Last year I read Ted Chiang’s collection Stories of Your Life and Others. The titular “Story of Your Life,” might unknowingly be familiar to you because it’s the premise of the movie Arrival. I fell hard for Ted Chiang’s version, which differs strongly from the movie. But this isn’t a book-was-better-than-the-movie write up. In fact, I’m not going to talk any more about Arrival. Another piece in Chiang’s collection, “Seventy-Two Letters,” has my attention today. It takes place in an alternate Victorian-era with major steampunk vibes.
The protagonist, Stratton, works as a scientist/craftsman who creates golems. A mythological creature of Jewish folklore, golems are essentially subhuman beings created by humans. Stratton makes a scientific advancement when he creates golems that can then create other golems, which causes a big stir. All of this takes place during a time in which infertility is increasing at alarming rates. It is by no means a perfect parallel to our world today, but I can’t help but pull on threads of rising AI and global declines in fertility.
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