SPEMM Yourself

[Shai-Hulud]

The Plot Gods come knocking again.

You get to choose one of four knowledge bestowals. Your mind/brain increases in capability to safely contain and utilize the knowledge you receive. Generally speaking, you know what you know as well as the exemplars listed, and can apply your knowledge as well as they can.

You don’t get all of each exemplars’ knowledge, only that pertaining to the category you choose. Obviously, there’s some overlap here, and after choosing you can expand your knowledge base with good old fashioned work and study.

As a bonus, the Plot Gods cast the D&D spell Heal upon you at the level of a 20th level Cleric (Regeneration, too, if you need it), and one million dollars ($1,000,000) shows up in your account (all legal and taxes paid).

• Science: Cmdr. Spock (TOS); Dr. Victor Bergman (Space: 1999); Hank McCoy (616); Dr. Hans Reinhardt (The Black Hole); Dr. Hans Zarkov (Flash Gordon); Dr. Wellington Yueh (Dune); Ozymandias (Watchman); Dr. Julian Bashir (DS9) - [you get his memory and ability to process data]; Walter White (Breaking Bad). We will bonus in all medical skills, very loosely, as science (even if it's more properly a craft or art), so you get surgical aptitude, etc.
  
  
• Programming: Douglas Ramsey (616) - [you get mutant translation power, but only for machine languages]; Oracle (DC), Cipher (Matrix); Dr. Will Caster (Transcendence) - [human version, not AI version]; R2D2 (Star Wars) - [you get all his programming knowledge, but not his general A.I. processing].
  
  
• Electronics/Mechanics: Cmdr. Scott (TOS); Cmdr. LaForge (TNG); Chief O’Brien (DS9); Nikola Tesla (The Prestige) - [you get his fabled ability to visualize machine construction]; Sparky & Pops (Speed Racer); a 300-year-old, 20th-level, Dwarf Blacksmith (NPC Expert class, generic D&D world) - [no magic included here, nor hit points and fighting ability, etc, but we'll count all other smithing skills, very loosely, as the forerunner to mechanics, so armory, mining, metallurgy, etc, at that level].
  
  
• Mathematics: Mad Thinker (616); Thufir Hawat (Dune); Karellen (Childhood’s End); HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey) - [you get his A.I. supercomputer-level mathematical computational ability]; Dr. Hari Seldon (Foundation). To the extent that these characters have the ability to make predictive mathematical models of the future, you can do that.

If you say “no thanks,” you get the consolation prize of a fully trained Harry Potter familiar (owl, cat or rat, your choice), that never eats, excretes, gets dirty, gets sick, or misbehaves, and automatically gets along with everyone in your family and all other pets (your own and everyone else’s).

[Sharpandpointies]

Okay, I don't see any limitations that say 'Real World'.

So assuming that taking in this knowledge doesn't change my personality or who I am, I'm going to go with Electronics/Mechanics. And using the knowledge of Scotty, LaForge, O'Brian, and Tesla's ability to visualize construction, etc, I start work on some kind of bullshit power system that's easy to make, inexpensive, and provides clean power.

After working it out, I release this information in a way that some stupid company can't come along and copyright it (I'm sure there's a way). For free.

Then I sit back and enjoy the million dollars. Possibly write a book about how this came about.

If the knowledge changes me in any way beyond 'what I know', looks like its a familiar for me. Wish it wasn't from Harry Potter, though.

[Shai-Hulud]

Okay, I don't see any limitations that say 'Real World'.

I have no idea if Trek technology, specifically, will work in our universe, but it shouldn't matter. The Tesla visualization power should take care of that detail. You will intuitively know how to build things that will work in this universe, just like he did.

So assuming that taking in this knowledge doesn't change my personality or who I am....

It doesn't. No personality changes. You don't take on the persona of the exemplars, or have your shadow side become unbalanced, or any other psychological nonsense.

Anyone can become corrupted by power, but that's on you. There's no "Ring of Sauron" effect here.

[Sol_M]

So, using programming I can create general AI? That seems kind of OP.

But if we're bound by real world limitations, can the AI that's created run on hardware that I can realistically procure?

[Sharpandpointies]

I have no idea if Trek technology, specifically, will work in our universe, but it shouldn't matter. The Tesla visualization power should take care of that detail. You will intuitively know how to build things that will work in this universe, just like he did.

That's fine, then. Thank you for the clarification.

It doesn't. No personality changes. You don't take on the persona of the exemplars, or have your shadow side become unbalanced, or any other psychological nonsense.

Anyone can become corrupted by power, but that's on you. There's no "Ring of Sauron" effect here.

Long as there is nothing I'd consider to be a downside, then I'm fine with it. Open source, cheap, sustainable, efficient and durable power system, here we go. Plus a million bucks, that's good.

[Shai-Hulud]

So, using programming I can create general AI? That seems kind of OP.

But if we're bound by real world limitations, can the AI that's created run on hardware that I can realistically procure?

No idea. Part of the fun/challenge is finding out for yourself what you can and can’t do after you choose a package and buckle down in your lab to have a go.

[Sol_M]

No idea. Part of the fun/challenge is finding out for yourself what you can and can’t do after you choose a package and buckle down in your lab to have a go.

Alas, that would only be the case if I actually received the package I chose. Instead, we have to theorycraft, so accurate information is needed.

[Shai-Hulud]

Alas, that would only be the case if I actually received the package I chose. Instead, we have to theorycraft, so accurate information is needed.

What would you do then, if the Plot Gods presented you with this choice, but refused to answer further questions?

You could always take the familiar, I suppose. A pet that never pees or poops, so that’s worth something.😄

[Sol_M]

What would you do then, if the Plot Gods presented you with this choice, but refused to answer further questions?

Without enough information, I wouldn't know what to pick.

Most probably Programming or Maths, to attempt to create technological singularity.

You could always take the familiar, I suppose. A pet that never pees or poops, so that’s worth something.��

Of course a pet is valuable from an emotional standpoint (I would feel really dirty about selling a pet for science or something if that's what you're implying though).

But any of the aforementioned skills are probably going to be more useful than a pet. I can't put a pet on a resume.

You did mention that it's a familiar, so it should have more uses than a pet, but HP familiars are...not that useful.

[Nik Hasta]

Electronics/Mechanics for me.

1) Blacksmithing stuff is cool and I can teach my friend, who is an aspiring blacksmith, how to blacksmith better.

2) Build green tech and infrastructure systems and, as Sharp says, release it open source. See if you can solve nuclear fusion.

3) Become some flavour of ecologically-minded supervillain specifically fucking with billionaires and their empty promises of world-saving tech.

4) Being able to build and fix things for myself is cool, instead of having to save for my (entirely sincere and real world) plan to buy and learn to play the harp, I can just build one.

[Sharpandpointies]

Electronics/Mechanics for me.

1) Blacksmithing stuff is cool and I can teach my friend, who is an aspiring blacksmith, how to blacksmith better.

2) Build green tech and infrastructure systems and, as Sharp says, release it open source. See if you can solve nuclear fusion.

3) Become some flavour of ecologically-minded supervillain specifically **** with billionaires and their empty promises of world-saving tech.

Can agree with all these points. Might be able to get my wife on board for the third.

[Shai-Hulud]

Without enough information, I wouldn't know what to pick.

Most probably Programming or Maths, to attempt to create technological singularity.

Honestly, I have no idea what it would take to create true A.I., if that’s even desirable.

Or how to induce the tech singularity, if that’s even desirable (I’m suspicious).

I’m far less than any of the exemplars on this list, including Sparky the mechanic.

[Postmania]

Programming. I've been trying to get into that for like months to years but I lack the discipline to progress very much so far.

[StupidMoniker]

I'll take science. The sheer WTFery that just Beast is able to do can allow me to create cures for diseases thought impossible to cure, build time machines, etc. Throw in being able to be the chief designer of a moon base with artificial gravity (Bergman) and build interdimensional teleportation devices (Ozymandius), and I would advance mankind far beyond where we currently exist. Everyone else is pretty much a bonus (unless one counts Zarkov as inventing faster than light travel, in which case he is a huge component).

[Shai-Hulud]

I'll take science. The sheer WTFery that just Beast is able to do can allow me to create cures for diseases thought impossible to cure, build time machines, etc. Throw in being able to be the chief designer of a moon base with artificial gravity (Bergman) and build interdimensional teleportation devices (Ozymandius), and I would advance mankind far beyond where we currently exist. Everyone else is pretty much a bonus (unless one counts Zarkov as inventing faster than light travel, in which case he is a huge component).

Spock, as Enterprise science officer, would also have a good grasp of the physics of warp drive, although our universe may or may not work exactly that way. You could probably devise experiments to zero in on it, though.