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Simulated Reality In Fiction
Simulated reality is a common theme in science fiction. It should not be confused with the theme of virtual reality. Literature Theater * ''Possible Worlds (play), Possible Worlds'' (1990) and the 2000 Possible Worlds (film), film adaptation * ''World of Wires'' (2012), directed by Jay Scheib. Comics and anime Film Television * ''Altered Carbon (TV series), Altered Carbon'', Set in a future where consciousness is digitized and stored, a prisoner returns to life in a new body and must solve a mind-bending murder to win his freedom. * ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', the third arc of the 4th season focuses on the characters trapped within a simulated reality. *''Arrowverse'' **"Invasion! (Arrowverse), Invasion!" a crossover of ''Supergirl'', ''The Flash (2014 TV series), The Flash'', ''Arrow (TV series), Arrow'' and ''Legends of Tomorrow''. * ''Ascension (miniseries), Ascension'' - A Netflix mini-series about 600 people who believe they live on a spaceship halfway to Proxima Cent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simulated Reality
The simulation theory is the hypothesis that reality could be simulated—for example by quantum computer simulation—to a degree indistinguishable from "true" reality. It could contain conscious minds that may or may not know that they live inside a simulation. This is quite different from the current, technologically achievable concept of virtual reality, which is easily distinguished from the experience of actuality. Simulated reality, by contrast, would be hard or impossible to separate from "true" reality. There has been much debate over this topic, ranging from philosophical discourse to practical applications in computing. Arguments Simulation argument A version of the simulation hypothesis was first theorized as a part of a philosophical argument on the part of René Descartes, and later by Hans Moravec. The philosopher Nick Bostrom developed an expanded argument examining the probability of our reality being a simulation. His argument states that at least one of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alien Invasion
The alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and film, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade the Earth either to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it under an intense state, harvest people for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether. The invasion scenario has been used as an allegory for a protest against military hegemony and the societal ills of the time. H. G. Wells' novel ''The War of the Worlds'' extended the invasion literature that was already common when science fiction was first emerging as a genre. Prospects of invasion tended to vary with the state of current affairs, and current perceptions of threatening, duress, and terrorism. Alien invasion was a common metaphor in United States science fiction during the Cold War, illustrating the fears of foreign (e.g. Soviet Union) occupation and nuclear devastation of the American people. Examples of these stories include the short story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cookie Monster (novella)
''The Cookie Monster'' is a science fiction novella by American writer Vernor Vinge. It was first published in the October 2003 issue of ''Analog''. Plot summary The story begins following the first day of Dixie Mae Leigh's job as a customer support employee at a fictional company called Lotsatech. She receives an insulting and mysterious email and, in a fit of rage, decides to find out who sent it. She and a fellow employee Victor search the Lotsatech campus looking for the author of the email, following clues in the email header. They meet up with Ellen, a grad student in computer science, who decides to try to help Dixie Mae. While they talk, several mysteries arise and convince them that the email may be a kind of warning about something going on at Lotsatech involving a professor named Gerry Reich, who seems to be involved in all the projects on the campus. Ellen finds another clue in the email leading the three to another building where, to their utter astonishment, a second ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Garland
Alexander Medawar Garland (born 26 May 1970) is an English writer and filmmaker. He rose to prominence as a novelist in the late 1990s with his novel '' The Beach'', which led some critics to call Garland a key voice of Generation X. He subsequently received praise for the screenplays of the films ''28 Days Later'' (2002), '' Sunshine'' (2007), both directed by Danny Boyle, '' Never Let Me Go'' (2010), and ''Dredd'' (2012). He co-wrote the video game '' Enslaved: Odyssey to the West'' (2010) and was a story supervisor on '' DmC: Devil May Cry'' (2013). In 2014, Garland made his directorial debut with '' Ex Machina'', a science fiction- thriller that explores the emergence of artificial general intelligence. The film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and won three British Independent Film awards for Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best British Independent Film. His second film, ''Annihilation'' (2018), based on the 2014 novel by Jeff Vande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Coma
''The Coma'' is a novel by Alex Garland, illustrated by his father, Nicholas Garland Nicholas Withycombe Garland OBE (born 1 September 1935) is a British political cartoonist. Early life Garland was born in Hampstead, London. His father was a doctor and his mother a sculptor. He was the second of six children: he had three brot .... It explores the boundary between the conscious and subconscious mind. ''The Coma'' was published in 2004, eight years after Garland's first novel, '' The Beach''. Plot summary While traveling home on an underground train, Carl is forced to defend a young girl from the harassment of a group of men. For his efforts, Carl is violently attacked and falls into a coma. When he awakes, he quickly discovers that his seemingly normal world is very peculiar. Critical reception Scott Tobias, writing for the A.V. Club, said, "''The Coma'' lacks the gravity of ideas, which leaves the narrative to drift along in the blinkered consciousness of a pot haze." Ti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Phillips (author)
Peter Phillips (1920 – 2012) was a British writer known for a series of science fiction stories published between 1948 and 1958. His best known story is '' Dreams Are Sacred'' (1948), an early example of a shared dream story facilitated by a device. Phillips wrote another highly regarded story the following year, ''Manna''. This tale involves the ghosts of medieval monks trapped in an old monastery; they are able to benefit from a modern canned super-food thanks to blurred timelines, and engage in poltergeist activity. Like many of the author's works, this story is written with a great deal of humour. Both of these stories have been anthologised on numerous occasions, most recently in 2019. Phillips was believed by many to have retired from writing fiction after 1958. However, he wrote his longest story, ''Shaggy Dog Story'', as recently as 1980.Estate of Peter Phillips. This was not published at the time, partly because of its length, which at just over 22,000 words, was too s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dreams Are Sacred
"Dreams are Sacred" is a science fiction short story by British writer Peter Phillips. It was first published in the American magazine '' Astounding Science Fiction'' in September 1948. It is an early example of what later came to be called a "virtual reality" story, in which one person enters a dream or hallucination that is being experienced by another. Plot Pete Parnell is a cynical sports reporter. Early in his childhood, he was cured of frequent nightmares by being taught how to shoot a Colt 45 revolver on the farm where he lived. He was then able to imagine the gun in his dreams and use it to "kill" the monsters. He went on to serve in the army before becoming a reporter. Parnell is called by a friend, Steve Blakiston, who is a psychiatrist using experimental equipment. A patient called Marsham Craswell, a famous writer of "sword and sorcery" fantasy novels, has retreated into a state where he is living a dream in the fantasy world he created. Pete is asked to enter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur C
Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more widely believed, is that the name is derived from the Roman clan '' Artorius'' who lived in Roman Britain for centuries. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Italian it is Arturo. Etymology The earliest datable attestation of the name Arthur is in the early 9th century Welsh-Latin text ''Historia Brittonum'', where it refers to a circa 5th to 6th-century Briton general who fought against the invading Saxons, and who later gave rise to the famous King Arthur of medieval legend and literature. A possible earlier mention of the same man is to be found in the epic Welsh poem ''Y Gododdin'' by Aneirin, which some scholars assign to the late 6th century, though this is still a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The City And The Stars
''The City and the Stars'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1956. This novel is a complete rewrite of his earlier ''Against the Fall of Night'', Clarke's first novel, which had been published in '' Startling Stories'' magazine in 1948 after John W. Campbell, Jr., editor of ''Astounding Science-Fiction'', had rejected it, according to Clarke. Several years later, Clarke revised his novel extensively and renamed it ''The City and the Stars''. The new version was intended to showcase what he had learned about writing, and about information processing. The major differences are in individual scenes and in the details of his contrasting civilizations of Diaspar and Lys. ''Against the Fall of Night'' remained popular enough to stay in print after ''The City and the Stars'' had been published. In introductions to it Clarke has told the anecdote of a psychiatrist and patient who admitted that they had discussed it one day in therapy, without ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chronic City
''Chronic City'' (2009) is a novel by American author Jonathan Lethem. Summary Lethem began work on ''Chronic City'' in early 2007, and has said that the novel is "set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, it’s strongly influenced by Saul Bellow, Philip K. Dick, Charles Finney and Hitchcock’s ''Vertigo'', and it concerns a circle of friends including a faded child-star actor, a cultural critic, a hack ghost-writer of autobiographies, and a city official."Renaud, Jeffrey."Lethem Exits the Unknown with ''Omega''" Comic Book Resources, 2008-07-18. Retrieved on 2008-08-03. Plot outline The novel begins with Chase Insteadman, a former child actor whose career seems to be over, accidentally meeting Perkus Tooth, a once-promising critic now barely surviving by writing liner notes for CDs and DVDs at the office space of The Criterion Collection, and Perkus is eager to expose Chase to a self-contained universe of pop culture esoterica. Perkus has unconventional opinions on almost ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kilgore Trout
Kilgore Trout is a fictional character created by author Kurt Vonnegut. In Vonnegut's work, Trout is a notably unsuccessful author of paperback science fiction novels. "Trout" was inspired by the name of the author Theodore Sturgeon (Vonnegut's colleague in the genre of science fiction—Vonnegut was amused by the notion of a person with the name of a fish, Sturgeon, hence Trout), although Trout's consistent presence in Vonnegut's works has also led critics to view him as the author's own alter ego. In a homage to Vonnegut, Kilgore Trout is also the titular author of the novel '' Venus on the Half-Shell'' (1975), written pseudonymously by Philip José Farmer. Origins of the character In 1957, Theodore Sturgeon moved to Truro, Massachusetts, where he befriended Vonnegut, then working as a salesman in a Saab dealership. At the time, both were writing in the genre of science fiction; Vonnegut had already published '' Player Piano'', retitled ''Utopia 14'' in paperback, while St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurt Vonnegut Jr
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfiction works; further collections have been published after his death. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Vonnegut attended Cornell University but withdrew in January 1943 and enlisted in the US Army. As part of his training, he studied mechanical engineering at the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) and the University of Tennessee. He was then deployed to Europe to fight in World War II and was captured by the Germans during the Battle of the Bulge. He was interned in Dresden, where he survived the Bombing of Dresden in World War II, Allied bombing of the city in a meat locker of the slaughterhouse where he was imprisoned. After the war, he married Jane Marie Cox, with whom he had three children. He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
