The fact that I've read almost every book on this list gives me a warm feeling inside. I think my personal fave would be Sawyer's Calculating God, and not just because it's the only one set in Canada. Sawyer's also a perennial attendee at Worldcon conventions, and always makes for a sharp, funny panelist.
Is self-awareness something we even need? Could aliens be intelligent yet wholly devoid of a sense of self?
No, because part of intelligence means being aware of abstractions, an ability that reuqires self-awareness since it entails the mind, in essence, looking at itself. Sentience itself requires self-awareness because sentience IS, in a sense, self-awareness, of which there is a virtual infinity of levels....
The fact that I've read almost every book on this list gives me a warm feeling inside. I think my personal fave would be Sawyer's Calculating God, and not just because it's the only one set in Canada. Sawyer's also a perennial attendee at Worldcon conventions, and always makes for a sharp, funny panelist.
ReplyDeleteIs self-awareness something we even need? Could aliens be intelligent yet wholly devoid of a sense of self?
ReplyDeleteNo, because part of intelligence means being aware of abstractions, an ability that reuqires self-awareness since it entails the mind, in essence, looking at itself. Sentience itself requires self-awareness because sentience IS, in a sense, self-awareness, of which there is a virtual infinity of levels....
WMB--
ReplyDeleteTwo words: "Chinese room."