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Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 12, 2025

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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So, what are you reading?

I'm still on The Eternal Dissident.

I'm really locking into Infinite Jest, a work of unrealistic genius and prescience, so good that I don't even know what to say about it.

On audiobook I finished Two Weeks, Eight Seconds which was exactly what I wanted at the time that I wanted it. A perfect sports book.

In between I've been reading the Fort Bragg Cartel about drug running in the specops world in the South. It's good, but the author is just such a weenie. I'm antiwar as they come, but the book is so preachy about it when it is irrelevant to the action in the book.

Infinite Jest is nearing the top of my to-reread list. I first read it in 2012 or so. I thought it was great and want to see if holds up.

I remember the worst parts being the terminally unfunny bits that drag on and on and on. There are some "jokes" that weren't funny to start with and certainly didn't get better with repetition.

When you're done, you need to immediately re-read pages 1-17. Then there is an interpretation of "what really happened" written by Aaron Swartz that is worth reading, although it has drawn some criticism.