> Bullshit. Cypherpunks don’t just exist in SV. Any cypherpunk who still cares about their principles would recoil in horror at SV that was there since circa 2015 ( and that’s being generous), let alone now. I never said they did and I agree: what I did say is that is where it began and it's origins was in SV in the 90s [0] which is when I was a kid in CA and feel it's part of my culture as I grew up on the internet back then (hence my interest in tech). I'd say at the end of the first crypto war things started to get dire so by the dotcom era in the 2000s the Corpo take over of the…
Stephenson's take on e-gold might offend some libertarians too! In all seriousness, as I recall it the weirdness about women was mostly in-character views of nerds whose perception of the wider world isn't necessarily supposed to be that reliable, and the male-dominated cast actually makes sense in context. There are other Stephenson books more likely to annoy people in terms of gender roles and digressions about liberals and universities... But yeah, Stephenson isn't the author to start non-sci fans on (though Vonnegut fans might love Cryptonomicon and spot an influence or two). Atwood's…
Sure, and my breadth of reading of and connection with Stephenson‘s work, especially considering his popularity, are such that I wouldn’t claim anything like authority on the matter. Just offering another view in case anyone’s in here looking for reading advice or recommendations, for which I think I have just enough experience and perspective to offer something that might help someone, at least so far as defending Cryptonomicon as, to the right reader, a highlight among Stephenson’s books, and maybe not just for crypto nerds (I wouldn’t count myself as one). Lots and lots of people really…
This is my favorite quote relating to IQ tests: They gave him an intelligence test. The first question on the math part had to do with boats on a river: Port Smith is 100 miles upstream of Port Jones. The river flows at 5 miles per hour. The boat goes through water at 10 miles per hour. How long does it take to go from Port Smith to Port Jones? How long to come back? Lawrence immediately saw that it was a trick question. You would have to be some kind of idiot to make the facile assumption that the current would add or subtract 5 miles per hour to or from the speed of the boat. Clearly, 5…
But it's not real. It never really happened. It can't illustrate any sort of limitation because the limitation doesn't really exist in the fiction. Fiction can ask questions about reality, but it can never answer them. And dollars to donuts, Neal Stephenson couldn't actually do the things he claims Lawrence was capable of doing. And it's likely what Lawrence accomplished given the time frame is a bit impossible. But it doesn't have to be possible. Lightsabers are the length of swords because they are. The Enterprise achieves faster than light travel by creating a bubble of warped space…
Cryptonomicon's sub-plot about Alan Turing got me interested in reading Andrew Hodges's biography of Alan Turing, "Alan Turing: The Enigma". http://www.turing.org.uk/book/ So did Tom Jenning's excellent review of the first edition of that book from 2001. After Tom wrote that review, Andrew Hodges later published an even more comprehensive second edition of that book, on which the movie "The Imitation Game" was loosely based. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_Game Tom Jennings also created FidoNet, published Homocore, and built an electromechanical paper tape driven storytelling…
I'm currently reading Cryptonomicon because of somebody's recommendation on here. I'm not very deep in just yet, but I'd already recommend it.[0] Also, the movie for Ready Player One is coming out and the book is alright, too. Though it's a little heavy on the hipster/nostalgic wankery, it's still a good story. Kept me reading. It's also an interesting take on overpopulation, class divides, and the future role of VR. Steven Spielberg is directing the movie, so I'm kind of looking forward to seeing it.[1][2] --- [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptonomicon [1]…
Your link didn't work for me. I assume this is the section you are referring to: <quote> They gave him an intelligence test. The first question on the math part had to do with boats on a river: Port Smith is 100 miles upstream of Port Jones. The river flows at 5 miles per hour. The boat goes through water at 10 miles per hour. How long does it take to go from Port Smith to Port Jones? How long to come back? Lawrence immediately saw that it was a trick question. You would have to be some kind of idiot to make the facile assumption that the current would add or subtract 5 miles per…
I never really cared for SciFi before I read Neal Stephenson. I read Cryptonomicon (among my all-time top-5) and Diamond Age and I was hooked. Then I read 3BP, and I really really loved it. Historical plots, present day, big ideas, imaginitive author, focus on multiple technologies rather than one, and so on. Since then, I have been trying to find the high I found in them. And I am mostly failing. I disliked Blake Crouch's Dark Matter. But I liked the lighthearted "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir. I am currently reading "Anathem" by Stephenson. I really like it, and it's different from 3BP.…
Your point about authors being compensated now for expected income from their works after their death is interesting. You allude to it above, but downthread, you also mention: > If value can only be extracted while the author draws breath, the market provides much less reward --- for the author, in this lifetime. I'm completely unaware of this practice! From the reading I've done about how authors get paid (typically for books), authors are paid royalties on sales. Sometimes they get an advance while the book is being written. Magazine/news writing is mostly contract work, unless the…