ready to choke Walker and Aaronson, which shows what a bad, ungrateful person I am. After my seventeenth day of revisions, I made the mistake of emailing them and telling them that I wanted to choke them; Walker’s used to me and understood, I’m not sure about Scott, haven’t heard back from him, better send an apology. And now I printed out the fixed version and am rereading that and correcting. This will be my first full read-through, so I’m expecting to catch a lot of continuity things. Today I did section 1.1, what a mess, I was floundering when I wrote it, unsure where I was going and had a lot of extra crap. I cut 1,500 words from it. I hope the rest of the manuscript isn’t as bad. I have to say that doing this work is hard, I’m somehow not that into the project anymore, I just want it out of my life. But maybe I’ll get excited again. p. 137
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Notes for the Lifebox, the Seashell, and the Soul - Rudy Rucker

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