Philosophy Meets Technology in an Interesting UNFETTERED JOURNEY

Unfettered Journey
Written by Gary F. Bengier
Published by Chiliagon Press
September 5, 2020
Paperback, 527 pages

It’s a question that’s been bandied about for a long while: what is consciousness? Can a machine have a soul? What makes us human?

Set in the near future, Unfettered Journey gives us a glimpse of how society could evolve if social media is left unchecked: everyone has a “level” following the passage of the Levels Act. This creates a class structure that keeps people of a certain level from having relationships — or basic interactions, for that matter — with those of other levels. It’s a means by which humanity has decided to order itself with the hopes of making progress after a great environmental disaster.

Now, in the midst of this relatively post-apocalyptic landscape, Joe Denkensmith (level 42) is reviving his research into artificial intelligence and the question of whether or not artificial persons can have souls. Taking a sabbatical from his regular employment, Joe heads out to Colorado, where he begins work at Lone Mountain College. Along the way, he starts to wonder if his pursuit is all it’s cracked up to be. Through long and intense conversations with colleagues, he continues to question whether or not the code can be cracked — or should it? — when circumstances work to throw him a curveball.

Enter Evie Joneston, leader of a movement protesting the Levels Act and fighting to get it repealed so people have more opportunities for individual achievement. Meeting through an accident of circumstance, the two slowly reach an understanding as Evie hides out in Joe’s apartment. As the two get to know each other better, Joe finds himself thinking less and less about the question of robot souls and more about whether humanity is being given a fair shake.

What follows is a long, nuanced discussion about human rights, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and government overreach. The philosophical discussions between characters, while sometimes very dry and convoluted, are an interesting examination of cause and effect, free will, the existence of God and whether or not He has direct influence over events or if He just wound up the clock and let it go. At times I found myself recalling what Harrison Ford said to George Lucas about how you can write certain things, but you can’t say them. The conversations sometimes felt a little more suited for academic papers than dialogue, but overall they made the point of what the book is driving at.

I think this is the first time I’ve come across a science fiction book where the core of the story wraps around the question of consciousness and free will. You skate around it a bit with things like I, Robot, perhaps, but Joe’s driving force is puzzling out this conundrum. All the while he gets shunted sideways into working on a space station to help diagnose a technical problem and at the same time protecting Evie from authorities, and that’s just about two-thirds of the way into the story.

No spoilers, but things take a turn in a direction I did not expect with the back half of the book, and the ending felt a little anti-climactic, with some action happening “off-screen” when it probably would have helped the resolution be a little more robust. Of course, it probably would have added another hundred pages or so, but still…

Overall, it’s a good book that’s well worth the time. But read it knowing that you’re going to have to pay attention, because there are some big concepts. In the end, you’ll have quite a bit to think about.