Institute for Applied Noematics
The Institute for Applied Noematics, or IAN, was the organization whose efforts ultimately lead to the creation of new humans. Components of this endeavor included
- Extended Lifespan (EL)—the world's most durable supercomputer,
- the Simulation—an iterative process designed to create sufficiently advanced AI,
- Talos (originally named Soma)—an android body, and
- the Archive—a repository of human knowledge and culture.
The EL facility eventually became known as simply "The Dam" to the residents of New Jerusalem.
Notable members
Alexandra Drennan was the head of the AI division, and she effectively became the leader of the institute as whole by the time humanity went extinct.
Nadya Sarabhai was the Institute Coordinator.
Arkady Chernyshevsky was the originator of the entire Extended Lifespan project, and he became the head of the Archive in particular.
Trevor Donovan was in charge of EL hardware but also spent significant time on the Archive.
Sun Wei-Yang was initially in charge of the Soma project.
Name
The term "noematics" refers to the branch of philosophy that studies the process of thought [1], although the word can also be used to describe the study of religious texts [2].