Nexus

 

Last night I had a disturbing feeling that I was missing a very important connection between two sets of events since the emergency declaration, and decided to re-read my principal record of those events - this blog. In one set of apparently coincidental events, changes to the global strategy’s timetable for action and response were triggered by new data and new analyses that have now returned it to effectively what was planned four months ago. Time lost due to optimistic expectations in the interim forced more extreme measures regarding the transition; while the earlier preparations for a similar end-state began paying off with enough people to fill a city ready and motivated to share with others how to survive and thrive under those potentially future conditions.

The second set of events could also be interpreted as coincidence. I haven’t been able to shake how Sally, the first living machine, anticipated I would misremember the date of an e-mail and as a result find the clue she planted about the act of sabotage intended to destroy her. That led to my conscription by WICO and an unexpected role in shaping the global strategy, managed and encouraged by Maura who experiences the world as if it is one of several, just as Sally sees human behavior as part of a simulation. Then I visited a commune and its spinoff that are both tied to Maura’s personal history and related to one of WICO’s test communities, where people have an intuitive understanding of complex probability that helps them lead rich internal lives that don’t require much physically beyond what supports basic survival.

After a lot of thought, I realized that there are myriad connections between these sets of events, and none is inherently more important than the others. “Importance is what you believe it is,” Maura suggested when I called to discuss this with her. “I happen to believe that what’s important is that we are part of those events. We directly shaped some. We noticed others and then acted on that experience, expanding their influence and therefore them.”

“How would Sally’s simulation viewpoint apply?” I asked, unable to reconcile it with what she was saying.

“The way we think about something is part of how we experience it. Thinking is a way of making something new with it, something that can change what we do. I imagine that what she does is similar to that.”

I recalled how Sally had generated the global strategy, and found the source of my initial disturbance. “What she does with that connects the future with all the events we’re part of.”

Reality Check

Sally is featured in the illustration below.

On January 24, Sally introduced a Hope Chart that ended the transition at the same time and total consumption level as the “new” one. It was replaced on April 18 with a new trajectory based on a new assessment of how self-sustained impact would be affected by a drop in total consumption.

The commune Mayakee and its spinoff Hikeyay each represents a simulated world. Mayakee is the simulation used prior to Tuesday, and Hikeyay is the simulation used from now on.