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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   1979 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for November 1, 2026

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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I was a mini-STEMlord myself as a kid and if the longest thing he has read is a Wikipedia article, short stories probably work for you, and they don't need to be YA. Ted Chiang's stuff is evergreen and I imagine they would be rather accessible; Story of Your Life and Exhalation are two good ones he may enjoy.

Some Greg Egan ones may work too, though I may not recommend whole short story compilations from him since some can get heavy. But Learning To Be Me is particularly accessible and very haunting.

DISCLAIMER: I may be overindexing on the "was able to follow a 1st-year undergraduate biochem course on MIT OpenCourseware" part and failing to properly factor in "is literally 10", so maybe use your own judgement.

Don't worry about the disclaimer - we need to index on both things simultaneously, so we know how difficult it is.

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