Writing an Alien Human

I have a character 20 Minutes in the Future (rapidly becoming The Singularity) who is rather weird. He's biologically human, but he's embraced mind-interface technology to the point where a large portion of his mind is actually sitting outside his head on a cluster of computers. To give you an idea of what he can do from there, the plot requires him to learn an alien language. He does it what he calls the "efficient" way: he spawns multiple processes, Archive Binges the entire library of language material in parallel, and ends up speaking it fluently within hours.

However, from a Doylist standpoint, I'm not sure how to write this. I want to give the impression that he/his computer assistance means he can almost leave any unmodified human behind, but without sliding into standard TV Genius behavior. I'm also considering how other characters, both human and alien, react. I thought it might be interesting for the aliens to be creeped out by his Mary Sue-ish Instant Expertise, but I don't know how believable that is. (The humans are less perturbed because his computers' social engines know how to deal with interacting with humans.)

Anyone got an opinion on what I should do with this?

edited 20th Jun '11 4:01:39 PM by Yej

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

Well, get into his head and figure out what he's thinking. The usual problem with TV Genius is that they don't seem to understand how actual geniuses think, so they're clumsy at portraying one. If you can get into his head, you can portray his actions well.

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.

The main thing with TV Geniuses is that they tend to behave in a fashion similar to someone with Asperger's Syndrome or on the mild end of the autism spectrum. The defining traits are a high IQ, narrow interests, and an often obsessive fixation on those interests, but poor social skills and- sometimes, but not always -a Spock Speak-esque speech style. This may have something to do with how most Aspies (myself included) tend to identify with Spock himself.

You said that this guy has his own way of dealing with social situations, so that's a major hurdle out of the way- the lack of social skills is often seen by others as a disadvantage*

or a price to pay for intelligence.

Perhaps he could apply his knowledge of human social interactions awkwardly or rigidly, or mess up from time to time. Or he could seem more like he had to learn human interaction and social norms through observation or something. Then he might be viewed as an eccentric, or it could kick him into the Uncanny Valley a la Half Life's G-Man. Your choice.

edited 21st Jun '11 10:27:51 AM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

That right there can be used to draw some interesting contrasts, though I'm not quite sure what you mean—is he functionally a Mind Hive, or is he just a dedicated multitasker?

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Getting into his head is rather complicated when I'm specifically designing it to be better than mine, however slightly.

Dedicated multitasker. There's only one set of opinions, one body and one personality. He's just thinking lots of things at once.

edited 21st Jun '11 7:15:54 AM by Yej

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

^ Well, the trick is to have him do at once what takes you quite awhile to do.

For example, I suck at planning ahead in Real Life, but I'm writing a Chessmaster character. So I keep rewriting things whenever a better plan for him occurs to me - for example I rewrote most of the book when I decided it made the most sense for him to kill a certain character and frame someone else for it, rather than letting that character live. You have an advantage over your characters, in that you can take days at a time to plan out actions they do in five minutes, and you can roll back time and do it over again. You can use this to make your character seem smarter than you yourself are.

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.

I liked the way Stross wrote it in Accelerando. At one point the main PoV has a similar setup to yours in his glasses/hat. Having dumped most of his memories and cognitive processes from the wetware into the hardware made him an idiot when his setup gets stolen. The kid who stole it from him tries it out and effectively becomes a 90% copy of him, left physically scared because so much of his brain has been rerouted to fit the glasses.

edited 21st Jun '11 3:30:29 PM by Quoth

Well, if his main intelligence bonus is that he can think quickly, then you can still get into his head. Mull over the situation for hours/months/years, and that's how he'll see it within a matter of seconds.

Is there a reason he did this while other humans didn't? Are there any drawbacks to having a cyborg brain?

(EDIT: Ninja'd. Had this thread sitting open too long)

edited 22nd Jun '11 6:05:43 AM by robintherose

Now I've got this image of Robin's secret childhood love affair with Mr. T. - Idler 20

I'm reading Accelerando ATM, but that's completely tangential to this thread.

From what I've read of Accelerando and even Less Wrong, simply thinking faster (which I'm struggling to avoid, because, as you say, I've got months to pore over split-second decisions.) isn't quite the same thing as more intelligent, and I want to show that.

The reason other humans didn't is because they're scared, or because they don't care. For instance, the main protagonist doesn't have any sort of enhancement at all because he doesn't like the idea of modifying his own mind. There aren't any drawbacks, unless the system fails for some reason. I'm not sure if there will be a reason.

Actually, since I think I'll get bogged down explaining what constitutes "intelligent" (which I'm not sure of myself) I'd like to ask a different question. How would characters react to this guy's Mary Sue-like interactions? (e.g. the aliens reacting to this stranger who knows their own customs and language in more detail than they do, and almost always has the perfect rebut to any slight.)

edited 22nd Jun '11 1:57:31 PM by Yej

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.

^ Well, being too perfect in language and customs tends to mark you as a foreigner.

If I'm asking for advice on a story idea, don't tell me it can't be done.

^^ In The Android's Dream, AIs have to be programmed not to respond too rapidly to questions, lest they sound like know-it-alls. He doesn't have that advantage, so he might come off as an Insufferable Genius until he learns to moderate himself.

That's Feo . . . He's a disgusting, mysoginistic, paedophilic asshat who moonlights as a shitty writer—Something Awful

Oh yes, I should have thought of that, since someone reveals an actual weak-AI with that trick.

I suppose I'm trying to show that the character's intelligent enough to not fall into the classic mistakes, like visibly being a know-it-all, without him being Mary Sue-perfect. I think I'm doing something wrong somewhere.

Da Rules excuse all the inaccuracy in the world. Listen to them, not me.