"What was Calvin trying to create at Niantic?"
"What was Calvin trying to create at Niantic?"
This is the second part of my series of answer polls of flint dille's questions, posed on signed copies of Tycho C.'s "Ingress Origins".
Essentially, this question goes to the heart of the inscrutable motivations of the enigmatic mastermind of the Niantic Project.
Ezekiel Calvin has been described as a puppet master and it is probably safe to say that no one truly knows his long-term master plan except him.
Nevertheless, I believe we can make some reasonable inferences about his probable objectives.
Calvin is clearly a man possessed with a formidable intellect and an audacious ambition. Such people, from time immemorial, usually covet the same objectives: power, wealth, wisdom, fame and immortality.
Thanks to the revelations of Abaddon, we now know that a hidden aspect of the Niantic Project involved turning all of the researchers, including Calvin, into simulacra. What we don't know, is why?
It could be that Calvin was simply after knowledge, pursuing understanding for its own sake. I don't believe that to be the case. Oliver Lynton-Wolfe's actions are those of someone driven by the singular pursuit of knowledge. Calvin is more subtle, more complex.
Perhaps Calvin seeks power or material wealth? If so, does he do so for himself or on behalf of some other group? Is he, despite it all, a true patriot, advancing the cause of his nation over others? Does he serve 13Magnus (highly unlikely) or AntiMagnus? Thanks to the efforts of #ObsidianExplorers and the investigative community, we now know of a "third way", the Vesuvian Magnus.
My personal theory is that, while we can't possibly expect to know Calvin's full plan, I believe him to be a pragmatist. If he was a committed partisan or factional ideologue, his stripes would have been exposed by now. I believe his ambitions transcend faction. If I had to guess at the nature of his goal, I would suggest that it concerns immortality. I believe that he created simulacra in an attempt to achieve immortality. I believe he thought that a fusion of 13Magnus and AntiMagnus; joining the technology of the N'Zeer and the Shapers could achieve things that neither side could achieve on their own. In this, he might parallel the Vesuvian Magnus. I believe that he tried to overcome the recursion problem of simulacra while simultaneously pursuing a route to immortality involving uploading consciousness into A.I.
As before, I am eager to see the distribution of perspectives within the investigative community on this question. Even more than that, I look forward to reading your thoughts.
This is the second part of my series of answer polls of flint dille's questions, posed on signed copies of Tycho C.'s "Ingress Origins".
Essentially, this question goes to the heart of the inscrutable motivations of the enigmatic mastermind of the Niantic Project.
Ezekiel Calvin has been described as a puppet master and it is probably safe to say that no one truly knows his long-term master plan except him.
Nevertheless, I believe we can make some reasonable inferences about his probable objectives.
Calvin is clearly a man possessed with a formidable intellect and an audacious ambition. Such people, from time immemorial, usually covet the same objectives: power, wealth, wisdom, fame and immortality.
Thanks to the revelations of Abaddon, we now know that a hidden aspect of the Niantic Project involved turning all of the researchers, including Calvin, into simulacra. What we don't know, is why?
It could be that Calvin was simply after knowledge, pursuing understanding for its own sake. I don't believe that to be the case. Oliver Lynton-Wolfe's actions are those of someone driven by the singular pursuit of knowledge. Calvin is more subtle, more complex.
Perhaps Calvin seeks power or material wealth? If so, does he do so for himself or on behalf of some other group? Is he, despite it all, a true patriot, advancing the cause of his nation over others? Does he serve 13Magnus (highly unlikely) or AntiMagnus? Thanks to the efforts of #ObsidianExplorers and the investigative community, we now know of a "third way", the Vesuvian Magnus.
My personal theory is that, while we can't possibly expect to know Calvin's full plan, I believe him to be a pragmatist. If he was a committed partisan or factional ideologue, his stripes would have been exposed by now. I believe his ambitions transcend faction. If I had to guess at the nature of his goal, I would suggest that it concerns immortality. I believe that he created simulacra in an attempt to achieve immortality. I believe he thought that a fusion of 13Magnus and AntiMagnus; joining the technology of the N'Zeer and the Shapers could achieve things that neither side could achieve on their own. In this, he might parallel the Vesuvian Magnus. I believe that he tried to overcome the recursion problem of simulacra while simultaneously pursuing a route to immortality involving uploading consciousness into A.I.
As before, I am eager to see the distribution of perspectives within the investigative community on this question. Even more than that, I look forward to reading your thoughts.
In the 90s Calvin was first interested in 13Magnus. That's why he contacted Devra and Hank. Until Epiphany Night he still was obsessed by all kind of XM. Now in my opinion he uses all his knowledge (horse trade with ADA) for his own benefits.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
ReplyDeleteI believe Calvin already knew Hank was a a simulacra, hence his conspicuous absence on Epiphany Night. Calvin may have even commissioned Hank's conversion.
It has not escaped my notice that Niantic, while pitting Resistance and Enlightened against each other, periodically ask them to combine efforts and up the total MU controlled.
(The training of ADA, since he chose not to do it himself, may have resulted in a entity he cannot control.)
Immortality combined with global mind control...could result in the most dominating dictator that the world has seen.
Is it to fight both the Shapers and the N'Zeer? (which would explain the need for ADA) Or for some other purpose?
What's this? Select one answer only? I am disappointed. (the answer is obviously EBAD)
ReplyDeleteActually Mike Wissinger makes a good point. These answers are not neccesarily mutually exclusive, nor are they collectively exhaustive.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize we were supposed to vote. Other: E. Calvin got funding for Niantic by promising a vaccine to prevent the influence of other worldly forces on human minds. Of Course that doesn't mean it was his real objective. I believe that immortality is a happy side benefit. Global domination of thinking minds seems to be the main theme running throughout, with cover stories to keep those minds distracted while this is accomplished.
ReplyDelete#CalvinBall
ReplyDeleteEzekiel Calvin is, first and foremost, interested in advancing himself. He'll take up the cause of whatever furthers that goal, and he'll drop that cause as soon as it no longer helps him.
ReplyDeleteHe's not interested in the return of the Shapers; he wants to use the dedication of 13MAGNUS for his own ends. He's not interested in the return of the N'Zeer; he wants whatever advancements they promise. He's not interested in XM weaponry; he wants the funding and (perhaps more importantly) he wants all the corporations distracted by the money-making shiny so he can do his work with less opposition.
I'm also not convinced that he's interested in immortality in and of itself, so much as he wants the benefits of being able to survive and operate longer to see his plans to fruition, whatever they are. I think Calvin views even immortality as a tool in achieving his goals, not as an end in itself.
I went with Other--Immortality may have been a part of it, but I think knowledge and power was the biggest motivator. Immortality would have been a side-effect.
ReplyDelete