diff --git a/src/Literature/Enums.ts b/src/Literature/Enums.ts index d6fd7e7b2..1c6534a44 100644 --- a/src/Literature/Enums.ts +++ b/src/Literature/Enums.ts @@ -20,4 +20,5 @@ export enum LiteratureName { TheNewGod = "the-new-god.lit", NewTriads = "new-triads.lit", TheSecretWar = "the-secret-war.lit", + ABriefHistoryOfTranshumanism = "a-brief-history-of-transhumanism.lit", } diff --git a/src/Literature/Literatures.tsx b/src/Literature/Literatures.tsx index 4db82e1ef..8faf93832 100644 --- a/src/Literature/Literatures.tsx +++ b/src/Literature/Literatures.tsx @@ -672,4 +672,52 @@ export const Literatures: Record = { filename: LiteratureName.TheSecretWar, text: , }), + [LiteratureName.ABriefHistoryOfTranshumanism]: new Literature({ + title: "A Brief History of Transhumanism", + filename: LiteratureName.ABriefHistoryOfTranshumanism, + text: ( + + Human augmentation has come a long way since the first prosthetics and implants. Now any and all parts of the + human body are able to be improved by technology: strength, speed, perception, intelligence. A large variety of + powerful augmentations have been developed, but for most they may as well not exist. How did things end up like + this? +
+
+ Part of the answer is, unfortunately, that the exact technology that has allowed us to come so far in human + augmentation is also responsible for its great expense and exclusivity. +
+ The early days of human augmentation were plagued with issues. Immunosuppressants were needed to keep people's + bodies from rejecting the foreign bodies being implanted, with the body constantly trying to "restore" itself to + its natural state. On top of that, with the messy nature of biology any replacement for a natural organ would + fall short of full functionality. The skeleton doesn't just provide structural support and anchors for muscles; + it also helps produce the blood in your body in the marrow. Even the fat in the body is a living organ that + produces hormones helping to regulate its activity. +
+
+ Thus, the process was limited by the capacity of the human body to accept and deal with these changes. Biology + is redundant and flexible, so replacing a few bones won't impact the body's functioning too badly. But every + addition and change would add up, ultimately severely limiting the body's capacity for augmentation. +
+
+ Ultimately it was {CompanyName.VitaLife} who found a way around this limitation, though only at great expense... + They discovered that by using a radical new form of gene therapy to reshape a person's body to not only + accommodate but integrate the augmentations into their body at a cellular level, they could completely eliminate + the side-effects of augmenting. +
+
+ The downside, of course, is the extreme expense and complexity of the process. Not only must each augment be + tailored for its intended recipient and a custom genetic therapy program developed, but to truly avoid any + side-effects this program must take into account the interactions between augmentations when multiple are + installed. The combinatoric explosion in complexity leads to exponentially increasing costs when more than one + augment is installed at the same time. Despite this most still prefer to install as many as possible at once, + because in addition the radical transformation their body undergoes leaves them relearning to use their body for + weeks or even months afterward. +
+
+ In the end humanity is left with the theoretical capacity to transform themselves to the limits of their + imagininations, but the practical reality that the expense of even basic augmentations is beyond 95% of the + population. +
+ ), + }), }; diff --git a/src/Server/data/servers.ts b/src/Server/data/servers.ts index 1830a4ec3..8f02124af 100644 --- a/src/Server/data/servers.ts +++ b/src/Server/data/servers.ts @@ -1388,6 +1388,7 @@ export const serverMetadata: IServerMetadata[] = [ min: 55, }, hostname: "powerhouse-fitness", + literature: [LiteratureName.ABriefHistoryOfTranshumanism], maxRamExponent: { max: 6, min: 4,