Lena

by qntm, Sam Hughes, Boris Ostanin (Translator)

Эта статья — о стандартном тестовом образе мозга. О реальном человеке см. Мигель Асеведо.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Short Stories, Horror

ebook

First published January 4, 2021

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and a bit horrifying, but I don't find these types of epistolary stories very compelling.

[Italo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting take on a common idea. Very well executed, with a healthy amount of existential dread.

Best enjoyed when followed up by qntm's essay on the topic https://qntm.org/uploading

[Wednesday · Rating 5 out of 5]

qntm's sci-fi short stories are great! This is a unique take on brain emulation that I haven't seen before in fiction.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so haunting yet so techincal. What an engrossing read, very SCP-esque in prose, yet felt much more real and possible and in ways had a more terrifying urgency.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but horrifying story. Good god.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escalofriante relato sobre el volcado y replica del cerebro humano que recuerda a las vicisitudes de las células "inmortales" de Henrietta Lacks.

[J_BlueFlower · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is excellent! Need to think for a bit and reread.

Made me think of Altered Carbon just possibly even bleaker.

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short story. Very similar concept to the game called S.O.M.A.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

A troubling article.

[arity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. We need more.

[Bryn A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt like the concept could’ve been pushed a *bit* more. Interesting but I can also tell I’m not quite smart enough to understand everything that was being said.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A capitalist argument against true AI ever being developed. Why fund it, if this exists?

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book may possibly prevent you from inflicting 10^9+ hours of unimaginable suffering on... yourself.

[Loni]

this was literally only 7 pages long and yet one of the best sci-fi horror stories I've ever read. I highly recommend basically everything qntm has written

[Melissa]

Recommended by Damien Walter

[Xabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most terrifying sci-fi shorts I've ever read. Reminiscent of Black Mirror with all the tech horror and existential dread.

[Bemmu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short read if you are into Black Mirror, deep learning, or liked the video game "Soma" or the book "Permutation City".

Read for free here: https://qntm.org/mmacevedo

[Faye · Rating 3 out of 5]

Also cool short story, but slightly less mind-boggling than 'I don't know Timmy, being God is a big responsibility'. Maybe I just can't fully wrap my head around this one...

[Chris Paxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and really unnerving story about uploaded intelligence, in the format of a Wikipedia article. Very short read on his website so just go read it!

[Phil K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short - lots of dread.

[Fatimah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting takes on future brain simulation.

[lily࿐ orbit · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is horrifying and scared me almost as much as antimemetics division. so he's not just a one hit wonder. everything he writes is excellent

[Remo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Breve historia sobre el clonado de un cerebro humano en soporte informático, y el rumbo que toma la investigación (y la Humanidad) tras este descubrimiento. No me ha impresionado como lo hizo en su día Aprendiendo a ser yo de Greg Egan, y tampoco está tan detallado como el mismo procedimiento, exacto, que se describe en la saga del Bobiverso, que acabo de terminar este año. El relato es parte de una recopilación, que no he sentido la necesidad vital de adquirir. Todavía.
[Actualización diciembre 2023]
La necesidad llegó, y estoy leyendo el resto de los relatos del autor. Añadiré comentario dentro de 2023.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!