The Fifth Science

I had never read this author’s writing before, but I was familiar with his YouTube channel. I really liked this book. Composed of multiple sci-fi shorts, the diverse works carry the theme of the philosophical questions of mind, and what becomes of the Universe, or even the galactic empire as we know it when we conquer The Fifth Science. This seems like a book that was written for its age, where we are already dealing with artificial intelligences that are convincing, productive, or just plain silly. We don’t yet consider these artificial intelligences (or “arties” in the book) as sentient, but even the layman has to eventually ask the question: at what point will science transform matter into something radically new and alive?

I enjoyed the writing. The narration was slightly casual at times, and he likes to try and get a chuckle, but most of it was very set on creating a world for you to experience and I think he succeeded. There are twists and turns, revelations, soft moments, and cliff hangers. But I think, most importantly, these aren’t just lofty ideals that might someday come true. I believe these are real questions that we as a society will have to face, eventually, maybe in a thousand years, maybe in a hundred. And for that reason alone I think books like these are worth the time, just so that we can take a glimpse into a possible future, see how it makes us feel, consider it, and maybe even create lasting changes.

I will be reading more Exurb1a.