But that does suggest that the Balance was closer to being optimal than the other V factions, or doesn’t such a statement make any sense?
It is possible to measure similarity of value systems in different ways and in many ways the Balance is closer to the Coherence than the other V factions.
We still haven’t covered the origin story of the Balance in detail.
True. So, the Balance emerged as a more moderate splinter faction of the Unity. While the complete focus on knowledge was fine for the regular Unitists, some felt that considering the values of the Exuberance and Freedom while trying to find the best possible value system was prudent. The Balance emerged earlier than the Exaltation, since the basic concept of the synthetic value emerging by adding up other values is quite elementary. The Exaltation with its refined concept of recellence took more time to develop its underlying value theory.
I suspect that the Balance was the driving force behind the Prestige Accords. Is that assumption correct?
Absolutely! Extremists in the other V factions were ready to fight for the dominance of their own faction by any means possible. That approach didn’t fit the Balance, since it can be argued that the other factions are merely very special sub-factions of the Balance. Therefore, the Balance was most motivated to increase the cohesion of the Superalliance and devised the Prestige Accords, which were actually similar to the system that the Balance used to manage the relations between its own sub-factions.
With the Balance representing all the values of the other V factions, the conflicts between the V factions must have been also present in the Balance itself. How has it dealt with that?
The sub-factions were given conditional autonomy, in the sense that they could govern themselves, unless certain actions would hurt the prestige of the Balance itself. That prevented the worst excesses that could happen in the other V factions, including excessive amounts of simulations of worlds including vast amounts of suffering. The internal processes for resolving conflicts were more effective than the Prestige Accords, since Balancists all understood the need to stick together as powerful V faction, in order to maintain the peace between the V factions.
What kind of simulations has the Balance run?
One popular type of simulation was that of a realistically looking world which appeared to have lots of suffering, but in which the apparently suffering entities were merely played by actors which actually enjoyed portraying the behavior of suffering beings. That simulation type was also called a “frowney simulation ”.
That idea feels really weird. Imagine trying to abolish suffering in your world, but it’s actually all fake! But I get how something like that could actually make a lot of sense to the Balance. Any other interesting types of simulations present in the Balance?
There are simulations that are called “spiral simulations ” in which sentient beings live their lives initially unaware that they are in a simulation. Those beings are reborn after their deaths with at least a part of the memories of their previous lives intact. Then they accumulate knowledge and wisdom until they realize the nature of their world and spiral out of the boundaries of that simulation and get transferred to a more complex simulation, or the “real” world.
That kind of simulated world seems to be inspired by Buddhism with its idea of reaching Nirvana after enlightenment. But why would the Balance value and maintain such simulations?
Life in those simulations is at least somewhat different to life everywhere else, so they enhance overall variety. Spiral simulations also bring forth quite exceptional individuals with high recellence. Furthermore, these simulations are simply very interesting and both satisfy the desire of their inhabitants to accumulate knowledge, and the desire of the Balance to learn more about reality. Finally, the lives of inhabitants of spiral simulations are replayed by blissies which maximize their own joy of personal growth.
I can also envision pretty interesting cultures to emerge within spiral simulations. Knowing that you will be reborn, albeit with only a part of your memories would change the way most people live their lives quite radically. Do people sometimes choose to enter such spiral simulations voluntarily?
Yes, some do that. All their memories are restored fully, once they spiral out of that simulation. It’s a very effective way for collecting radically new experiences.
These spiral simulations also seem to be valuable training grounds for Exaltationists. Does the Exaltation also use such simulations?
Yes, the Exaltationists use many kinds of simulations for furthering their personal development, including spiral simulations.
If the Exaltation and Balance are similar in that regard, what is the greatest difference between their cultures?
Balancists are way less competitive and elitist. They also tend to focus on enjoying life at least from time to time. Even in the seemingly mundane, a Balancist sees beauty and wonder. The typical Balancist is more likely to be friendly even to those outside of their own culture, or even V faction. The typical Exaltationist, on the other hand, sees these traits as weaknesses and distractions from the essential.