01-15-2019, 06:29 PM
Way back when Orion's Arm was first created we had a few discussions on the idea of 'evil' in the scenario. We decided that most of the cliche varieties of evil were irrelevant to the sort of stories we wanted to tell. The AIs in OA aren't evil, they are just trying to understand the universe in as much detail as possible, and modify it in accord with goals they devise for themselves. Aliens in OA aren't evil; they have different ways of seeing the universe, which can be understood if examined closely. The megacorps in OA aren't evil; they are just trying to maximise their own interests, using the free market. Group minds are not evil, they are a genuine attempt to understand one another, and so on.
Modified humans, cyborgs, intelligent animals and virtuals are not the products of evil science, they are the results of various attempts to improve the status and capabilities of biological organisms. Even those blights and other psychologically disturbed sophonts which do cause harm intentionally are not evil, but insane or deluded, although evil arises from their actions. In the context of OA, many of these disturbed and pathological entities are the result of failed attempts to improve sophont capabilities. If we, as sophonts, are going to continue down the route of self-modification in the future, there will mistakes and failures, and some of these will have very bad results - but that does not mean that the route of self-modification is an evil one.
Modified humans, cyborgs, intelligent animals and virtuals are not the products of evil science, they are the results of various attempts to improve the status and capabilities of biological organisms. Even those blights and other psychologically disturbed sophonts which do cause harm intentionally are not evil, but insane or deluded, although evil arises from their actions. In the context of OA, many of these disturbed and pathological entities are the result of failed attempts to improve sophont capabilities. If we, as sophonts, are going to continue down the route of self-modification in the future, there will mistakes and failures, and some of these will have very bad results - but that does not mean that the route of self-modification is an evil one.