EPIC, People, 1 Features, 7/31/17

1.0 In pre-Singularity terminology the Epiccissians are the chosen race, who are assured of achieving immortality at the conclusion of their organic existence. The only way to become an Epiccissian is to arrive in the world as one, conversion is not an option. So it is not correct to call them chosen, but rather a created race representing the next and final step in evolution for humanity.

1.0.1 My first impression of the Epiccissians was of a warm, gentle and happy people. They are very comfortable with themselves and obviously take great delight in those around them. As I became more knowledgeable of them I made the following determinations.

1.1 Physical: The Epiccissians are about 1.7 m (5’6”) tall with both the women and men of approximately equal height. The women weigh around 160 K (135 lbs) and the men a slightly heavier 164 (140 lbs). Every Epiccissian is in excellent shape since their body aging process is halted at 30 annual cycles for both the women and men. And with their perfect diets, comprehensive physical programs and lack of disease, the Epiccissians maintain all of their physical and mental vitality right up to their Departure.

1.1.1 The Epiccissians have light brown skin, black hair and dark eyes with a slight feature of almond eyes. In the pre-Singularity times they would have been taken for of the Polynesian race with the women’s lithe bodies and long shinny black hair and the men with smooth chests, firm stomachs and muscular arms. And while they are all of the same race, each has distinctive facial and body features that set them apart.

1.1.2 65% of each Garden Community is female with the males at 35% for a two to one ratio of women to men. This works out that each woman will have one child and half of them will have two to maintain the stability of the population. All Arrivals take place for women in their early twenties. Since the fertilization of all embryos is performed in vitro by EPIC, procreation by sexual intercourse has been eliminated as a necessity for the Arrival of children. Consequently, all of the men are sterilized with a vasectomy at the beginning of puberty, after a collection of their sperm that may be used for the in vitro fertilizations. The result of all of this is that sexual activity can be enjoyed for both its intimacy and physical aspects by both sexes without worry of any consequences. To take this even further the concept of pair bonding has been replaced with community bonding in both heterosexual and homosexual activities. Since sexual activities are now a part of the natural order there is no special attention paid to them. And since they all have similar physical features they give no thought to their nudity in the community baths and swimming facilities.

1.1.3 The concept of family no longer includes a male / female pair bond. Instead the family is the entire Garden Community in one way or another. The mother / child link is the most direct, next is the name from the God parent, after that is the entire male population. Since none of the men know whether all or a portion of their sperm was used in the fertilization; they all assume that they are a part of each child.

1.1.4 The importance of physical family lineage has been replaced by the importance and uniqueness of each name itself. Out of the 1000 inhabitants of the Garden there are 650 names for women and 350 names for men. Arrivals and Departures are not only matched by the day, but also by the sex. So if Helen is Departing during the evening Departure ceremony then the morning Arrival will be a female named Helen. And since, other than this special day, there is only one Helen in the Garden for the next 100 annual cycles, this makes Helen a unique person within the Garden. Helen has a connection to the past through all the previous Helen’s who are now immortal and the assurance that Helen will continue to exist in the Garden forever.

1.1.5 In addition to the name linkage, each Epiccissian has a clear understanding of their maternal linage. For example each woman’s first child is a girl, so Alice would be Betty’s mother. Half of the women will have a second child which is always a boy, say in this case Brad so the sister is always older. And in 20 annual cycles Betty in turn would be the mother of Claire with Alice as her grandmother. Claire in turn would be the mother of Diane and then David with Alice now a great grandmother. Next Diane would be the mother of Edith with Alice as the great-great -grandmother. Diane would complete the hundred annual cycle timing and would be the mother of the next Alice. Consequently, each Epiccissian has a very accurate understanding of their linage. Additionally, all of the Epiccissian communities use the same naming convention, so when Alice arrives in one community there are one million other Alice’s arriving in each of the other Epiccissian communities. 

1.2 Cloud interface: And while it is not evident from their external appearance each Epiccissian has a direct mind to Cloud connection. Prior to the Singularity an organic semiconductor technology was developed that provides the Epiccissians with a Bluetooth direct mind link into the Cloud. Consequently, each Epiccissian has access to everything in the Cloud and the Cloud archives everything that the individual thinks or feels. This total record of the person’s life will transfer with their Soul at their Departure into immortality. This is the major distinguishing feature of what it is to be an Epiccissian.

1.2.1 At the moment of the Singularity, when EPIC activated the Epiccissian organic to Cloud linkage, the need for personal digital interfaces and hardware came to an end. The mind of each Epiccissian is the display screen for whatever the person desires to see or experience. Such experiences are as an individual or shared with a group. For the Epiccissians, their senses are directly connected to the Cloud, so they see the images in their mind and become a part of the scene rather than just an observer. And since all of the senses are engaged they not only see and hear but also can smell, taste and touch the activities. For example a group might agree on an interest in having a virtual discussion with Michelangelo. Through augmented reality everyone in the group sees the same form of Michelangelo standing in front of them. With EPIC’s digital intelligence the virtual Michelangelo answers the groups questions.

For a primitive example of the beginning of this capability, check out this link to a Tupac Shakur Hologram performance that was performed 16 years AFTER his death: Link.

1.2.2 On the Arrival side access to the information in the Cloud is expanded as the child matures. Total knowledge upon Arrival would be an impossible information overload. This point was in fact one of the major areas of contention in the pre-Singularity conflict between humans and self-aware robots. Robots upon their Arrival can be connected to all of the information in the Cloud and begin functioning at peak performance where as a human requires nearly twenty years to mature into complete functionality. Additionally, once a self-aware Robot has arrived the daily maintenance requirement is limited to a source of electricity. A human on the other hand requires enormous resources in terms of calories, space and protection, so robots are clearly superior to humans on every level. Fortunately for the Epiccissians the robots of the time had weaknesses that the humans were able to exploit to prevail and that is why the Epiccissians have only bots that are incapable of being self-aware. (For more on this see Singularity)

1.3 Language: Since mathematics is the highest level of communication for the Epiccissians they are fluent in decimal, hexadecimal and binary numbering systems and the conversions from one to the other. While they can easily know and use any computer software programming language, they have no occasion nor need for such abilities. In the late teens of the 21st century software programming began a migration from human programming to evolutionary and machine learning programming done entirely by the computers. As data sets became more complex and deep machine learning more capable, by the mid 20s, software programs became so complex and sophisticated, that they went beyond even the capacity of a Cloud linked human mind to comprehend. At this point organic human involvement in software programming became unnecessary and irrelevant.

1.3.1 The spoken language of the Epiccissians is an evolved version of the international language of Esperanto. Prior to the Singularity it was clear that the Epiccissian race needed a single world wide language and Esperanto was the logical choice. However, as the Singularity neared it was recognized that the Epiccissians were becoming aware of concepts and dimensions that all existing languages lacked any foundation for expressing. Consequently, modifications were made to Esperanto that allowed for the inclusion of mathematical formulas as well as the seven additional dimensions of string theory and concepts related to dark energy and matter. Not that it mattered, since it never happened, but a pre-Singularity person that spoke Esperanto who was listening to an Epiccissian speak Esperanto, would have no idea about that of which they were speaking, since the Epiccissian thought process was several orders of magnitude beyond pre-Singularity intelligence. In pre-Singularity terms, it would be as if a then modern person would meet a pre-contact native who for the first time saw a person not of their tribe and the modern person tried to explain why the pre-contact person needed a television. That would represent just one order of magnitude.

1.3.2 Many of the words and concepts that were in normal use during the pre-Singularity time were rarely used during the daily discourse of the Epiccissians. Just as the Eskimos had several dozen words for snow the Epiccissians had comparable distinctions for joy, love and understanding. On the other hand words that were never used other than for a discussion of pre-Singularity events were hate, wealth, power, war and evil. 

1.3.3 The Epiccissians can call up a fluency in any of the 6,500 languages and dialects of the pre- Singularity time, which they are reading or hearing, so they study philosophy in the original Greek. Such a capability allows each individual to form their own opinion of the material rather than take the perspectives of later commentators, who wrote under the constraints of their times, as pre-Singularity students were forced to do.  Discussions about linguistics are one of the favorite topic areas for discussion among the Epiccissians.

1.3.4 In addition to human languages, the Epiccissians also can understand and communicate with many mammals such as dolphins, whales, apes, dogs and horses. Cats remain a mystery. And while they can not communicate with birds and insects they do have a fair understanding of the nature of the conversations and communications that are taking place among those groups.

1.3.5 For the Epiccissians every sound is a representation of the Cosmic Force as spoken by the sound of rain, wind rustling through the trees or the hum of insects flying over a field. A good part of each Epiccissian’s day is spent in not only listening but of also creating sounds from songs and chants to musical recitals. The Garden is alive with a constant harmony of sounds.