A review by rujein
The New Voices of Science Fiction by Jacob Weisman, Hannu Rajaniemi
4.0
Only read Openness so far, and it left a deep impression on me. Basically this story follows a relationship from its start to its end, the turning point being the couple "opening" their minds entirely to one another, in a world where communication between humans is conducted via revealing 'layers' of memories to one another. The central question of the story, is whether this complete openness (not just memories, but also thoughts in the moment) is good for a relationship. The narrator/half of the couple doesn't definitively point to it as the cause for the breakup, but he definitely suggests it is so (or that it expedited the breakup of an incompatible couple), raising incidents where the knowledge of the other's thoughts caused friction e.g. disdain for a parent, attraction towards a server.
I suppose the author painted an extreme scenario (complete openness, even to thoughts in the moment) to facilitate the exploration of the theme of openness; how much should we share with others, even those who are closest to us; how complete openness to thoughts in the moment may not leave room for the future (the couple broke up because the narrator saw a different guy in his partner's conception of the future - not a specific guy, just a guy who is different from him - but there was a possibility that it could change over time?). It also made me think too about how much work goes into communication in a relationship; we filter out thoughts which may be hurtful/cause harm (instinctive thoughts which we might realise later are irrational and unhelpful), we frame things in constructive ways etc.
I suppose the author painted an extreme scenario (complete openness, even to thoughts in the moment) to facilitate the exploration of the theme of openness; how much should we share with others, even those who are closest to us; how complete openness to thoughts in the moment may not leave room for the future (the couple broke up because the narrator saw a different guy in his partner's conception of the future - not a specific guy, just a guy who is different from him - but there was a possibility that it could change over time?). It also made me think too about how much work goes into communication in a relationship; we filter out thoughts which may be hurtful/cause harm (instinctive thoughts which we might realise later are irrational and unhelpful), we frame things in constructive ways etc.