"Talking with God", a transhumanist short story

Talking with God is a pleasant and inspiring transhumanist short story. I've got some quibbles, but I'll save them for the comments because I think the story is better without spoilers.

There's a discussion forum at the story's site.

Talking with God is a pleasant and inspiring transhumanist short story. I've got some quibbles, but I'll save them for the comments because I think the story is better without spoilers.

There's a discussion forum at the story's site.

I'm not impressed. I'll admit I stopped reading part way through, but it definitely seemed to be going in the direction of self-flattery and inexcusable provincialism. (E.g. "god" had to talk to an atheist because only they/we are smart and cool enough to "handle it", plus organized religions are super-duper evil, god is a liberal utilitarian, more "evolved" beings don't modify their environment, etc.)

(minor edit for clarity)

Agreed; that entire story is one big applause light.

25Nornagest15y

I finished it, and felt much the same way. Like eutopia, I'd expect a frank conversation with a superintelligence to be deeply challenging; it would be very surprising if all the substantial advice one had for me turned out identical to what merely mortal soft transhumanists with environmental and social concerns are already saying. In fact, I wonder why the god of the story bothered; he's clearly not telling us anything we don't already know, and he isn't saying it in a way that'll substantially contribute to the meme's spread.