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"People are choosing to allow television and Electronic Arts to do all their imagining for them."
- Peter Watts
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| Norm-All Program | ||
| A set of algorithms that determine a reasonable location for every citizen. |
| Every bit of information is stored in quantum computers and then evaluated by the algorithms of the Norm-All program. Norm-All monitors the opinions of large groups of people, but it also determines each person's typical behavior. This normalcy perimeter is like an invisible circle that defines you - contains you. If you do anything significantly outside the perimeter, your behavior triggers an Unusual Activity Inquiry that is sent to the police. |
| Technovelgy from Spark,
by John Twelve Hawks. Published by Knopf in 2014 Additional resources -
|
Fans of Ray Bradbury's classic 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451 may recall a similar system. When Montag runs for it, and escapes, the police can't admit that they lost him. Perhaps they can find a substitute for the Mechanical Hound to pursue.
This capability may remind you of the real-world services that have been available for adult children of dementia patients for the past five years or so. Outfit your parent with a suitable tracking device, and you can define a perimeter; if your parent steps outside that limit, you can be notified.
"...Right now, some poor fellow is out for a walk... Don't think the police don't know the habits of queer ducks like that, men who walk mornings for the hell of it. Anyway, the police have had him charted for months, years. Never know when that sort of information might be handy...
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'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
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'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
'It's an old model,' Rawlins said. 'I'm not sure what to do.'
'the robot-boss was busy at the lip of the new lode instructing and egging the men on to greater speed...'
'He rode the bike with an intense lack of physical grace...'
