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Aristoi (novel)
Encyclopedia
Aristoi is a 1992 science fiction
novel by Walter Jon Williams
. It was one of the preliminary candidates for the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel
in a particularly competitive year (only the second year in the award's history in which there was a tie). The cover art for Aristoi was nominated for the 1993 Hugo Award
for Best Original Artwork.
," are given the ultimate responsibility: that of managing nanotechnology
.
The Aristoi (and some others) can split their minds into daimones, or "limited personalities", all which can operate as independent mental entities guided by the will of the main 'self' of the Aristos. There are several rituals designed to bring the main personality into contact with his own daimones and establish organization and control among them. In virtual reality
, deployed through an implanted brain-computer interface
, these selves can even be manifested as distinct individuals. The daimones can work on various projects independently without using the body, so that many things can be accomplished in a fraction of the time it would take a singleminded person to do them.
Williams frequently divides the text into two columns representing characters' simultaneous interactions with multiple daimones and/or outside persons (for example, events of a party on one side, Gabriel's daimones commenting amongst themselves on the other). People who have daimones are not considered to be out of their minds, but rather into their minds, and are respected as knowing themselves
much more thoroughly than is possible to a singleminded person.
Virtual reality is referred to as "oneirochronon" (a conflation of Greek words meaning dreamtime); the nearest thing to the oneirochronon experience as of 2009 would be Second Life
. The "Hyperlogos" stores all human knowledge on gigantic servers placed inside Earth's moon and the moons of other planets. The device used for the interface is a tiny implant called a "reno", suggesting a link to Williams' earlier cyberpunk
novels Hardwired
and Solip:System
which deal with a near-future Earth.
In the future of the Logarchy, the original earth was destroyed by "Mataglap Nano", a gray goo disaster which originated in Indonesia (thus the name, which means berserk
in Indonesian). A second Earth has been created, and the Logarchy was formed as a response to the tragedy.
The Logarchy is reminiscent of some of the ideas of Plato
. The Aristoi, the only people authorized to develop and use nanotechnology
, are the unquestioned rulers of humanity, somewhere between government and gods. Each Aristos controls a domaine comprising one or more planets on which they impose their rules and modify so that it resembles the Aristoi's individuality. For example, if an Aristos/Ariste is interested in architecture, his/her domaine will reflect that through its educational system and the structure of its buildings. On the worlds controlled by the Logarchy, ordinary people (the "Demos") live in relative ease and comfort. All serious illnesses have been wiped out, and injuries can be fully healed. The chief responsibility of the Aristoi is to ensure that the people on their planets enjoy the best of health and are able to reach their utmost potential (including becoming an Aristos, if the appropriate exams are passed). The Aristoi interact with their subjects personally, often, to supply guidance and encouragement.
, psychophysiology
, cold reading
and operant conditioning
. For example, they are conditioned to respond to certain mudra
s or hand signals with specified emotional and physical reactions. A skillful practitioner can employ these poses and signals to manipulate others without their knowledge.
Via the reno, or microminiaturized personal computer implanted in the brain in childhood, people have access to unlimited amounts of information about everything. The only restricted information is that which is protected under the "Seal Of Aristoi".
Homosexuality is accepted, and same-sex couples can have children. The novel, in fact, opens with a scene in which the protagonist Gabriel performs "minor" surgery to impregnate his lover, Marcus. Transgender
ed people and men who want to experience pregnancy and birth as women can avail themselves of a "nanologic" package which changes physical gender over a period of months.
The demos or ordinary people revere their domaine leaders as Gods. Gabriel's mother (without Gabriel's desire or approval) runs a church devoted to worship of Gabriel.
Between the aristoi and demos is the class of therapontes (from the Classical Greek therapon, variously meaning a henchman, attendant, squire, or companion in battle) who act as a managerial class carrying out the directives of the aristoi. There are a number of levels of therapontes, and those at the highest level are allowed to take the examinations to advance to aristos rank.
Regarding the religious system on the rogue Aristoi's planet: "I'm a foreigner," he said. "These local prejudices are incomprehensible to me. Why interfere between a human being and his happiness?"
Regarding the difference between dissociative identity disorder
and a healthy, cooperating system: These people, with their fragmented psyches, could not resist a whole human being who wished to direct his entire force against them.
To a young man planning for an arranged marriage: "Your duty to your family and your party and your God and your bride is clear," Gabriel said. "But what do you owe yourself? What contentment is your lot?"
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel by Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams
Walter Jon Williams is an American writer, primarily of science fiction.Several of Williams' novels have a distinct cyberpunk feel to them, notably Hardwired , Voice of the Whirlwind and Angel Stationn...
. It was one of the preliminary candidates for the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel
Hugo Award for Best Novel
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
in a particularly competitive year (only the second year in the award's history in which there was a tie). The cover art for Aristoi was nominated for the 1993 Hugo Award
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
for Best Original Artwork.
Overview
The novel describes the Logarchy, a technologically advanced human society which has spread across half the galaxy. It involves a rigid hierarchy of social classes, based on examinations. The supreme class, the "AristoiAristoi
Aristoi comes from Ancient Greek and means "the best". The term was used to describe the noblemen in ancient Greece, those of a status above the common people. Aristoi were members of the aristocracy and regarded as possessing the trait of Arete; a 'right nature'.Ancient Greek word for the social...
," are given the ultimate responsibility: that of managing nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
.
The Aristoi (and some others) can split their minds into daimones, or "limited personalities", all which can operate as independent mental entities guided by the will of the main 'self' of the Aristos. There are several rituals designed to bring the main personality into contact with his own daimones and establish organization and control among them. In virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, deployed through an implanted brain-computer interface
Brain-computer interface
A brain–computer interface , sometimes called a direct neural interface or a brain–machine interface , is a direct communication pathway between the brain and an external device...
, these selves can even be manifested as distinct individuals. The daimones can work on various projects independently without using the body, so that many things can be accomplished in a fraction of the time it would take a singleminded person to do them.
Williams frequently divides the text into two columns representing characters' simultaneous interactions with multiple daimones and/or outside persons (for example, events of a party on one side, Gabriel's daimones commenting amongst themselves on the other). People who have daimones are not considered to be out of their minds, but rather into their minds, and are respected as knowing themselves
Know thyself
The Ancient Greek aphorism "Know thyself", Greek: ', English phonetics pronunciation: , was inscribed in the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi according to the Greek periegetic writer Pausanias .The maxim, or aphorism, "Know Thyself" has had a variety of meanings attributed to it in...
much more thoroughly than is possible to a singleminded person.
Virtual reality is referred to as "oneirochronon" (a conflation of Greek words meaning dreamtime); the nearest thing to the oneirochronon experience as of 2009 would be Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
. The "Hyperlogos" stores all human knowledge on gigantic servers placed inside Earth's moon and the moons of other planets. The device used for the interface is a tiny implant called a "reno", suggesting a link to Williams' earlier cyberpunk
Cyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
novels Hardwired
Hardwired (novel)
Hardwired is a 1986 cyberpunk science fiction novel by Walter Jon Williams.-Plot introduction:The Orbital Corporations now control the world...
and Solip:System
Solip:System
Solip:System is a 1989 cyberpunk science fiction novelette by Walter Jon Williams.-Plot introduction:Solip:System begins shortly before the ending of Hardwired and continues beyond that point. In Solip:System, the main character is the computer personality Reno...
which deal with a near-future Earth.
In the future of the Logarchy, the original earth was destroyed by "Mataglap Nano", a gray goo disaster which originated in Indonesia (thus the name, which means berserk
Berserker
Berserkers were Norse warriors who are reported in the Old Norse literature to have fought in a nearly uncontrollable, trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the English word berserk. Berserkers are attested in numerous Old Norse sources...
in Indonesian). A second Earth has been created, and the Logarchy was formed as a response to the tragedy.
The Logarchy is reminiscent of some of the ideas of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
. The Aristoi, the only people authorized to develop and use nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
, are the unquestioned rulers of humanity, somewhere between government and gods. Each Aristos controls a domaine comprising one or more planets on which they impose their rules and modify so that it resembles the Aristoi's individuality. For example, if an Aristos/Ariste is interested in architecture, his/her domaine will reflect that through its educational system and the structure of its buildings. On the worlds controlled by the Logarchy, ordinary people (the "Demos") live in relative ease and comfort. All serious illnesses have been wiped out, and injuries can be fully healed. The chief responsibility of the Aristoi is to ensure that the people on their planets enjoy the best of health and are able to reach their utmost potential (including becoming an Aristos, if the appropriate exams are passed). The Aristoi interact with their subjects personally, often, to supply guidance and encouragement.
Society In General
The society controlled by the Logarchy works on a rigid hierarchy of social classes. One's position is determined through examination (as in Imperial China), so that everyone has an opportunity to advance in any field or fields they choose. In the Logarchy, children are trained from an early age in the precepts of Captain Yuan, the founder, in a combination of wushuChinese martial arts
Chinese martial arts, also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" , "sects" or...
, psychophysiology
Psychophysiology
Psychophysiology is the branch of psychology that is concerned with the physiological bases of psychological processes. While psychophysiology was a general broad field of research in the 1960s and 1970s, it has now become quite specialized, and has branched into subspecializations...
, cold reading
Cold reading
Cold reading is a series of techniques used by mentalists, psychics, fortune-tellers, illusionists, and con artists to determine or express details about another person, often in order to convince them that the reader knows much more about a subject than they actually do...
and operant conditioning
Operant conditioning
Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...
. For example, they are conditioned to respond to certain mudra
Mudra
A mudrā is a symbolic or ritual gesture in Hinduism and Buddhism. While some mudrās involve the entire body, most are performed with the hands and fingers...
s or hand signals with specified emotional and physical reactions. A skillful practitioner can employ these poses and signals to manipulate others without their knowledge.
Via the reno, or microminiaturized personal computer implanted in the brain in childhood, people have access to unlimited amounts of information about everything. The only restricted information is that which is protected under the "Seal Of Aristoi".
Homosexuality is accepted, and same-sex couples can have children. The novel, in fact, opens with a scene in which the protagonist Gabriel performs "minor" surgery to impregnate his lover, Marcus. Transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
ed people and men who want to experience pregnancy and birth as women can avail themselves of a "nanologic" package which changes physical gender over a period of months.
The demos or ordinary people revere their domaine leaders as Gods. Gabriel's mother (without Gabriel's desire or approval) runs a church devoted to worship of Gabriel.
Between the aristoi and demos is the class of therapontes (from the Classical Greek therapon, variously meaning a henchman, attendant, squire, or companion in battle) who act as a managerial class carrying out the directives of the aristoi. There are a number of levels of therapontes, and those at the highest level are allowed to take the examinations to advance to aristos rank.
Breakdown
Breakdown is a disease, colloquially known as Dorian Grey's Disease. It reverts artificial bodily programming which has stopped the body from aging. After a certain amount of time the whole body goes into chaos and the victim dies within days. There is no cure.Plot
Gabriel, a minor Aristos, runs a group of planets containing societies devoted to artistic pursuits, assisted by his several daimones, each of whom has his or her own personality and special area of interest. Attending oneirochronon parties and composing operas, having sex with both men and women (at one point, he has sex with two women at once -- one in physical reality, one in the oneirochronon) he seems to live a leisurely, decadent life. An elder Ariste, Cressida, warns Gabriel that something is up in a nearby solar system. There appear to be some extra planets in an area which astronomical surveys had said contained none. Cressida is murdered before she can explain more but Gabriel begins to suspect that Saito, the Aritos whose domain is closest to the mystery solar system, is using it for some undisclosed purpose. Gabriel and some of his advisers leave on a secret mission to the mystery solar system. When they arrive there they discover a horrifying truth: the planets contain life, human life. The most advanced of the planets contains a society similar in nature and technological development to Renaissance Europe. The people here have been left without the guidance and control of an Aristos and are mired in constant warfare and squalor, perishing of diseases which modern technology can easily cure. Someone, presumably Saito, has created human life here and consigned it to perpetual suffering for some unknown reason. Horrified by the suffering they see, Gabriel and some of his companions travel down to the planet to investigate. Posing as visitors from a distant country they identify a local nobleman who they believe to be Saito and arrange a coonfrontation. While they are waiting for their chance to assassinate Saito they see their spaceship, which had been orbiting the planet, destroyed. Their assassination attempt fails when they realize that the nobleman is actually an artificial lifeform. Gabriel and his companions are captured and imprisoned. It is then that Gabriel is confronted with the truth: the mastermind behind this horrifying experiment is not Saito, but Captain Yuan, the architect of the current galactic civilization who had long been presumed dead. Yuan explains his motives behind creating new life: the galactic society of the Logarchy has become staid and stultifying. Protected from any danger, the people have stopped improving and have become slaves of the Aristoi. He created this new solar system and the life within it in order to give a new start to humanity and create a society free from the restrictions of the Logarchy. Yuan, Saito, and Zhenling, an Ariste who Gabriel had considered an ally and even taken as a lover, then begin a brainwashing program on Gabriel, eventually breaking his will and convincing him to help them with minor duties on their project. However, their plan is foiled when a previously hidden sub personality of Gabriel, that he dubs The Voice, uses his computer privileges to escape. Gabriel manages to defeat Saito and escape along with his friends. He informs the rest of the Logarchy about what has happened and rallies them to a war footing. The Logarchy's forces swarm into the new solar system to provide humanitarian relief and begin to integrate the societies into the galactic society. As Yuan's secrets are revealed it is also discovered that he had tampered with the examination process which forms the backbone of the Logarchy, promoting people to Aristoi who he believed could help him and keeping others back. Captain Yuan himself has escaped to parts unknown and Gabriel makes it his life's mission to track him down and bring him to justice. As he does so he is warned by Zhenling, now imprisoned, that in doing so he will only fulfill Yuan's plan to shake up the galactic status quo.Quotes
Regarding homosexuality: "You are who you are," he said. "Suppressing one's inner nature is torture and bitterness."Regarding the religious system on the rogue Aristoi's planet: "I'm a foreigner," he said. "These local prejudices are incomprehensible to me. Why interfere between a human being and his happiness?"
Regarding the difference between dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
Dissociative identity disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis and describes a condition in which a person displays multiple distinct identities , each with its own pattern of perceiving and interacting with the environment....
and a healthy, cooperating system: These people, with their fragmented psyches, could not resist a whole human being who wished to direct his entire force against them.
To a young man planning for an arranged marriage: "Your duty to your family and your party and your God and your bride is clear," Gabriel said. "But what do you owe yourself? What contentment is your lot?"