BY LETTER
Negentropy Alliance
 Image from Anders Sandberg |
The Negentropy Alliance - Data Panel | |
| Empire | The Negentropy Alliance |
|---|---|
| Symbol | An adamant pentagon, usually embossed with a pair of highly stylized scales |
| Definition | Major Sephirotic Hyperpower |
| Ruling Archailect | The Eternal Judge |
| AI Ethos | Pronouncements from Negentropy Prime (Seat of Judgement). |
| Founded | 2465 a.t. |
| Technology Level | In the core worlds Transapientech and Godtech. There are also many more strongly or more lightly affiliated worlds and polities where the tech level is Ultratech |
| Psyche, Art, Culture | Metapsychology: Cautious; preference for reversible actions Religion/Ideology: Negentropism Culture and Art: Generally minimalist |
| Territory and Population | Current Territory: A large swath of space counterspinwise of the Sagittarius Arm. Capital: Negentropy Prime/Seat of Judgement (CD -32 9603 I) Representative Systems: Negentropy Prime, Ken Ferjik, Greylag, Daffy and Gegton, Alexandria Number of Core Star Systems: Over a million Core Population Breakdown: A wide cross-section of all major categories and phyla. |
| Government and Administration | Government: Regimented aicracy; angelnetted supervision. |
The Judge
The AI cluster hierarchy ruling the Negentropy Alliance is seen by the religious as the Strict One, Geburah, the Just One, the Ruler or the Eternal Judge. It embodies rules, organisation and structure. The Precepts of Negentropy, were first announced through the Research Brotherhood of Omegarete in 2465 a.t., but later directly pronounced from the Judge on Negentropy Prime (Seat of Judgement). The basic tenet of the Judge is that entropy must be fought. By the laws of thermodynamics the universe is sliding down toward chaos, dissolution and the heat death. However, local order can be maintained indefinitely by using energy wisely, and resisting randomness and decay. The goal of all intelligent life should be the slowing of entropy, and possibly developing a way of escaping from the "Thermodynamic Trap". To achieve this, the Judge has formulated a number of precepts to guide action, thought and ambition. These refer primarily to ethics and politics, but also extend to technology and body design.Within the Negentropist domain there are planets implementing all forms of hierarchical organisation, from classical theocracies such as the Loyalists of Gegton X to mind-controlling technocracies like the Commonality of Erk to immense bureaucracies like the Vela Immunity. Randomness is everywhere seen as something that should be limited, and on most worlds genetic modifications and nanotechnology are used to minimise the risk of individual aberration.
Despite what many think, the domain of the Judge is a very diverse volume of space. Within the Precepts of Negentropy there is room for considerable interpretation and variation, and cultural differences within those bounds may be vast. As ruling AI, Geburah does not prevent attempts of creating something new, but does restrict those who would waste resources on anything that has been shown not to work. This has led to a rather strong conservatism in general, but the success of cultures is hard to judge so many different and incompatible societies exist side by side, bound by the Precepts. Conflicts are not allowed to escalate into violence except under the Rules of Forceful Conduct and are more usually dealt with through the Negentropy Judiciary System, the interstellar administration and priesthood of Negentropism. At the highest level the Judge of Negentropy Prime is the supreme arbiter, but most cases never reach beyond the sector courts.
The Five
Originally, the Alliance consisted only of five superficially very different worlds: Negentropy Prime, Ken Ferjik, Greylag, Daffy and Gegton. In 2738 a.t., following their linkage through wormholes, they established an alliance based on the distributed archailect network of the AI cluster that was to become the Just One. These worlds, sometimes called the Five Foes of Entropy, formed the original nexus from which the Alliance was to grow. The very fact that they are so different refutes claims that the Alliance is a restrictive polity; in fact from the very beginning it has nurtured diversity as an expression of the maximisation of Negentropy. However, it does at the same time frown on "unnecessary" experimentation; once a very good solution has been found, alternative solutions are viewed as sinfully wasteful.Neohermeticists, Cybertantrikas, and Neotaoists have however noticed that beneath the superficial differences among The Five there is an underlying order, as each of the five worlds corresponds to an archetype or principle. While the correspondences differ according to the particular esotericist and toposophic hermeneutics applied, in general the following is standard
 Image from Anders Sandberg |
This division mainly emerged during the Second Federation era, although it was partially based on much older cultural distinctions among the five worlds. The emerging organisation was probably a combination of practicality, deliberate cultural design and happenstance, although the last would be vigorously denied by most Negentropists.
The five worlds are represented by the five sides of the pentagon, showing that no one world is of any greater or lesser importance than the other four. Even the capital, Negentropy Prime itself, is ultimately one among the Five, for the Judge's network is distributed through all the worlds.
Of course, it is debatable whether there are five worlds because of the five axioms, or the reverse. The Gegton priests usually respond to such speculations by saying that both statements are true.
The Alliance
During the Empires period, many other worlds joined the Five. Eventually they were organised into a federation, which was and is led from the Negentropy Prime, or The Seat of Judgement (CD -32 9603 I). The planet is a harsh desert world, where monolithic and austere cities rise from the red sand toward the stars. The system is barren and mainly used as a wormhole thoroughfare. Most planets run themselves, with occasional sector headquarters and Nodes of Truth as local representatives of the Negentropy Judiciary System.The Judge and the other AIs of the Negentropy Alliance worlds consider the destruction or corruption of information as a major sin. Destroying a library, planetary net or other repository of information must be avoided, unless it is backed up. The Alliance is home to several of the major interstellar libraries, including Alexandria III in the Femmersham system and the Encyclopaedia Galactica Institute of Ken Ferjik. This is one of the few areas where the Non-Coercive Zone and The Negentropy Alliance get along: collaboration between the Alliance librarians and the NoCoZo scientists have been fruitful several times; the core NoCoZo worlds draw on the meticulously ordered information, and the Alliance lets the NoCoZo scientists and scholars do the wild and expensive experimentation. However, while destruction of information is anathema, access to information is not a right. Much of the stored information is not made available or is only available at a steep price. The Alliance rulership realises that knowledge is power, and he who knows the true past can control the future.
The Negentropy Alliance has favored the construction of energy-gathering Dyson shells, storing immense amounts of energy as antimatter for the far future (or weapons in case of war). Most worlds, habitats and societies within the federation are maximally efficient, performing recycling and employing renewable resources in order to minimize the entropy increase. Overall, austerity and perfection are common themes - nothing should ever be done that has no function or wastes material, time, intelligence or energy, but true beauty comes from form and function combined into perfect balance.
Common people from the Negentropy Alliance are often notable for their resistance to irreversible actions; they prefer anything that can be reversed if it is wrong. The experts, nobles or priests on the other hand value unhesitating correct action — if doing something irreversible is right it should be done directly and well. Many Negentropy Alliance cultures enjoy Backgrounder art for its low-energy aesthetics and pleasant paranoia. Other minimalist culture forms like calligraphy, haiku and Old Earth Japanese Noh drama are also widely appreciated.
The Alliance has good political connections to the Dominion, Metasoft (a one-time enemy during the Version War), the Zoeific Biopolity, and most of the new polities in the Cygexpa volume. The large, loosely federated and mercantile Non-Coercive Zone is a sometimes ally, sometime rival. The two philosophies do not mix well; Negentropy essentially seeks to stop entropy, while the NoCoZo dynamism seeks to maximize complexity/extropy. Hence the Negentropists frown on wasteful exploration and change, while the NoCoZo dislikes imposed rules.
Overall, few groups want to get into conflict with the implacable Negentropy Alliance and its mighty fleet. Still, it is regarded as a prime example of just how stifling transapient AI government may be by many independent sophonts.
Articles
- 310213321001 - Text by Anders Sandberg and Peter Kisner
A typical Negentropist priest/administrator. - ::NN:: FROM THE ARCHIVES - Last of a Dying Breed - Text by John B and Steve Bowers
- Alexandria (Tichy 44-III) - Text by Anders Sandberg
Middle Regions world known for its vast libraries and archives, and the unusual co-operative Alexandrian ecosystem. Part of the Negentropy Alliance. - Arkab Prior A - Text by Steve Bowers
Negentropy Alliance system with a dense Dyson Swarm. Part of a binary system with Arkab Prior B. - Arnon Dar - Text by Anders Sandberg and M. Alan Kazlev
Negentropist system, birthplace of the diplomat and ahimsite visionary Alecha Canizares. - Camiroi - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Minor Negentropist world, host to the Borupist Government in Exile who claim to be the rulers of Morpheo A + B and indeed the entire Paradigm volume, and are viewed as harmless and irrelevant eccentrics by the locals. - Daffy - Text by Anders Sandberg
Psi Serpentis II Negentropist world named after the trickster duck in classic mythology. - Dashwood - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Local trade and cultural world, Centauri sector. Nominally part of the Negentropist empire but near the borders with the Paradigm and the Utopia Sphere; memetics from all three systems (as well as NoCoZo and NoCoNeg, and Disarchy ideas) flourish there. Nearest stargate to the Paradigm. During the Paradigm containment war was a major staging post for PCO forces. Currently a popular tourist jaunt, especially with the alternative crowd and anyone making the "Grand Tour". - Entropy (metaphysics) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
In Negentropist cosmology, metaphysics, and eschatology, the essentially "flaw" in the universe, which is to be opposed through encouraging and nurturing of negentropy, and avoidance of wasteful activity; the ultimate goal being the negentropization of the universe. - Evermore - Text by Chris Shaeffer
Megastructure habitat consisting of multiple cylinders, on the edge of Disarchy space - Garlin - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Negentropist world in the vicinity of Lynga 7 - home of Yarr Mak Po 4+ and the original YarrMakist doctrine. - Gegton X - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Theocratic bureaucracy, one of the Five Capitals of the Negentropy Alliance. - Genius Locus (House Fab) - Text by Steve Bowers
The efficient matter compilers that are provided to homes and institutions in many Negentropic human utopian worlds. - Gevurah - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
"Severity", "Judgement". Originally the fifth of the ten traditional sefirot of Kabbalah and Hermeticism. Later - especially among Cyberhermetics and Neohermetics came to designate the archailect-cluster of the Negentropy Alliance. Also the name of one of the ranks of the Keterist toposophic system. - Gift of Ginoie, The - Text by Steve Bowers
An incident highlighting the impact of technotelepathy on an isolated culture. - Gillbank - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Steve Bowers
Crucis Corridor Negentropist world subverted by the Neutral Way, declared itself the Disarchy Alliance, led by the Postscripts of Randomness, as a deliberate parody of Negentropism. - Greylag - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Negentropy theocratic-monastic world; one of the Five Capitals of the Alliance. - Gritwald - Text by M Alan Kazlev
Resource-poor Centaurus sector Negentropist system with the ruins of a Paradigm dyson shell. - Gurth Hexanode Repository, The - Text by Thorbjørn Steen
Vast databank on the border between MPA and Negentropy space occupying six Dyson swarms. - Haydrik Habitat - Text by Ben Higginbottom
Independent Banks style orbital sharing a system with the Negentropist Alliance. - Idiot Locus - Text by John B
Also known as IL or 'ill'. A term often used by Negentropic clade members to differentiate their (superior, in their eyes) matter compiler system known as Genius Loci versus other clades. Usage - "I can't get the G. L. to 'fact me that shivverskate. You gotta tell me where that ill is, zar!!!" - Imhotep - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
[1] [historical] administrator/scribe/priest/physician/architect who designed the first pyramid.
[2] [noun or adj.] Generic term for an exceptional su or suborg using augmented reality for eir research. - Irrmorella - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Small Negentropist system about 15 LY Solward of Greylag, famous for being the first port of call of the the Sentient Museum Ship Ken Ferjik. - Judge, the ('The Just One') - Text by Anders Sandberg
Ruling Archailect of the Negentropy Alliance. Also known as the Strict One, The Ruler, The Just One, the Foe of Entropy, or the Eternal Judge. E embodies rules, organisation, stability, and structure. - Junna - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Minor Negentropy Alliance world. During the period from 3267 to 3421 was center for the Institute of Baseline Psychotypology. Suffered during the Version War and became an MPA garrison. Since the age of separative empires the locals have drifted increasingly towards Zoeticism - Jurassica Institute of Paleo Restoration (Negentropist) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Breakaway section of the Jurassica Institute that joined the Negentropy Alliance. - Kang 554-0-22/34 Gm-A - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Negentropist outpost (an asteroid base around a small red star); one of the early victims of the "dirty wars" campaign developing as civilized standards fell apart as the Version War dragged on. In 4587 its cyborg inhabitants were infected by a Cyberian 'mutiny' program causing them to all challenge the chain of command at the same time, convinced those of higher rank were dooming the colony. This was a very early instance of what would become a common tactic of subversion of all forms of life. - Ken Ferjik (world) - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Seat of the Encyclopaedia Galactica Institute. - Mantle of the Judge - Text by John B
Available at major population centres of the Negentropic polity are private chambers called the "Mantle of the Judge". These are small areas allowing normal citizens to bring their problems before the Judge and ask for Eir Judgement on the actions. This is a strictly voluntary activity, and in no way binds the baseline to performing a given action. This type of facility is often difficult to find, the logic being the more severe the problem the more likely the baseline is to expend the required effort to find the Mantle. - Memory Moon - Text by Todd Drashner
Small (100 kilometre diameter) high-density storage ISO used extensively at Ken Ferjik and Alexandria in the Negentropy Alliance. - Muna Kipasi Incident - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
A notorious event in the Goldfishnebula Sector, Negentropy Alliance space. In 6992 AT the rogue Museum Ship Hume neutralized the planetary defenses and abducted more than five thousand sapient and presapient bionts from the Muna Kipasi orbitals. - Negentropism - Text by Anders Sandberg, with additions by Steve Bowers
Ethical philosophy formulated by the AI-cluster known as Geburah. While not in itself a religion, it has been adapted as a framework for most pre-existing religious systems which hence can be incorporated within the Negentropic vision. - New Daffy Panoparchy - Text by Anders Sandberg, with additional material by Steve Bowers
Middle Regions Interstellar SuperPolity, corewards region of the former TrueModel volume. - New Poseidon - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Pelagic world belonging to the Negentropy Alliance; home to the Macroamoeboids, a highly intelligent but uncommunicative lifeform. - Nimbus Project, Infiltration of - Text by John B
It is thought that the first phase of the Nimbus Project is being heavily datamined/infiltrated by various warchives and polities for useful information and tech designs. - Nimbus Project, The - Text by Todd Drashner
Large scale engineering project being carried out by the Negentropy Alliance as an experiment in creating an immortal mind. - NoCoNeg - Text by M. Alan Kazlev and Anders Sandberg
Colloquial and semi-humorous term for former NoCoZo systems conquered by the Negentropy Alliance during the Version War. During the early ComEmp period they caused a lot of discomfort to the Negentropy Alliance by their constant harping for less centralism and more freedom. In the end the Negentropist regional administrations allowed them sweeping liberalizations and generous trade tariffs. Although nominally a part of the Alliance they cannot be relied upon in sensitive situations, and in recent centuries have become more of a semi-autonomous empire of their own. - Rangar (Etaran System) - Text by ROM 65536
( Etaran / HD 148071 ) - Negentropist world with mysterious rings of artificial origin. - Ratay's World - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Economically minor, but loyal Negentropist world - outer Crucis Corridor,
home to the cyborg statesbeing Malhotra Castander and the Siow-Wang Circle (of which he remains the most famous representative). Despite TrueModel pranks, xenophobia, and anti-TrueModel feeling, Castanander correctly predicted in the 8400s that the remaining TrueModel aioid clades would be more inclined to accept standardization with the main body of the Negentropist Alliance. - Seat of Judgement, The - Text by Anders Sandberg
Capital World of the Negentropy Alliance. - Sleeper Monks, The - Text by Thorbjørn Steen
An institute dedicated to the preservation of sleepers in nanostasis. - St. Xye - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Negentropist culture and trade-port world, the main gateway for the Negentropy Alliance to the Utopia Sphere. - Steelcliff - Text by Tony Jones
The first alien BGC system, discovered in 7852. Steelcliff is an isolated world towards galactic anti-spinward in what is now the Negentropy Alliance Outer Volumes. It appears to be running some kind of virch world, and certainly has sufficient computing resources to run at least millions of entities. It seems to have been put into place some forty million years ago, but as yet no attempt has been made to contact who or whatever may exist inside it. - Tych - Text by Anders Sandberg
An ultra-precise language developed in Tycho City that was primarily used in written communication during the late First Federation. Today mainly used for formal declarations and to some extent Negentropic poetry. - Vela Immunity - Text by Anders Sandberg
Site of a relatively recent nanodisaster, resembling the one on Old Earth (in some ways) - Verity - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Outer Volumes world. Nominal Negentropist system, near the MPA border. In fact the locals don't have much affection for either empire. Lately Keterist missionaries have been making some ground. - Whisper - Text by Todd Drashner
Planet covered in a sophont grassland xenoecology, perhaps of artificial origin. - YarrMakism - Text by M. Alan Kazlev
Heterodox Negentropist memeticity based on the teachings of Yarr Mak Po 4+; influential in the initial establishment of the Efficiency Maximization Paradigm. - Å (world) - Text by Steve Bowers
cerean class dwarf planet 269 ly from Sol
Development Notes
Text by Anders Sandberg and M. Alan Kazlev
Initially published on 26 June 2000.
Initially published on 26 June 2000.
