{"id":2172,"date":"2024-10-10T08:22:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T08:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quantum.closelycoded.site\/?page_id=2172"},"modified":"2024-12-17T09:34:54","modified_gmt":"2024-12-17T09:34:54","slug":"backstory-possible-cats","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/backstory-possible-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Backstory: Possible Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2172\" class=\"elementor elementor-2172\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5922dc1c e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"5922dc1c\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6683d3c4 elementor-absolute elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"6683d3c4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_position&quot;:&quot;absolute&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"92\" height=\"143\" src=\"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/09\/pattern_top.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-591\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-66666dcf elementor-absolute elementor-hidden-tablet elementor-hidden-mobile elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"66666dcf\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;_position&quot;:&quot;absolute&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"160\" height=\"177\" src=\"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2024\/09\/pattern_bottom.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-592\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d31c074 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"d31c074\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-35255a5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"35255a5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Backstory: Possible Cats<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-698dafe elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"698dafe\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"rtecenter\">A Q&amp;A with\u00a0<strong>Michael Haiden<\/strong>, Quantum Shorts finalist<\/p><p class=\"rtecenter\"><a href=\"\/entry\/possible-cats\">Read the story first: Possible Cats<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2bc8bc4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2bc8bc4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><strong>Can you give a short introduction to yourself?<\/strong><\/p><p>I\u2019m 27 and I study philosophy and political science in Austria. In my studies, I\u2019m very interested in questions of ethics and economic inequality.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Your story touches on ethical themes like how new technology should be used. What was your inspiration?<\/strong><\/p><p>My biggest inspiration is the work of Amartya Sen. He defines poverty as an absence of choices and of freedom and I read Sen\u2019s works while writing the story and made the connection with this new technology that creates endless possibilities but is actually restricted to a few people. I started to think: how would people without access react or how would they feel?<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>The protagonist in your story grapples with the inequality. Did you have an idea how things would progress beyond the end of your story?<\/strong><\/p><p>Sooner or later, you would have to enact some sort of change so that people will have access to the technology. But the question is how. Would it be by peaceful means, or is it going to become more chaotic, maybe even violent? I wanted to leave this open and just bring out the character\u2019s resentment. Maybe, unfortunately, he just has to live with that.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>What makes you interested in quantum physics?<\/strong><\/p><p>Its similarities with philosophy. To me, the whole idea of philosophy is mostly to try to demolish things we believe and think are true but actually cannot really justify. I think what quantum physics also does is question our centuries-old ideas about philosophy, time, space, and causality. I don\u2019t have a deep understanding of quantum physics but it is fascinating that it questions almost everything.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>What was your writing process like?<\/strong><\/p><p>I had the initial idea when I read the prompt. I knew it had to have cats. I also really like this theory in philosophy of possible worlds by David Lewis \u2013 that was why the professor was called \u201cLewis\u201d in this story. I knew I had these elements, but didn\u2019t really find a way to tell a story. Then I thought about the ethical dimension and it just happened by itself. I had the idea when I was sitting in class. I went home and wrote the whole thing in one sitting, then I edited it for a few days.<\/p><p>I tried to think about it a bit like a philosophical ethics paper. In philosophy, we always try to write examples and thought experiments. What was different was focusing on how the characters feel \u2013 Aaron is very resentful, Cynthia admires Lewis \u2013 and how they think and interact. This was a fascinating dimension to explore.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>What is your favourite science-inspired book?<\/strong><\/p><p>I love the works of Kurt Vonnegut, especially how he turns scientific concepts into absurd consequences. In\u00a0<em>Cat\u2019s Cradle<\/em>\u00a0for example, a scientist develops a way to turn all liquid water into solid. Another work is\u00a0<em>Timequake<\/em>\u00a0where the world is set back years in time but everybody remembers it. In these years, they have to do everything again. It touches on discussions of determinism and free will.\u00a0<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>What does being a Quantum Shorts finalist mean to you?<\/strong><\/p><p>A lot. It is my first try at fiction writing. I never thought that I have an artistic side, so such a prize is a welcome surprise for me.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><strong>Is there anything else you would like to tell us about you or your story?<\/strong><\/p><p>I think that it is very important philosophers and scientists to engage with fiction writing. I think science fiction has a lot of potential to rattle us in our beliefs with scenarios that seem very real.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Backstory: Possible Cats A Q&amp;A with\u00a0Michael Haiden, Quantum Shorts finalist Read the story first: Possible Cats Can you give a short introduction to yourself? I\u2019m 27 and I study philosophy and political science in Austria. In my studies, I\u2019m very interested in questions of ethics and economic inequality. \u00a0 Your story touches on ethical themes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2172","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Backstory: Possible Cats - Quantum Shorts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/events.cqt.sg\/shorts\/backstory-possible-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Backstory: Possible Cats - Quantum Shorts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Backstory: Possible Cats A Q&amp;A with\u00a0Michael Haiden, Quantum Shorts finalist Read the story first: Possible Cats Can you give a short introduction to yourself? 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