“For outdated computers, there is no heaven and no afterlife; this is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark,” he said. Stephen Hawkins. And an Argentine writer, who was very young at that time – in 2012 – decided to discuss it. Only he went much further, imagining a future in which we begin chatting with the dead – brain activity is preserved on the Internet – and the dead can eventually be reborn. But in which body? And that’s where it’s put together.
The bodies of summer
E-book
I’ll take a step back: the author’s name is Martin Felipe Castagnetwas born in La Plata in 1986 and the novel I’m talking about is The bodies of summer. In 2012, it was hard to imagine an artificial intelligence that would really accompany us and that could really take shape. Today… not so much.
Castagnet It hits the mark, it hits the mark because it doesn’t create a stereotypical and oppressive world in which bad machines make poor people suffer. It raises fears and dilemmas. Technology mixes with the most “human” part of life. The illusion of living again, loving again.
In the novel, there is simply an afterlife for anyone who wants it. For everyone who chooses to stay instead of die “floating” on the Internet.
Floating is “the continuation of brain activity within a computer model.” It means continuing to “live” on the Internet, but of course without a body. Can you communicate, can you chat with those who really live? but body, no (for now). Forever? Depends on.
The protagonist of The bodies of summer He was a man, he had children, he died and floated. In fact, he was one of the pioneers of floating onward. That’s where I was when they found out how reincarnate. A floating being can reincarnate into a body. It’s the revolution, right? The abolition of death. But, but, but… What body will he be reincarnated into? The answer is quite realistic: the best the family can afford: life is that hard.
So the first thing we read is what this protagonist says: “It’s good to have a body again, even if it is one.” this fat woman’s body that no one else wants.” But the man lives in his grandson’s house now she is a lady and that’s one of the things you have to get used to. Many things have changed in his “absence,” but nothing is as intimate, as central, as that.
Things happen to the ex-husband with the new body. The most obvious, of course: she has breasts. “I will never complain about my body again. Even though my knees are pulverizing and my tits are swelling like they’re frozen inside“, he says once.
Is fatMoreover, this is not an indifferent fact, neither for walking nor, for example, for looking for a job. She is rejected from three jobs. “ANDThe first is in a teahouse; I am “too young”“.
The second is in a butcher shop; I am “too old”. The third is in a sports complex; I am “too much of a woman.” “If I come back with another person, maybe I can move on to the next step of the interview.”“.
In all cases, he says, too fat. His old medals, the ones from his first life, are useless. This is now.
But if you can reincarnate, of course you can choose another bodymoving to something more in line with one’s feelings or more comfortable, according to the laws of the market: The world has changed a lot, but not that much, as far as we can see.
The novel faces practical problems: Can one be reincarnated in one’s own body – the book says “burn” in the same way that CDs were “burned/copied”? Yes, but you are considered sick. And especially: Where do the bodies come from? As expected, the bodies start to have one commercial value. And caring for them is no longer an individual matter. The slogan “My body is mine” loses its meaning when it is part of one essential social capital. Smoking, a crime: destroys lungs that others need. Self-mutilation… I don’t know, I guess.
Cemeteries are disappearing: what remains in them? And on the other hand, it is no longer necessary to look at a stone, a small door or a shore and internally talk to the deceased loved one… just turn on the computer and talk live.
And hug him one day? Do I hug my mother when she comes back in a completely different body?
Of course, the old existential question arises here: What do I say when I say “I”? Am I talking about my brain activity, which ultimately includes my ideas and my emotions? Is she, my mother, without one? his smell, his voice and the condition of your skin?
Something like this happens to Teo, the protagonist’s son, who is lying in a bed as an old man because he does not accept reincarnation and the He doesn’t recognize this lady as his father.. “You’re my grandmother,” he tells her.
Like in the novel Jose Saramago The incidents of deathwhere no one dies from one day to the next The bodies of summer The entire social structure must be adapted to this eternal life. Inheritances are an issue. The connections between new beings in bodies that have families is another.
It is not indifferent The body is not indifferent, Castagnet appears to be screaming. Something similar to what it says Amelie Nothomb In thirstthis novel tells about a Jesus about to be crucified. “My father’s greatest achievement is the incarnation.”the Belgian writer lets him say Jesus. “That a disembodied power came up with the idea of inventing the body remains a gigantic genius“.
How These disembodied brains are connected to each other – an AI that talks to another AI – what changes does the change in bodies in society bring about, what new atrocities They are invented to exploit the flesh and blood, which puts love and torment above all else are some of the things the novel suggests.
The fat woman’s body will not be the protagonist’s final goal. When we get used to it, when we already enjoy the clothes and learn how to apply makeup, things will happen that will make us think about everything again.
A lady marries a robot she created on Chatgpt? Nice idea, a little sad, but an idea. Back in 2012, Martín Felipe Castagnet reflected on the complexities, problems and emotions that such a decision can generate. Pure humanity, don’t lose yourself The bodies of summer.
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