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"I suspect that religion is a necessary evil in the childhood of our particular species. And that's one of the interesting things about contact with other intelligences: we could see what role, if any, religion plays in their development."
- Arthur C. Clarke
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| Neuro-netsukes | ||
| A small sculpture containing the personality of a living person. |
This item is very similar to a construct, taken from the work of William Gibson. What I liked about this image is that it takes a traditional Japanese miniature artform and combines it with a miniaturized technology.
| "A number of cowardly keiretsu lords could attest to this fact - if only they were able to speak, that is. He had amassed quite a collection of their extracted consciousnesses, utilizing the compression technique that the young master had so expertly developed for him. Neuro-netsukes, that's what the old man jokingly called them. Brain bonsai! He had a dozen figurines on display inside a glass cabinet.... Each of his former enemies had been transformed into a singularly unique work of art. |
| Technovelgy from Rim,
by Alexander Besher. Published by HarperPaperbacks in 1994 Additional resources -
|
A netsuke is a small ivory carving. There were no pockets in Japanese clothing 300 years ago. Women carried small items tucked into their sleeves within the wide obi, a sash around their waists. Men tied a small bag to a cord and pulled the cord up under the obi where it would be kept from slipping by a Netsuke made of stone, gourd or root. The word "netsuke" comes from two words meaning "root" and "fastener."
Netsuke evolved into a collectible form of miniature sculpture; netsukes are often carved in the form of animals and heroes.
Compare to the construct from Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson.
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