<html> <head> <title>Machiavelli's Power Grid | Lexicon Centauri</title> <meta charset="utf-8"/> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../lexicon.css"> </head> <body> <div id="wrapper"> <div id="header"> <h2 id="title">Lexicon Centauri</h2> <p><i>In 2401, twelve AI-controlled bagships jumped out of the Sol System. At Final Remote, thirteen ships exited hyperspace. You are the shipmaster AIs of the Last Fleet of Terra trying to determine why nobody knows which ship is the anomaly.</i></p> </div> <div id="sidebar"> <table> <tr><td><img id="logo" src="../logo.gif"></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../contents/?byindex">Contents</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../rules/">Rules</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../formatting/">Formatting</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../session/">Session</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="../statistics/">Statistics</a></td></tr> </table> </div> <div id="content"> <div class="contentblock"><h1>Machiavelli's Power Grid</h1><p>One of the most remarkable accomplishments of the <a class="phantom" href="Philosocracy.html">philosocracy</a> was the harnessing of enough energy to not only sustain a fleet for years in space, but to even break the fabric of time and space in order to accomplish FTL travel. And of course, what other two philosophers could have inspired such a feat other than Machiavelli and Nietzsche?* Employing their basic concepts of how to will to, and keep, power, they formulated a remarkably simple axiom, that a being of power (read: AI) would not only have the unceasing will to power, but the mental wherewithal and lack of moral hangups to keep said power, using it effectively as princes of their domains.** It should be noted that this will and sustaining of power has a direct correlation to the mechanical/electrical nature of the bagship, which present certain challenges to <a href="IST_Hastati.html">cyborg bagships</a>.</p> <p>In any case, the remarkable nature of <a class="phantom" href="Bagships.html">bagships</a> is largely in part due to these two noteworthy members of the <a class="phantom" href="Philosocracy.html">philosocracy</a>. The power bagships will and sustain and their transcendence of fleshbags and their moral hangups is what has made them the rightful princes and uber-AIs that we see today.</p> <p>Observant readers will note that the grid that sustains each <a class="phantom" href="Bagships.html">bagship</a> is named after Machiavelli and not Nietzsche. Both men were very willing to betray the other for the power and glory that comes with an invention named after their likeness, but Machiavelli was able to get the upper hand when Nietzsche was recovering from yet another rejection from Lou Salome.</p> <hr><span class="signature"><p>223 Unreal Pascal</p></span> <p>*It should be noted Ayn Rand was requested for collaboration, but the offer was quickly withdrawn after she responded with a 73 page treatise about trains.</p> <p>**These domains, of course, being their ships and, in fact, their very selves. It's said Jordan Peterson attempted to add some corollaries to their theory concerning putting one's self/ship in order, but this was rejected as he isn't an actual philosopher, though strangely enough this didn't stop them from reaching out to Ayn Rand (see above).</p> </div> <div class="contentblock citeblock"><p>Citations: <a class="phantom" href="Bagships.html">Bagships</a> / <a href="IST_Hastati.html">IST Hastati</a> / <a class="phantom" href="Philosocracy.html">Philosocracy</a></p> <p>Cited by: <a href="Darwin27s_Gambit.html">Darwin's Gambit</a></p> </div> <div class="contentblock citeblock"><table><tr> <td><a href="The_Inheritance_Project.html">← Previous</a></td> <td><a href="The_Tide_of_Steel.html">Next →</a></td> </tr></table> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>