LIFE IS A VIDEO GAME PLAYED BY CONSCIOUSNESS-TIME

In Pausback’s novel, a journalist conducts a three-day interview with a reclusive game designer who just might have the answers to life’s biggest questions.

The author has structured this work of fiction in an interview format. The interviewer, called “D,” never reveals his subject’s identity, electing instead to refer to him simply as “K.” Readers learn that, at one time, K was a millionaire game designer and professor of game theory living in the United States who seemingly “had it all.” Like many ascetics and spiritual seekers before him, K decided to give it all up and live a life of quiet solitude, in this case on the outskirts of Panama. That’s where D crosses his path. What follows is an extended conversation between the two in which K is more than happy to share his thoughts on life, love, death, immortality, and everything in between. According to K, we are all living in a kind of “simulation.” Unlike other proponents of similar theories, K posits that the point of this simulation is to become “Love.” That might sound lofty and a bit woo-woo at first blush, but the discourse between the two comes across as grounded and sober: “Lots of people are confident tech will save us. Like believing in the second coming of Christ,” the anonymous interviewee says. “In reality though, the only thing that’s kept us from total annihilation so far has been cool-headed, rational, mature thinking (along with a good measure of dumb luck).” Their discourse is fascinating and lucid, with welcome doses of humor along the way. (“Do you believe in reincarnation?” the interviewer asks at one point. “Not this time around,” his subject replies.) K gives hope to those fearing that AI will “wake up” one day and decide to destroy humanity; he asserts that AI will never achieve true consciousness—and without true consciousness, there can be no free will. However, there’s the “burden of eternity” to contend with—K says it’s the one thing we really must learn to reconcile. It’s all very heady stuff, but, as Pausback’s ideas are rendered here, engaging with them feels as effortless as passing the time with your favorite barstool philosopher.

Bold and thought-provoking.