The film does not clarify, and I would suggest it actively muddies, the precise location in time of the movie’s opening. The adaptation by Eric Heisserer is faithful to certain intents of Chiang's story but there are plot elements that move the film that are not present in the story. Spoilers ahead.įor me watching the movie didn’t spoil the story (but the reading the story first will ruin one of the good sleights of hand for the movie). With the short story, I fell in love with the idea of where the notion of free will exists in a much larger concept of the universe. I came out of the movie feeling elated at having experienced a more real feeling of how we actually experience time. I loved both the movie and the story but for different reasons. Works of mathematical fiction, return to the Homepage.I'll take it both ways, please - Gemma Webster Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life and Others is a mandatory read in my opinion.īuy this work of mathematical fiction and read reviews at. (spoiler alert) Though the evolution of the main character intelect is quite a compelling read, the key insight for me was how two equally powerful intelects, presented with the same information could diverge so wildly in their interpretations and actions, based solely in their relatives points of view of such reality (introspection for Leon, empathy for his nemesis). I'd say the focus is information theory rather than classic matematics. The most notable passage, mathematically speaking, is when the protagonist decrypts in hours a file that would normally take years to a supercomputer, claiming to be using a technique for factoring large numbers he's discovered while amusing himself with number theory. This novelette is breathtaking - perhaps the only serious attempt I've ever read at describing what a superhuman mind could be - but its focus on finding patterns and meaning in the world makes little mention of explicit mathematics. Originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, August Times in passing, and twice the supergenius explicitly uses itįor his applications. "An experimental treatment for a drowning victim turns him intoĪn incredible supergenius.
(click on names to see more mathematical fiction A list compiled by Alex Kasman ( College of Charleston)
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