site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2562 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 2, 2022

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.

7
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

So, what are you reading?

I'm picking up Thurman's Jesus and the Disinherited. Don't know anything about it besides that it was an influence on MLK.

Finished Soldier of Arete, by Gene Wolfe. Finished accidentally, I should say - I did not see the ending coming, and all of a sudden it was over. To be fair I was at something of a loss as to what the plot was even doing towards the latter half of the book, but kept reading because it was interesting enough thanks to the setting and Wolfe's good writing - and all of a sudden it was over, in the middle of what seemed to be an entire narrative arc. And in the end, I really still don't know what the books were really about, or where any of the plotlines went.

It was interesting; enjoyable even, but also very unsatisfying in how it's suddenly over with what seems like every end still loose. Wonder whether that's the intended effect, or whether Wolfe is just, as usual, too clever, subtle and ambiguous for me.

Persian Fire, about Darius and Xerxes' attempts to conquer Greece. Very fun read, reminds me a bit of Carthage Must Be Destroyed (which I also enjoyed). I must admit, I don't retain a lot of the back-and-forth minutia, but nonetheless the texture of these ancient civilizations is engrossing. Our civilizational forebears lived in a much more brutal, visceral world than we do, coping with much starker material limitations. Yet at the same time, the more things change, the more they stay the same — humans gonna human!

Just finished Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice. I was very impressed by the density of plotting. Shades of Dune, but clearly a much bigger influence from the Culture series. Would recommend.

Today I trawled a used bookstore going down my list. The best find was Thunder Below by Eugene Fluckey, a WWII captain who got into by far the most submarine combat. I did pick up various sci-fi/fantasy and a couple Audubon field guides, but I'm most excited about that memoir. Oh, I also found a 2-volume of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, which I purchased for historical interest. I don't expect that I'll actually chew through it any time soon.

One of those books I've never really contemplated reading on account of who the author is and who are her friends.

Am I missing anything ? Is it better written than Iain Banks, not too preachy or stupid ?

People kept telling me to read e.g. Ursula Le Guin and then I stopped in disgust when the author started talking about a planet stealing natural resources from another planet and exporting them by rocket. Wood was mentioned as a commodity. There's suspension of disbelief and there's that.

Oh, goodness. You're probably not going to like it.

There were no obvious SoD-breakers to the setting, in my opinion. It's not hard sci-fi; the underlying principles of the tech aren't reliably explained, but the results are reasonably utilized. No rocket equation issues. Tech is far more constrained than Culture "a wizard computer did it." The worldbuilding is well-executed, and the empire feels like a product of its tech and history rather than a plot contrivance.

I don't know anything about the author or her friends, but I can make some educated guesses. The empire's language is aggressively non-gendered, which the narrator always renders as "she* on account of being a warship. I will argue that such features are well-used rather than preaching or a gimmick--the narrator constantly misgendering non-imperials gives away her background--but if that raises your hackles, you will not enjoy the book.

Doesn't sound too bad, I'll probably check it out. Thanks!

I'm kind of surprised you enjoyed Ancillary Justice so much, because I actually thought it was quite dull. The problem (to me) was that the author had interesting ideas for a setting, but no plot to back it up. Which, in fairness, is kind of like Dune. But I think that this book had even less interesting of a plot than Dune has.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats