Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT: 2281-85 (24-28 September 2012) Weekly Comics Discussion Thread
Dust:
--- Quote from: pwhodges on 27 Sep 2012, 04:55 ---
--- Quote from: Veloso on 27 Sep 2012, 04:47 ---the rules of the universe are being rewritten, and now terms like "owner" are badly politically incorrect.
--- End quote ---
The problem that leads to the differing points of view in the forum is that the QC world has undergone fundamental changes in the relationship between humans and AIs as Jeph has explored this interest of his more deeply. As the time represented in the whole of QC is no more than about two years, this means either that the situation in the QC universe has only just changed - in which case Emily falling into old habits of speaking is not surprising - or that the current QC universe is not the same as that represented in the earlier comics - in which case confusion among the readers is not surprising.
--- End quote ---
Agreed - we've gone from Pintsize talking about "when the Singularity happens" to it apparently having occurred off-panel at some point. While shops still sell Anthros.. or just various chassis options. (I don't know - it's been a long time since an archive binge, maybe I've forgotten things.)
marsman57:
I think if the singularity has occurred, we are also in a period of exponentially accelerating change. As a result of this, the world has been remolded from the earlier strips.
It doesn't really make sense though. The characterizations of AnthroPCs have changed a lot over the course of the comic. I am not sure if this is a result of Jeph having not thought it out fully before or if things are happening the background that we do not see. As much as I like Marten, Faye, Dora, Hanners, etc., none of them are very political or cognizant of the world beyond their own town. The result of this is that while "Big Things" are happening the world, we are not seeing it.
In the era where PintSize was created, it seems that an AnthroPC was seen as more of a commodity to be treated with as the owner pleased. Marten was kind of on the vanguard of well treatment though by holding Pintsize as nearly an equal. He never saw him as just a commodity, so his behavior was not very much shifted by the legislation. This may be part of why we do not see much on the change being made.
Additionally, Pintsize seems to be pleased with their relationship and seems inclined to avoid the responsibility that comes with being considered a full equal. I am guessing that a lot of other AnthroPCs feel that way as well and keep to the "old ways" of interaction in the new world.
Some speculated that Marten was an early adopter of the AnthroPC, possibly given one by his parents. http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5 seems to support that notion with Faye not being shocked, but at least mildly surprised by his presence in the way one might have said "Whoa, you got an iPhone?" a few years ago. Also, Pintsize's reaction seems to indicate that he is basic even at that point.
I'm kind of rambling here, but something fundamentally has changed in AnthroPC/human relations in the comic, but it's hard to pin if Jeph had a specific plan for that to occur on the timeline of the comic or if the change is just the result of him fleshing out his world building a bit more than he had in 2003.
As an aside, it seems to me that Momo's personality pretty significantly changed when she got her new chassis. Maybe she thinks of herself as "more human" now that she is in a human-sized body? If I had time, I'd like to archive binge to compare the behaviors.
cesariojpn:
--- Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 26 Sep 2012, 23:46 ---A number of things would be explained if Pintsize were a hand-me-down from Veronica Vance, though in that case I'd expect him to have learned to be better behaved.
--- End quote ---
Then again, I loathe to wonder if he was owned by Veronica. Imagine the implications if Pintsize knew the guy in the photo.
Carl-E:
Re: What is Momo uploading?
1) The overdue books list, complete with ID pictures, so she can corner the students who come in without returning said items.
2) The updates to the victorian porn collection. Tai assigned her to be the the "go-to" girl for that information, probably becauses of the creeps who ask about it and Momo's defense system...
Whatever it is, I'm betting it's work-related. She's just that kind of girl AnPC.
Somebody:
--- Quote from: techkid on 27 Sep 2012, 05:32 ---I guess one question to ask in response to this is, what sort of processing power do AnthroPCs have? The sorts of AI being displayed here is mind-bogglingly complex (yes, even Pintsize), and depending on how "recent" AI advances are in the QCverse, it would take a buttload of processing power, RAM and storage space to contain and manage it.
--- End quote ---
Allegedly, Pintsize only had 512Mb and Winslow 1Gb! http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=629
(If we're talking about "hidden retcons", I'm pretty sure that'll have been changed silently...)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version