Permutation City

   

Permutation City is a science fiction novel (ISBN 1-85798-218-5) by Greg Egan that explores various philosophical aspects of artificial life and simulations of intelligence. It won the John W. Campbell Award for the best science-fiction novel of the year in 1995 and was cited in a 2003 Scientific American article (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000F1EDD-B48A-1E90-8EA5809EC5880000&pageNumber=1&catID=2) on multiverses.

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

Permutation City asks many of the same kinds of philosophical questions as The Matrix, Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell – is there any difference between a perfect computer simulation and a "real" person? – but its textual nature allows it to push the ideas further. Egan gleefully deconstructs and undermines traditional notions of self, future, personality, and even physical reality.

Further Egan novels which deal with uploaded personalities include Diaspora and Schild's Ladder



See also: Postcyberpunk.

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