Virtuality
noun:
the quality or state of being virtual
Readers, please welcome author H.L. Wegley to Whispers in Purple blog. Oh, there's a giveaway involved. See details below. ***
Harry, please tell us about your newest release, Virtuality!
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In my story, Virtuality, the hero, Vince, inherits controlling interest of his deceased brother’s high-tech company, Virtuality Incorporated. Vince is an author, not a computer geek, but his childhood friend and next-door neighbor, Jess, can help because she is brilliant and has an advanced Computer-Science degree.
Virtuality [Inc.] won an Army contract to build a Top-Secret product for military applications. When Vince’s business partner, Patrick, stonewalls Vince by not submitting his security-clearance application, Vince and Jess wonder what’s really going down in Virtuality’s lab. Then someone tries to kill the two.
Seeking answers about the technology and who might want it badly enough to kill for it, Vince and Jess meet with a professor at the University of Washington, Doctor Scoggins, an expert in the field of video games, virtual reality, and their impacts on society.
The following is an excerpt from chapter 23, part of the discussion with Dr. Scoggins about the human mind—material or spiritual:
Jess leaned toward the professor’s desk. “Could artificial intelligence have any role in all of this? I didn’t have enough visibility into Virtuality to know if they’re using AI. But I do know Steven Hawking warned that AI could bring about the end of the human race.”
Doctor Scoggins chuckled. “That would seem to be true only if one has the wrong model for the human brain—actually a wrong understanding of who and what a human being is.”
Jess gave him a crooked smile. “So you’re claiming to know more than Stephen Hawking?”
Scoggins raised an eyebrow. “We all have our own opinions, Jess. And each of us thinks we know better than the others do.”
“Nice dodge, professor.” Now Vince was the one giving the crooked smile.
“I wasn’t trying to dodge the question,” Scoggins said. “An equivalence of biological intelligence with digital intelligence—it’s never going to happen. But then I base my conclusion partly on my worldview, which includes a biblical definition of who we are as human beings, Imago Dei, created in the image of God. Perhaps my biblical understanding isn’t quite correct, but I would stake my professional reputation on it.” Scoggins pointed to a journal lying on the corner of his desk. “As a matter of fact, I already have.”
“So that’s what Paul meant when he told me he didn’t exist in his brain. That it‘s only an interface to the real person.”
“Exactly. It’s part of our dualistic nature—physical and spiritual.”
“Physical and spiritual,” Vince said. “I think I understand what you mean by dualism, but could you explain, once more, exactly what you mean when you use the term?”
“Sure. Let me state in another way the differences between materialism and dualism. Dualism says that our mind—where we think and exist—is separate from the matter that comprises the brain. Mind and material are separate categories. Neither one can be reduced to, or can be said to contain, the other.”
“If that were true …” Jess massaged her forehead, then looked up. “Couldn’t we demonstrate it, somehow, in a lab? I mean, we could have mental states that don’t correspond to physical states of the brain and vice versa.”
“And that’s a brilliant deduction, Ms. Jamison. Yes, we have demonstrated in a laboratory that mental function and brain function don’t always correlate. Which means that mental function is not identical to brain function.”
Jess shook her head. “Then why aren’t we hearing about this from some source—science or the media?”
“Journal articles have been published about this. The evidence is out there. One researcher even demonstrated that acts of the will, making choices, have no corresponding brain activity. Volition does not require a brain.”
“That has been demonstrated in a lab?” Jess’s eyebrows nearly touched.
“Yes. But to someone who has literally sold their soul to a materialistic view of the universe, it takes more than a little evidence to convince them to change their mind and admit that there is more to us, and this universe, than just the physical. For goodness sake, we might find that we’re accountable to some higher being.” Scoggins chuckled. “It’s frustrating, but such is the world of academia.”
This is probably the only chapter in Virtuality without some action or at least a high level of conflict. But, hopefully, the subject matter has intrigued you. If so, prepare to go much deeper as Vince and Jess try to find out what’s happening in the SCIF (Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility) that comprises Virtuality’s lab.
Do you believe any technology could produce a trillion-dollar business within three years and could endanger the lives of everyone in America? If such technology exists, how would you stop its spread, when the potential monetary rewards are so high? If answers to those questions exist, and if you want to know more about them, you’ll have to read the book.
Virtuality back cover blurb:
What would you do with innovative technology that could make you the next Bill Gates but could unravel the fabric of civilized society?
“Don’t sell the company. Jess can help.” His brother Paul’s dying words to Vince van Gordon, a struggling author who can’t write happy endings, inherits controlling interest in Virtuality, a growing high-tech company with a mysterious product the US Army classified Top Secret. Paul’s last words force Vince to return home to Seattle to run Virtuality and face the girl he walked away from seven years ago. Can Vince, once again, endure being eclipsed by Paul’s larger-than-life shadow, a shadow that cost him the woman he loves?
Jessica (Jess) Jamison is a genius, a beautiful, highly introverted, young woman who can count her friends on her thumbs. Seven years ago, Vince left, shattering her heart. Now Jess has a Computer Science degree and still prays her childhood soulmate will come home. If he’s willing to reconcile their relationship, Jess can help Vince take the reins of Virtuality. But why is someone trying to kill Vince and her? And could Professor Scoggins be right—that, in the wrong hands, Virtuality’s technology could shred the fabric of civilization, and stopping it may literally take an act of Congress?
Virtuality, a character-driven thriller with romance about dangerous technology lurking on the near horizon—a story of love and sacrifice, illustrating that there are no shadowed, worthless people in God’s economy.
Bio:
H. L. Wegley served in the USAF as an Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. In civilian life, he served as a Research Scientist in Atmospheric Physics. After earning an MS in Computer Science, he worked 20+ years in computer systems development at Boeing before retiring near Seattle, where he and his wife enjoy small-group ministry, grandchildren, and hiking on the Olympic Peninsula. He is an award-winning author of inspirational thrillers and romantic-suspense novels with 12 published books and more on the way.
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***The Giveaway!
Harry is offering to give away either a print or eBook copy (winners choice) of Virtuality. Entering is easy: Leave a comment below this post with your name AND contact information (e.g: you (at) 123XYZ (dot) com). Failure to supply that info could disqualify you from winning. This giveaway runs for one week, ending next Tuesday, December 4, at MIDNIGHT CST. Winner will be notified via email when drawing completed.
Thanks, Harry, for being my guest this week. This book goes on my TBR list.
The last book I wrote is Smoky Mountain Brides. My editor, Pam Watts Harris, and I decided we wanted to write a sweet romance set in the Smokies. We both love the mountains, and we’ve both been there many times. It wasn’t hard to come up with two career girls who find true love and get married. I loved working with Pam, and I love this book. 
Kathy Cretsinger writes under the name of Katt Anderson. She lives in Kentucky with her husband of fifty plus years. They have two grown children, four grandchildren, no cats or dogs, but a few squirrels who live around the walnut trees. 
