Glossary
A B C
D E F G H
I J K
L M N O P
Q R S T
U V W X Y Z
Arcology:
1) Architecture + Ecology. Coined by architect Paolo Soleri. A
planned, building/ neighborhood/ city that is integrated into the landscape and enables the inhabitants to
live wholistic lives, integrating work and play. Soleri's movement lured a community of architecture
students to Arcosanti, Arizona to study. 2) A gigantic, more-or-less
self-contained building /community, usually with businesses and industries built in. A
city-in-a-building, with the implication of the various sociopolitical consequences thereof. In
the fiction of the early 300's BxY "Arcology" usually connoted
isolation and exclusiveness. Corporate arcologies were where sinister forces and their minions did
their work. This literature was prophetic because during the Great Collapse
roughly a century later corporate compounds would have many of the traits associated with dystopian corporate
arcologies. (See relevant
bibliography)
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Daniken: [also, Danikenite]:
One who believes in Danikinism.
Popular second century Bx author of numerous books promoting the idea that alien visitors to
Earth fostered the rise of Human
civilizations.
Danikenism:
any assertion, belief, or doctrine holding that the rise of sapience or civilization among
Humans was brought about through the intervention of alien
patrons. [after Erich von Daniken.]
Danikenite:
[see Daniken]
Dura system1:
a base six system for measuring time that is very popular in O-2
Civilization. 1 kidura = 6-2 duras ~ 0.6 second
1 dura = 60 duras ~ 20 seconds
1 midura = 63 duras ~ 72 minutes
1 jadura = 65 duras ~ 43 hours
1 pidura = 67 duras ~ 65 Earth
days
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Gheer reaction:
Gheer is the name for the physiological process of plastic remodeling exhibited by many members of the
Tymbrimi genogroup when under stress.
Gheer transformation:
[see gheer reaction]
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Hab:
Use of base two instead of base six
systems is a very common option in Galactic civilization. Also, tradition puts the mean
distance of the Progenitors' homeworld almost exactly eight light-minutes from
the surface of its sun. This unit --called a hab --is a standard unit of time (and distance) in O-2
civilization. (The hab is inconveniently short for most H-2
species.) It follows that the natural unit of 2-3 hab is almost exactly a minute
long, 23 hab is about 64 minutes long, and 216 hab (6553610) is
52428810 minutes --or a little over 36410 days. Thus 216 hab is commonly
called a hab-year in Anglic.
Haut-Sentience:
Being capable of imagination, appreciation, and wonder --especially, being self-aware and being aware
that one is self-aware.
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Nanotechnology:
Very small machines. At the extreme, machines are made molecule-by-molecule and the molecules built
atom by atom. Applications include microsurgery, construction of advanced
integrated circuits, building complex, larger machines, and terraforming. It is possible to build nanobots that can replicate themselves. Such
Von Neuman nanomachines are very useful for certain terraforming and
medical applications. However, they can only be built using proven
Library and Galactic Foresight Organization licenced
designs incorporating integral fail-safe components called 'keys'. Use of unsafe intelligent or
replicating machines by Organic species is Traditionally punishable
by sanctions as severe as extinction. Given the Human
record of pre-contact speculation and research on artificial intelligence and
automated machine replication, the GFO
believes that voluntarily opening all Terragen research sites to GFO inspection would be
very beneficial for Terragen public relations. (See bibliography.)
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Old Ones:
Any species living in Retirement.
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Potential:
This refers to the quality, that is directly detectable to individuals with empathic
powers, that makes a pre-sentient species ripe for Uplift. Attempts by defective species to
uplift pre-sentients with insufficient potential have caused several of the tragedies
that have recently occured during or after uplift. Uplifting species before they are ready is a
serious crime, and involves the race involved risks being charged with Uplift Malfeasance. Usually the
violation results in a charge of Minor Uplift
Malfeasance. Nevertheless, in several notable and extreme cases charges
of Major Uplift Malfeasance have been brought. (Andrew Crystall)
Psychohistory:
1) the use of psychoanalytical tools on prominent historical figures
such as the Humans Martin Luther or Adolph Hitler.
2) A science originally imagined by the Human, I. Asimov, for his fictional
Foundation series. The fictitious scholar Hari Seldon develops methods for accurately
modeling the behavior of humans in the aggregate, given a critical number of actors. In addition,
psychohistorical knowledge can be used to influence political-economic events by finding critical junctures
where a small, precise intervention can predictably produce a large desired result. See also: Cliometrics.
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Sapience:
The ability to solve problems. The ability to think. Intelligence in the strict sense.
Sentience:
1. The ability to sense. Awareness. 2. Self-awareness.
Sophonce:
Possessing high levels of both sapience and sentience.
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to Terraform:
1) Any engineering program whereby the environment of a planet is altered to make it hospitable to
O-2 life, more to the point rendering the planet suitable for colonization
by O-2 sapient species. Common technologies used in Terraform engineering include bio-engineered microorganisms, nanites, self-replicating machines, bombardment by planetoids and
comets to alter chemistry and rotation, addition and removal of moons to alter planetary rotation, and
use of large space-based reflectors or shades to increase or decrease radiation
received by the planet. 2) Any project designed to render a planetary body habitable to Organic life.
The Galactic Institute for Migration
grants Terraformed biospheres to the Terraforming project sponsor(s) for the duration of the sponsors' Main
Sequence existence. Terragens have active Terraforming projects on
Mars and Venus in
their Home system. These projects are considered folly by other
O-2 species. (See
bibliography. See also,
Class 'A' lease, Class 'B'
lease, Biosphere remediation.)
Terragen:
1) Any Earth species. 2) A member of
Earth Clan. 3) A citizen or permanent
resident of the Terragen Confederation 4) A sapient species uplifted from a member of the
Earth genogroup. That is, a Human, Neo-Chimp,
Neo-Dolphin, Neo-Dog, Neo-Elephant, or Chooser ab-Thennanin.
Thatcherism:
Politics conducted in the style of Baroness Thatcher
(1925-2017). Notable features are a strong belief in the virtues of the free
market, in the reduction of the size of government, and a dislike of compromise and coalition
politics.
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Back to Main Index
Contributors to this page include: Nick Arnett, Jeroen van Baardwijk, Stuart
Braid. Charlie Bell, Joshua Bell, David Brin,
Andrew Crystall, Keith Douglas, Matt Grimaldi,
Stefan Jones, Marvin Long, Jr.,
Alberto Monteiro, Robert
Shaw, Steve Sloan II, Julia Thompson
This page is continuously under construction.
e3v5r1
allianceforprogress@yahoo.com