A review by onamoonbeam
Exhalation by Ted Chiang

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

the life cycle of software objects

hello??

hello?? this world that chiang’s built. seems so goddamn real and the debate of letting a loved one be altered v letting a digimon go like a child but is that comparison clear?? 

all the different subcultures of like neopets forums and the guys trying to create civilizations and the extremely loyal and then manufactured digimons and what it would mean if we could put our loved ones or pets in a state of stillness that wasn’t death

and i can see derek’s and anna’s motivations for what they do and it’s so painful to see both sides 

consciousness through experience…

‘the willingness to expand effort maintaining a relationship is what makes it real’ (authors note) aaaaa

this story is over 20 years? it kinda feels that way

scream

“if they’re correct then the hush of the night sky is the silence of a graveyard”

(in reference to species dying out before they can get to space)
this is about PARROTS?? god.

omphalos

oh god the miracle of free choice

in a world where there is proof of god creating the universe, what hopelessness comes when there is no plan for our creation, our existence coincidental, but that means we get to make our own meaning

anxiety is the dizziness of freedom

damn bro. what is free will anyway. how would we take profit and emotional advantage of parallel universes

AA the right choice?? dana’s solace? nat moving forward?? 

negating moral weight? but decisions aren’t canceled out bc good decisions add up over time to more parallel universes/better versions of you