The Science and Philosophy of "Alpha Centauri" Quiz

Answer: Xenobiologist

The prefix "xeno-" means "foreign", so a xenobiologist studies foreign life forms. As the mindworms are native to Planet (and not Earth), she is in a position to have the most knowledge concerning them.

Lady Deirdre starts with a plus one bonus to the Planet social effect, giving her the capability to capture and control mindworms, using them for battle.

Answer: Fusion Power

As fusion is the sustaining force powering the sun, Lal is simply stating that the colonists had found a way to once again harness that power (assuming they had done so previously on Earth). The Fusion Power technology allows players access to the Fusion Reactor, the Fusion Lab, and the Engineer citizen.

Answer: Free Market

The Free Market economic option offers a plus two bonus to the Economy social effect, but has severe consequences against the Planet and Police effects. In effect, free market economics have a negative impact on the environment and create a suspicion of authority.

Answer: Sister Miriam Godwinson

Though it might be counter-intuitive to believe that the dogmatic, anti-science Sister Miriam would profess a need for technological research, she provides justification with the fact that it is not advance itself that is evil, but those who utilize it.

Nonetheless, Miriam's reluctance toward scientific endeavors do not allow her to engage in Knowledge values, so it is impossible for her to get the bonuses to research that this would bring.

Answer: Matter Transmission

Matter transmission is the ability to send matter through long stretches of space (think of teleportation). It is perhaps one of the longest surviving ideas in science fiction, and popularized by "Star Trek" in the 1960s.

In "Alpha Centauri", the technology Matter Transmission leads to the psi gate, the blink displacer, and The Bulk Matter Transmitter.

Answer: The Theory of Everything

The term unified field theory, first coined by Einstein, is a field theory that allows all ideas concerning the nature of particles to be viewed within the same field. As such, there is no field theory that exists today that is unified.

A unified field theory would allow for "the theory of everything", a term which explains all physical phenomena, and thus could lead to the prediction of all possible outcomes. The theory of everything wouldn't mean that humanity would know every outcome, but would give us the ability to quantify and calculate all possible outcomes.

Answer: Eudaimonia

Eudaimonia is loosely a person's highest well-being or goodness. It is often tied to the word "happiness", though not in the sense of joy, but in the sense that the person was living the most virtuous and most excellent life. It is an objective as opposed to subjective idea, meaning that there is an outside source from which a eudaimonic life is judged.

The discovery in this science fiction sense is meant to convey a society where all its members are seen to their full potential, even if it does not bring personal happiness per se. All members live what is to be considered a life of excellence, which is to be considered the best possible outcome for each member.

Answer: "Essays on Mind and Matter" - Chairman Sheng-ji Yang

Chairman Yang and his Hive have communalistic tendencies. In this sense, personal pain and suffering are of little concern as they detract to the well-being of the whole of society. Therefore, the Virtual World is a sort of haven which allows the pain of the real world to vanish in an illusory state. Yang's sterile explanation shies from humanitarian belief systems, particularly those espoused by Brother Lal.

Answer: Neutronium armor

Coined by Andreas von Antropoff, the term "neutronium" is a bit of a mainstay in science fiction literature. It describes an element that lacks any protons, or has an atomic number of zero. It is said to be the main element of the cores of neutron stars, though scientists don't put much stock in the term as it isn't strictly defined and there is not enough known about neutron stars to make a definitive claim on their composition.

Answer: Self-Aware Machines

It's perhaps quite creepy to think that these self-aware machines might be watching you as a human being, but we're a long way from that possibility at the moment. The technology, however, is not unfamiliar in the science fiction genre. Robots that are "alive" have long been seen in such stories and many of them confront the moral issues of owning and even killing these self-aware beings.