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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3034 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 1, 2023

Happy New Year!

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Happy New Year! So, what are you reading?

I'm on Korzybski's Science and Sanity. E-Prime has had a surprising effectiveness for me, and I have been interested in any links between Korzybski's system and Zen. I can already see that I'll find a lot that I won't agree with, but maybe I'll find some useful clues. General Semantics attempts a "non-aristotelean" way of thinking which is supposedly more harmonious with new sciences like quantum mechanics. It is one of those systems which didn't really take over the world, but did have influence, and seems to have generated some interesting people.

I've been reading Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars. Tracking the efforts of 100 scientists sent on a mission to set up a Mars colony, it's exactly the kind of sci-fi I love - very grounded, full of technical explanations, philosophical arguments, speculations on the psychology of this unique situation, and political intrigue. I don't have the scientific background to know how much of it is accurate (Would hydrazine engines be the preferred option for Martian tractors? Can we really bioengineer microorganisms to such an extent? Surely the extremely fine Martian dust would be an immediate health problem and not just something you can shrug off as "yeah this will probably kill us in a few decades but that's Mars for ya"?) but it all sounds good enough to my layman brain. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in Mars or hard sci-fi.

Also, I would like recommendations anyone has for a good book on the Franco-Prussian War.

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