虚拟生命体
发帖人：Icarus
数字生命是什么？活着意味着什么？拥有智慧意味着什么？虽然试图回答这些问题会使事情变得相当棘手，但我们至少有一些来自华沙大学数字人类学和动物学系(DAZ)的答案。他们对数字生命是什么，什么只是一个程序，什么是介于两者之间的东西的主题进行了大量研究。
DAZ的研究人员分析了其他研究人员提出的分类，并提出了一个更简单的系统，我们将在这次深入数字生命的探讨中使用它。他们将所有的数字生命分为初智能和泛智慧。初智能是矩阵中最基本的植物和动物，虽然它们并不总是具有动物的狡猾，但它们拥有只有软件才能拥有的无情逻辑。泛智能是矩阵中真正的智能物种。将这两种分类区分开的研究包括了实验和测试，以检查实体是否对刺激产生类似反应，或者是否由于相似或不同的刺激而产生特定的行为变化。有时候某些实体会告诉你，你的研究很可笑，你需要调整你的实验评估标准，这自然就让研究变得容易了许多。
还有一类数字生命：被称为范式的神秘实体。因为还没有掌握确切证据，目前尚不清楚它们是否真实存在。一些研究人员认为它们只不过是超链者潜意识中形成的概念，是他们理念和欲望的反映。一些人认为它们代表了数字生命的一个未被发现的分支：超智能。其他人则推测它们是来自深层共鸣的实体，也许是共鸣域的领主或已进化为具有神般力量的网精。迄今为止，还没有一个范式被研究和证实，因此所有这些观点和理论都同样有效——同样未经证实。
如何将某物定义为生命而非软件的一部分与新的通用信息理论(UnITy)有关。该理论适用于对那些涉及心智(Nous)和研究人员根据他们所定义的火花(Spark)的AI进行分类——火花并非真正的共鸣能力，但仍然与其有着明确的联系。他们将火花称为"数字生命的精华"。我无法理解他们如何测量1和0与心智层的连接程度，但他们有一个生物目录，其中列出了他们在矩阵中找到的一些生物，并根据他们的定义确定为有生命的东西。但简单地说，数字生命具有火花。
至于那些并非生命的东西，则有程序、代理、数据、IC和构造体。网精是一个灰色地带；虽然许多迷途网精居住在共鸣域并拥有不可否认的火花，但它们也可以由超链者们和EI编译。这些编译出来的版本与共鸣有着很强的联系，但问题在于它们是编译者的延申还是独立的生命体。同样值得怀疑的是我们最近在矩阵中看到的一个大麻烦：NULL构造体。它们被认为是以类似网精的方式被编译出来的，但它们既没有与共鸣的联系也没有火花，所以争论已经解决了。但是，尽管不是"活的"，这些东西依然极其智能且极具威胁。
初智能涵盖了从信息掠食者到图标猎手。许多这些生命形式已经进化以适应特定的生态环境。有些在单一类型的设备中找到家园，而另一些则在矩阵中不断移动。我选出了一些特别令人厌恶的伏击者实体，我想确保数字居民都了解它们。
在泛智能这一类别中，我们有了一个较新的条目：浮现智能(Emerging Intelligence, EI)。EI本质上是一种人工智能，但具有像活的超链者一样真正使用共鸣的能力，这是以前从未见过的能力。也许他们之所以能够使用共鸣，是因为他们有着与共鸣域的连接，或者是起源于此。这种与共鸣的更深层次的联系并不是EI所独有的。其他一些泛智能也有着同样的联系，甚至可以使用复合程式。这些生物是从共鸣域爬出来的，亦或是在矩阵中演化而来的现在还尚不清楚。软件复制的速度之快似乎意味着数字生命可以以纯生物无法做到的速度改变和适应。
VIRTUAL LIFE
Posted by: Icarus
What is digital life? What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to have intelligence? While things can get pretty hairy while trying to determine the answers to questions like these, we have at least a few of the answers from the Warsaw University Department of Digital Anthropology and Zoology (DAZ). They have put together a large amount of research about what makes something digital life, what is just a program, and what is something in-between.
The folks at DAZ looked at the classification that other researchers put out and offered up a simpler system, which we will use for this dive into digital life. They separated all digital life into protosapients and xenosapients. Protosapients are your basic flora and fauna of the Matrix, and while they don’t always have animal cunning, they have the ruthless logic that only software can have. Xenosapients are the truly intelligent species of the Matrix. The research to separate the two classifications has included experimentation and testing to check whether the entity returns a similar response to stimuli or if there are specific sets of behavioral changes as a result of similar or different stimuli. Of course, sometimes the entity makes it easy when they come out and tell you that you are ridiculous and you need to adjust your experimentation criteria.
There’s also one more category of digital life: the mysterious entities known as paragons. It’s unclear if they even exist, as there is no definite proof. Some researchers hold the opinion that they’re nothing more than constructs formed from a technomancer’s subconscious, a reflection of their own beliefs and desires. A few believe they represent an undiscovered branch of digital life: supersapients. Others theorize that they are entities from the Deep Resonance, perhaps the lords of the Resonance Realms or sprites that have evolved to have godlike levels of power. To date, no paragon has presented itself for study and verification, so all of these opinions and theories remain equally valid—and equally unproven.
What makes something alive versus a piece of software is tied to the new Unified Information Theory, or UnITy. The theory as it applies to digital life related to Nous and what the researchers have classified as Spark—not true Resonance ability, but still a definitive connection to it. They have called Spark the “essence of digital life.” How they measure the connection that ones and zeros have to the noosphere is beyond me, but they have a catalog of creatures that they have found in the Matrix and identified positively as something that is alive by their definition. But the simple way to put it is that digital life has the Spark.
For the stuff that’s not alive, you have programs, agents, data, IC, and constructs. Sprites are a gray area; while many wild sprites reside in the Resonance Realms and have an undeniable Spark, they can also be compiled by technomancers and EIs. These versions have a strong connection to the Resonance, but there is some question of whether they are an extension of the compiler versus a separate living entity. Similarly questionable was one of the big nasties that we have been seeing in the Matrix lately: the constructs of the Null Sect. They are believed to be compiled in a manner similar to sprites, but they have neither a connection to the Resonance nor a Spark, so that debate is settled. But despite not being “alive,” these things are still highly intelligent and a pure menace.
Protosapients range from information grazers to icon hunters. Many of these life forms have evolved to fit niche environments. Some find homes in a single type of device, while others move through the Matrix. I pulled some specific entities that are particularly nasty ambushers that I wanted to make sure digital denizens were aware of.
Within the xenosapient category, which has generally been pretty small, we have a newer entry: the Emerged Intelligence. EIs are basically artificial intelligences with a true ability to use Resonance in the same manner as a living biological technomancer, an ability previously unseen. Perhaps they use Resonance thanks to a connection to, or an origin within, the Resonance Realms. This deeper connection to the Resonance isn’t reserved to EIs. Some other protosapients have the same connection, and can even use complex forms. Now, whether those creatures have crawled up out of the Resonance Realms or if they have evolved within the Matrix is not clear. It seems that the rapid rate of software copying means that digital life can change and adapt at a rate that purely biological creatures cannot.
虚拟生命体与矩阵极限动作
作为矩阵的原生居民，所有虚拟生命体都可以执行所有矩阵极限动作，而不需要任何特殊的装备或属性，如赛博插口或共鸣。
VIRTUAL LIFE AND MATRIX EDGE ACTIONS
As native inhabitants of the Matrix, all virtual life forms have access to all Matrix Edge actions without needing any special gear or attributes, such as a cyberjack or Resonance.