Comic Discussion > ALICE GROVE
Alice Grove MCDT March 2015
cesium133:
Well, at least we know it's not the same universe as Yelling Bird's.
jheartney:
My take-aways so far:
1. AG is set on a far future Earth, not some other planet. Earth has an unusually large moon for its mass, and we wouldn't expect another planet to have such a large satellite. Plus the moon as pictured looks very much like our own moon.
2. The AG Earth civilization has achieved sustainability, at the cost of becoming a rural backwater. It's not without technology (remember the giant windmill Alice was on at the beginning? That suggests electrification), but there's no large-scale industrialization. The windmill may be a leftover that the current Earth population would not be able to replicate. Earth has a "scarcity-based economy" that uses money, which is anachronistic in the larger context.
3. Earth's status is protected by the surrounding Praeses civilization, which is probably interstellar in scope. It has progressed beyond scarcity, and does not use money.
4. The Praeses are AI's, and the civilization they run is similar to the Culture, with humans no longer in charge of anything. Humans are the wards of the all-knowing AI's, the Praeses. Ardent and Gavia should not be seen as representative members of the society, however. They're just children.
5. Earth is run as a kind of nature preserve, in which humans live anachronistically. When AI's took over from humans, the AI's decided to keep the Earth as a kind of historical monument. Its biosphere and humans were kept in a semblance of its earlier natural state. The natural state isn't all that accurate a depiction of earlier times, just as the Yellowstone Park you see now is not the same as the natural wilderness from which it was made.
6. Alice is an agent of the Praeses civilization, and she is tasked with keeping the anachronistic Earth society running smoothly. Alice ultimately reports to the Praeses. I'm doubtful she's an android (though she might be); her function is like a park ranger.
7. Ardent and Gavia (beyond their narrative function as audience stand-ins) were allowed into the usually protected Earth nature preserve for some purpose. Alice knows this, but she does not know any more than we do what that purpose is. The purpose may be large (something to do with the Praeses civilization as a whole) or it may be about them personally (see Spirited Away for something similar).
Schwungrad:
--- Quote from: jheartney on 27 Mar 2015, 19:47 ---1. AG is set on a far future Earth, not some other planet. Earth has an unusually large moon for its mass, and we wouldn't expect another planet to have such a large satellite. Plus the moon as pictured looks very much like our own moon.
--- End quote ---
Of course, it could be that such an unusual constellation is somehow a prerequisite for a planet being suitable for human habitation (something to do with stabilization of orbit or whatever), and therefore all inhabitated planets (which would have to be very sparse, but the universe is large) look like this.
--- Quote ---6. Alice is an agent of the Praeses civilization, and she is tasked with keeping the anachronistic Earth society running smoothly. Alice ultimately reports to the Praeses. I'm doubtful she's an android (though she might be); her function is like a park ranger.
--- End quote ---
Somehow I can't see her reporting to the Praeses (Praesides?); I rather have the impression of a "you stick to your business, and I to mine" relationship. My theory is that Alice is not an android (i.e. a silicone-based AI embedded in a mechanical or biomechanical chassis made to resemble a human), but some kind of genetically or nanotechnically enhanced human (cyborg?), and that she (if these enhancements include immortality) or her ancestors were part of a conservative movement who decided to stay on earth and blend in with the "primitives" when the rest of their kind left for their AI-run space colonies.
explicit:
Maybe they just made it to LOOK LIKE EARTH
I'm on a bit of gif binge...
jheartney:
--- Quote from: Schwungrad on 27 Mar 2015, 20:53 ---
--- Quote from: jheartney on 27 Mar 2015, 19:47 ---1. AG is set on a far future Earth, not some other planet. Earth has an unusually large moon for its mass, and we wouldn't expect another planet to have such a large satellite. Plus the moon as pictured looks very much like our own moon.
--- End quote ---
Of course, it could be that such an unusual constellation is somehow a prerequisite for a planet being suitable for human habitation (something to do with stabilization of orbit or whatever), and therefore all inhabitated planets (which would have to be very sparse, but the universe is large) look like this.
--- Quote ---6. Alice is an agent of the Praeses civilization, and she is tasked with keeping the anachronistic Earth society running smoothly. Alice ultimately reports to the Praeses. I'm doubtful she's an android (though she might be); her function is like a park ranger.
--- End quote ---
Somehow I can't see her reporting to the Praeses (Praesides?); I rather have the impression of a "you stick to your business, and I to mine" relationship. My theory is that Alice is not an android (i.e. a silicone-based AI embedded in a mechanical or biomechanical chassis made to resemble a human), but some kind of genetically or nanotechnically enhanced human (cyborg?), and that she (if these enhancements include immortality) or her ancestors were part of a conservative movement who decided to stay on earth and blend in with the "primitives" when the rest of their kind left for their AI-run space colonies.
--- End quote ---
The main effect the Moon has on Earth is in producing tides. You could argue that from an evolutionary standpoint, you need tides to stir up the boundary between sea and land, and that this allows for dynamic development of life at the boundary layer. Even so, this wouldn't be a necessity for human habitation if you were talking about colonized/terraformed worlds (humans would have already evolved before arriving, and could bring with them appropriate flora and fauna for terraforming).
WRT the idea that Alice might be independent, my feeling is the Praeses are powerful enough that whatever goes on on Earth is under their supervision. Alice may be impressive enough to survive a fall, or to take on a child's nanotech, but I don't see her forcing an entire more advanced civilization away from Earth. If she's there, it's because they want her there. If she were actually independent, I don't think a much more advanced civilization would let her run amok for long. (Unless reining her in is the purpose of sending these two brats her way.)
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