Grace Chans first novel opens in Melbourne in the late 2080s. The planet is, to not put too fine a point on it, spent. Most people who can afford it spend their mornings climbing into gel-filled pods to log into a fun, more beautiful edition of Earth called Gaia, where advanced coding offers the sensation (or at least, a sensation) of taste, smell and even touch. The books central quartet, Tao-Yi and her boyfriend Navin, and their friends Zach and Evelyn, live so much of their lives there that when the technology arrives to allow full upload, it feels like a foregone conclusion. Except for Tao-Yi, it isnt.
Is her reluctance just nostalgia? What, exactly, is she worried about leaving behind? In digitalising the mind-body problem, Every Version of You transposes it into a literal and very material question: if you could leave your body, would you? In his unsettling 1909 story, The Machine Stops, EM Forster comes at this question from the other side: if you could return to the physical world, would you? In Forsters story, a woman lives contentedly in her small pod below the earth, washed, dried and fed while she swaps elevated ideas with like minds in other pods around the world. All her needs are met by the Machine. Her sons claustrophobia merely annoys her she thinks he is a stubborn and backward heretic. He thinks the Machine has robbed humanity of the sense of space and of the sense of touch. The storys very bleak ending is easily read especially coming from EM only connect Forster as tech-phobic. A century and a bit later, Chans relationship to cyberspace is understandably more ambiguous.
Navin has a debilitating health condition, which both complexifies and simplifies the equation. For him, uploading is a salvation, a no-brainer: only in virtual reality can he be his authentic self, not held back by the painful betrayals of his body. (Chans vision of the future includes a believably infuriating gap between advancements in consumer tech and those in more basic medical or social care.) But Tao-Yi struggles with a nebulous sadness, certain that with the loss of their tactile connection goes something fundamental to their bond. While the novel is told in third person, we inhabit Tao-Yis perspective, and her hunger for the physical sensations Gaia can never quite replicate (the taste of homemade mapo tofu, the smell of Navins neck, even the hot, toxic air of Melbournes increasingly uninhabitable streets). Distance is irrelevant to intimacy, now, she reflects after a reunion at a virtual party yet she, and so we, are unconvinced.
After upload, Navins brain expands and speeds up he becomes a digital sprite chasing interests, passions, languages. Tao-Yi sees this limitless metamorphosing as a dissolving of the self, but Navin begs her to consider the risks of lagging: ageing, decay, the possibility shes inherited her mother and grandmothers depression. Chan, whose day job is in psychiatry, probes the fascinating idea of how well its possible to know our selves at all, and what we value in their formation. Are friction, trauma and discomfort so integral? Why not wipe them out, become new humans, directly powered by solar and electricity?
Tao-Yi, looking back on the 21st century, wonders how much of her mothers illness might have been grief about the world. The elephant in the room, as in so much cli-fi, is capitalism: in Chans future, the tech has improved but the system hasnt. Apple and then Dandelion have been superseded by Neuronetica-Somners, Gaias parent company, which caters to the rich. Many are locked out by cost, stranded on an Earth with no more trees. (Its possible, after reading this book, that you never turn on a tap the same way again.) Those without homes shelter beneath UV-reflective blankets, bodies warped and broken by chronic sunburn and lung disease, ignored by those whove left them behind. (Its hard to think critically about the things that gratify your basest needs.) Even people with access to Gaias addictive consolations seem to frequently be falling apart in ways their commercial system is utterly inadequate and unwilling to address. Like Mark Fisher, Every Version of You argues that capitalism (more than say, the internet) is the cause of all the problems we keep using it to try to solve.
Chans novel is laden with a feeling of precipice and inevitability, a quiet doom. As all her friends upload, Tao-Yi is swamped by the perpetual homesickness shes felt since her teenage move from Malaysia. She cannot see Gaia as a home, and in pulling away from it, she is reaching for something linking her to her roots but they are also broken, or only ever half-built. In a recent essay, critic Cher Tan writes that comparing life on and offline is asking the wrong question and falling into the (false) rut of digital dualism because most of contemporary life is simultaneously woven of both.
Thats not what Tao-Yi or Chan is doing. Confronting what might one day be left on a ruined, offline Earth is a powerful way to refocus the lens on the world we are presently creating, and the politics informing what we build whether its from bricks or code.
Read more:
Every Version of You by Grace Chan review would you want to live in the metaverse? - The Guardian
- Make Money from Images, Documents and Photos Uploading - December 18th, 2016 [December 18th, 2016]
- Immortal but Damned to Hell on Earth - The Atlantic - January 29th, 2017 [January 29th, 2017]
- Hands on review: Zencastr podcast maker - The Sydney Morning Herald - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- How to keep your children safe online as it's revealed half of six-year-olds use the internet - Mirror.co.uk - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Yetunde Olasiyan: Between Having a Voice & the Need to Show Off on Social Media - Bella Naija - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- How a WiFi Pilot Program Is Helping Students in the Rio Grande Valley - KUT - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- These Shows Understand Why TV Cannot Survive Without The Internet And They're Doing Something About It - Decider - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- 10 reasons to not miss John Bender at El Club this weekend - Detroit Metro Times - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Ideal Flatmate promises to stamp out all roommate worries - The Tech Portal - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Five ways to ensure your kids are safe as they go 'online' - The Standard (press release) - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- How to improve your LinkedIn profile - ArabianBusiness.com - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Deal: New customers can get Google Play Music and YouTube Red free for 4 months - Android Authority (blog) - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Breaking Down Global Silos (Part 2): Lessons Learned from Conflict - Spend Matters - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Issa Rae New Series Giants Is A Must Watch - CampusLATELY (blog) - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- Fake news, who benefits? - Shelbyville Times-Gazette (blog) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- GST beneficial for traders, says official - The Hindu - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- It's time to get tech-savvy with The Mind Lab by Unitec! - Scoop.co.nz - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- 'Being an Irish author is more of a Grimm fairytale than a Cinderella story' - Irish Times - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Barbie becomes a hologram version of herself - TechCrunch - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- PLYMOUTH BUSINESS EXPANSION: MycomPETibility.com goes nationwide - Wicked Local Kingston - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- The three reasons YouTubers keep imploding, from a YouTuber - Polygon - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- SnailBlitz 2017: Citizen Scientists Wanted - NBC Southern California - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Nikon D5600 Review: Hoping to Make Photo Transfers a Snap - Huffington Post - February 27th, 2017 [February 27th, 2017]
- Appealing Social Security Decisions Online - CBN News - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- How to file your social security appeal online - WZZM13.com - February 28th, 2017 [February 28th, 2017]
- Meteor is OpenSignal's own speed test app - SlashGear - March 1st, 2017 [March 1st, 2017]
- Data limits are the worsthere's how to stay under yours - Popular Science - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- Overcome problems with public cloud storage providers - TechTarget - March 3rd, 2017 [March 3rd, 2017]
- When Words Beget Blows - Outlook India - March 4th, 2017 [March 4th, 2017]
- A man with vitiligo who was called 'zebra' by bullies has defied their cruel comments by becoming a model - The Sun - March 8th, 2017 [March 8th, 2017]
- Shark Tank's Robert Herjavec coaches kids to fuel entrepreneurial spirit - VentureBeat - March 9th, 2017 [March 9th, 2017]
- Everything new in Stellaris: Utopia, one of Paradox's biggest game updates ever - PC Gamer - March 10th, 2017 [March 10th, 2017]
- IN TRANSIT: The Idol Maker - Mumbai Mirror - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- Paytm to continue free uploading of money - Business Standard - March 11th, 2017 [March 11th, 2017]
- The perils and false rewards of parenting in the era of 'digi-discipline' - Minnesota Public Radio News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Showtime docu-series sees the 'Dark' side of tech - LA Daily News - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- Elon Musk: Australian man pens desperate letter to download his brain - NEWS.com.au - April 8th, 2017 [April 8th, 2017]
- How Vestas Wind Systems used outsourced machine learning to transform contract management - Diginomica - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Wednesday Web Artist of the Week: Eva Papamargariti - ArtSlant - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Your Obsolete Brain: Life and Death in the Age of Superintelligent Machines - Digital Journal - June 7th, 2017 [June 7th, 2017]
- Under Armour launches its first customisable shoes - just-style.com (subscription) - June 8th, 2017 [June 8th, 2017]
- I Don't Care What You Think, I Love My Facial Birthmark - SELF - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Cable: Where Are We Headed After This Political Meltdown? - Seeking Alpha - June 9th, 2017 [June 9th, 2017]
- Best Screen Recorders Top 10 Screen Capture Software - Gazette Review - June 10th, 2017 [June 10th, 2017]
- Nigeria just got a verified Twitter handle - TechCabal - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- Just keep pinning: why your business should be on Pinterest - Cambridge Network - June 12th, 2017 [June 12th, 2017]
- Track-by-Track of Paramore's 'Riot!' Read Through Emo Teen Memories - Noisey - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Decision day for Go Forward Pine Bluff - Pine Bluff Commercial - June 13th, 2017 [June 13th, 2017]
- Addressing rape culture - News24 - June 14th, 2017 [June 14th, 2017]
- Italy's Samantha Cristoforetti Says Being a Good Astronaut is All About Teamwork - Fortune - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- Google Drive will soon make it easy to Backup and Sync PCs, Macs - SlashGear - June 16th, 2017 [June 16th, 2017]
- What's worse than getting phished? Getting phished *and* sending a selfie of your Photo ID and credit card - Graham Cluley Security News - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- Track Of The Day 16/6 - Maximillian - Clash Magazine - June 17th, 2017 [June 17th, 2017]
- AROUND TOWN: GOP chairman questions Ossoff's London office - MDJOnline.com - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- RESEARCH & TECHNOLOGY/INNOVATION: ITS Fiber brings fast connections, data center services to local business - TCPalm - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- Fiberlink Internet Packages & Prices 2017 - TechJuice (press release) (blog) - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- CS Editors: Creating Content - Security Sales & Integration - June 20th, 2017 [June 20th, 2017]
- How to post a GIF to Facebook - Tech Advisor (registration) - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- The Living Vampire / Real Vampire FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) - HuffPost - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Facebook Is Introducing New Tools to Protect Women in India - Fortune - June 21st, 2017 [June 21st, 2017]
- Mum drops off daughter at college then sends her hilarious texts with football team - NEWS.com.au - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- Is Chrome OS right for you? A 3-question quiz to find out - Computerworld - June 22nd, 2017 [June 22nd, 2017]
- Facebook wants to stop creeps from downloading your profile picture - TNW - June 23rd, 2017 [June 23rd, 2017]
- Action and Emotion - lareviewofbooks - June 26th, 2017 [June 26th, 2017]
- 6 ways to be more hirable and 1 that could land a job today - Deseret News - June 27th, 2017 [June 27th, 2017]
- Searching for a Career? Set up a Free Profile at AutoCareCareers.org - PR Newswire (press release) - June 27th, 2017 [June 27th, 2017]
- Industry Job Seekers Can Set Up A Free Profile At AutoCareCareers.Org - AftermarketNews.com (AMN) - June 29th, 2017 [June 29th, 2017]
- Steve Mitchell The Mind of Watercolor Blog - June 29th, 2017 [June 29th, 2017]
- How to Upload to Google Drive - Cloudwards - July 1st, 2017 [July 1st, 2017]
- Stevie Ryan, YouTube personality, found dead at home - Blasting News - July 4th, 2017 [July 4th, 2017]
- 5 tips to a delicious food photo - Orlando Sentinel - July 5th, 2017 [July 5th, 2017]
- Gordon Hayward the best Jazz wing player of all time? Not what the numbers say. - SLC Dunk - July 5th, 2017 [July 5th, 2017]
- 36 Years of Loretta's - Racer X Online - July 6th, 2017 [July 6th, 2017]
- How to Work on Your Laptop at a Coffee Shop Without Being a Jerk - Lifehacker - July 8th, 2017 [July 8th, 2017]
- There's a new most-viewed Youtube video, pushing Gangnam Style off the top spot - Buzz.ie - July 12th, 2017 [July 12th, 2017]
- How to prevent bandwidth throttling with a VPN - T3 - July 14th, 2017 [July 14th, 2017]
- Google will now let you back up your entire computer for FREE on its servers - Mirror.co.uk - July 15th, 2017 [July 15th, 2017]
- Google Drive Backup and Sync lets you backup your entire computer: Here's how it works - BGR India - July 17th, 2017 [July 17th, 2017]
- Why Mythology Still Matters: Wisdom from Game of Thrones' 'Dragonstone' - Big Think - July 17th, 2017 [July 17th, 2017]
- Mum somehow manages to convince her daughter her nipple's fallen off in hilarious text exchange - Metro - July 18th, 2017 [July 18th, 2017]