The Sephirotics
graphic ©
Richard Patterson
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The Sephiroticsgraphic ©
Richard Patterson
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The Sephirotics - Data Panel
definition: Major Civilization Symbol: no single agreed upon symbol, although a stylised representation of the fourteen (or sometimes twelve or sixteen) sephirotics is sometimes used Ruling Toposophic: SI>6 Origin: Terragen Founded: late first federation period - spontaneous emergence of high-level transapient clusters following the second and third singularities Population: over 130,000 trillion sapients, mostly virtuals and artificials. Cyborgs and bionts make up a small but noticeable minority. Some xenosophonts like the To'ul'h, Ultimates, and Limners have happily joined. There are about a trillion first toposophic transapients, with a smaller number of higher toposophics. However the number of higher toposophics is equal if not greater than that of any one of the other terragen civilizations. Predominant Sophont Categories: ai, postsapients, bionts, cyborgs, artificials, and virtuals Psyche, Art, Culture Notes: Each Sephirotic is very different to the next, but on the whole they usually have more in common with each other than with the other civilizations. Metapsychology: Diversity seen as good, Archailectocracy/Aicracracy as ideal social/memetic organization, ascension to higher toposophics as useful goal. Metaethics: Basically benign and helpful attitude to others sentient beings, although approach varies by individual sephirotic. Culture and Art: Varies by individual sephirotic Languages: A wide range of ultimately Old-Earth-derived language families are spoken among bionts. Other sophont categories and clades may use different languages. Government and Administration Individual Polities : More than a dozen distinct sephirotic empires - viz Caretaker Gods, Communion of Worlds, Cyberian Network, Formalhaut Acquisition Society, Keter Dominion, The Mutual Progress Association, Negentropy Alliance, Non-Coercive Zone, Solar Dominion, Sophic League, TechnoRapture HyperNation, Terran Federation, and the Utopia Sphere. Each empire headed by a high level Archailect and each consisting of numerous component polities. The Metasoft Version Tree, and the Zoeific Biopolity are usually also included, although there is controversy as to the toposophic status of their ruling ai. The Orion Federation and Sagittarius Transcultural Cooperation, while a part of the Civilized Galaxy and Sephirotic Major Civilization, are not considered true sephirotics as they are not supervised by a > 6 level toposophic. As well as the above Archailect-ruled empires, there are various associated non-aligned polities and empires that share their values. The Perseus Princes are often also considered a part of the Sephirotic Major Civilization Government Type : strongly hierarchical archailectocratic regime - hierarchical aicracy of direct administration by transapient ai, with those in turn supervised by higher toposophics) Constitution: Varies by individual polity Legal system: Varies by individual polity Citizenship: includes members of all clades of sapient level and above, and in some cases such as in much of the Utopia Sphere even subsapients. However there are also a large proportion of populace that are not citizens Sentient Rights: good Economics, Local Infrastructure Economy: varies greatly, may be centralised, free market, or post-scarcity Resource base: on the whole (there are exceptions) favours K-type stars and above (up to O-type) for their superior energy output Megastructures: a moderate degree of megascale engineering (excessive in the case of the MPA and all of the main archailect nodes), Stargate Nexus: Very Extensive, shared - the Sephirotics component makes up the largest element of the entire Nexus Beamrider Network: Extensive, much of it shared with the Deeper Covenant. However the Deeper's network is larger by at least an order of magnitude Data Net: The so-called Known Net; very extensive, links to data nets of the Objectivist Commonwealth, the Diamond Network and Solipsist Panvirtuality; but smaller in size than the data nets of the Panvirtuality and the Diamond Network. Military expenditure: on the whole moderate (varies by individual polity) Extensive Trade and Good Relations with: Diamond Network, The Objectivist Commonwealth, and the Deeper Covenant Longrunning Interstellar Disputes: Solipsist Panvirtuality subversion and encouragement of local blights and perversities, Amalgamation remains aggressively expansionistic, Silent Ones refuse to sign amat safety regulations or strangelet ban. The Shadow Federation continues with raids and incursions, although none serious enough to threaten any local polities. Sophont Travel Hazard Rating : usually 0.0 to 1.0, in some cases up to 9.0 (depending on clade, polity or world). Freedom of Movement for outsiders: Varies by individual polity. Environmental Requirements : Varies by individual polity. further comments: The central axis and greatest hyperpowers of the Civilized Galaxy, the Sephirotics consist of a number of vast archailect-ruled sephirotic and near-sephirotic superempires, along with various associated non-aligned polities and empires that share their values. Each super-empire is very different to the next, but on the whole they have more in common with each other than with the other civilizations. Always characterised by a strongly hierarchical archailectocratic regime, and on the whole (there are exceptions) favours K-type stars and above (up to O-type) for their superior energy output, a moderate degree of megascale engineering (excessive in the case of the MPA and all of the main archailect nodes), a benevolent and altruistic approach to sentient rights (or at least as it is experienced by most sentients), a citizenship made up of all types of sophont beings, a very elaborate Wormhole Nexus and Beamrider Network, and Known Net linking most the various systems.Sephirotics are very much hothouses for the various archai. That is - they're designed to be artificial to bring about specific features in sub-singularitan sophonts that higher toposophics find useful, interesting, 'quaint', or so on. |
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Sephirotic Empires:
They define the civilized universe, are ruled over by hierarchies of superhuman intelligences, constitute utopias of unimaginable wealth and information, and linked by a nexus of exotic-matter wormholes the like of which the galaxy has never seen. They are the Sephirotics, not just empires but interstellar bodies of gods, where even the humblest sophont can live in angelnetted safety. Select one as residence, and evolve to posthuman perfection within memetic guidelines. Or opt for uncertain freedom beyond their borders. The choice is yours... |
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Gods, Minds, Sentients, and Subsentients:
Sephirotic Civilization is based on an interrelation between what can loosely be called Gods, Minds, Sentients, and Subsentients. As always, these are not hard and fast distinctions, and there is great variation even within each sephirotic empire, let alone between them. |
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Infrastructure:
Vast megascale engineering works, custom-built biospheres, dedicated expert systems and hyperturings, entire ecologies of mechosystems, angelnetting, nanofacturing and efficient recycling of materials; galactic civilization is based on foundations that would have been unimaginable in the pre-archailect era. |
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Places:
Whether Main Capitals or Small Regional Backwaters, the presence of the archailects and their representatives is ubiquitous. |
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Institutes:
Multi-millennia-old establishments, dedicated to knowledge, truth, or the maintenance of the protocols and ontologies of the civilized galaxy. |
