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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   2602 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 17, 2024

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 working through McGilchrist.

Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, almost finished and I've enjoyed it.

Earlier sci fi is a funny thing. What draws me to sci-fi usually is that it can have this amazing techno-optimism about the future (near or far), usually involving a very creative author to build these worlds/galaxies/universes. I think it actually might be healthy for a person to look past current culture wars and look to a not-so-distant future with hyperdrives and lasers hehe.

But reading more classic sci fi has got me realising that the authors can easily imagine far flung space epics, bizarre aliens, crazy technologies and terrifying transhumanist style body modifications, but their views of what a society looks like in these worlds is basically copy and paste of 1950s-60s America haha. Female characters generally seem to be silly damsels that listen to the wise and often overly verbose men, long descriptions of how sexually exciting they are but barely have any agency. Just rambling here, not sure if this has piqued anyone else's interest.

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