The Nexus Trilogy: Thoughts on a Posthuman World
What happens when there is an operating system that downloads directly into the neurons of your brain simply by swallowing a pill? What if your new brain operating system could effortlessly communicate beyond language and into someone else’s memories and emotions? What if one person tried to use this new tool to overtake and enslave the human race? Will the world implode in fear and chaos or can humans come together to transcend our current physical limitations and evolve into a super global planetary consciousness?
These questions and more all bubble to the surface in Ramez Naam’s Nexus trilogy. A techno-thriller set in the late 2030's and early 2040's about a new technology, and the lengths people and governments will go to stop or control evolutionary progress.
I grew up reading Ender’s Game, The Chronicles of Narnia, and R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. This series is a natural fit to my tastes and the times we live in. Living and working in San Fracncisco, the rate of change is frenetic, where disruption is touted simply for the sake of disruption. Nexus however is a fresh and entertaining perspective and story that combines the best of philosophy, cutting edge science, and every changing geo-political turmoil.
If you haven’t already, buy/download the series and “enhance” yourself. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area I have a copy I would be happy to lend you. You have NO excuses to not read this book!
I’ve edited done this post to not reveal any give aways or spoiler. I‘ve focused on a few key themes from the books to start a conversation in the comments section below. The goal is to gain a broader analysis of this story and how we can glean meaning from the future to help us understand the present.
What Comes After Humans? The author Ramez Naam creates a story around the struggle to define the line between man and machine. What evolves after us humans? Artificial Intelligence eclipsing human intelligence is referred to as the Singularity. Beyond this point we have no idea what will happen. Will this new life form be friendly or aggressive?
While there is a lot of speculation that super human intelligence will develop its own consciousness, Nexus takes a different route and assumes that an already conscious living human mind is uploaded into a quantum computing cluster and this is the first truly post human entity.
Religion and Technology
Set in Thailand and other parts of SE Asia and China, Buddhism and meditation greatly influence how the Nexus drug affects the characters in a positive way. What’s refreshing is that these two separate disciplines find common ground of transcendence and balance.
The conversation we are having now in modern day American politics is the zero sum gave of religion and science. Creationism vs. Evolution. Global Warming vs. Ignorance and Hubris. What if religion and spirituality can not deter but rather enhance society? Give us a greater understanding of the tools we are building and why.
Compassion vs. Fear
A lot of what drives human beings is the idea that we are still animals, fearful of predators and irrational, mostly from other humans. The Nexus OS gives people the ability to not only communicate, but to also travel into memories and emotions from other people effortlessly, allowing another person to . The breaking of the wall, also breaks the ego.
The Future of China, India, and the U.S. ?
So if you have a connected consciousness of minds, that is a threat to national security. People could use this OS to hurt people right? Well yes, but that highlights the initial point of overcoming fear with compassion.
When is too much technology a bad thing?
Today we seemed consumed in our phones, laptops, and headphones disconnected from nature and those around us. What will be the long term effect on how humans interact not only one to one, but in groups and “tribes”? What happens when wearables become the mainstream and potentially embedded brain computers? Is there an invisible wall we will hurdle into where Nature says enough?
For more context and content…
Listen to Ramez Naam on Singularity 1 on 1
or
See Ramez Naam live in San Francisco at the Long Now Foundation where he will describe “…how neural implants will connect us on a molecular, neural, and social levels.”
