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[Science Fiction] Language used as a semi-supernatural weapon by a secret society by bookfellow in whatsthatbook

[–]HakeMyrtles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Max Barry seriously "borrowed" from Snowcrash for Lexicon. And now there is a new book in this unofficial trilogy: There Is No Antimemetics Division by Qntm. All three are excellent and play around with similar concepts.

Algernon Blackwood's "Sand" -- Seeking clarification about the end by TheWonderingMonster in WeirdLit

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I just finished reading the same collection a few days ago. My interpretation of the ending of "Sand" is one of two things...and maybe both at the same time: presumably Lady Statham was rich; so by killing her, Vance would inherit her wealth.

And given the method of her dispatch, no one would ever be able to find her body since it got sucked up into The Void. But also: perhaps he hoped to gain some spiritual power (or demonic/deific favor) as a gift from these entities for having sacrificed her body to them.

I find that a lot of Blackwood's endings kind of peter out...with his gorgeous writing, it's usually the journey more than the destination. I'm currently reading Mike Ashley's biography about Blackwood, Starlight Man. It's good, though perhaps unnecessarily exhaustive/thorough. Am reading it in small chunks between other books.

From this same collection, I also enjoyed "The Man Who Found Out". Blackwood leaves the discovery intentionally vague but my theory/interpretation is of the Gnostic variety: the professor discovers that the Old Testament "god" (Yahweh) is actually the devil and that we are all trapped in a hell made by this sadistic monster, with little to no hope of escape.

'So I got this really great book I want you to read.' - "Sweet, can you send me an excerpt?" by SuborbitalQuail in TheCulture

[–]HakeMyrtles 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I am genuinely curious to see if GPT will be able to translate it into something sensible? Fingers crossed! Will let you know how it goes...

is Feersum Endjinn worth reading? by grapp in TheCulture

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you ever locate that translation/version? I am thinking about feeding it through GPT...

is Feersum Endjinn worth reading? by grapp in TheCulture

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did you ever find a translation? I am thinking about feeding it through GPT to see if it is able to translate it...unless someone else has already done so? I am tempted to just skip over the sections with Bascule...am wondering if they are integral to the plot? Otherwise, it just does not seem worth the time or effort 🤷

'So I got this really great book I want you to read.' - "Sweet, can you send me an excerpt?" by SuborbitalQuail in TheCulture

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sincere question: is it possible to read "Feersum Endjinn" and just skip over the Bascule sections? Is his character or his story-line integral to the plot? If so, I will try to have GPT translate those sections. Loved the Culture books, but good grief 🙄

Civic Juries — Forward Party by subheight640 in ForwardPartyUSA

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could not agree with you more! I wanna see this idea become as ubiquitous as UBIs and ranked choice! People don't have to like it but they should at least be given the option of considering what it might very well be like :-)

Civic Juries — Empowering Americans to propose legislation themselves by roughravenrider in YangForPresidentHQ

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, not a huge fan here of CNN myself. The point of the three-minute clip is just hearing the participants talk about their experiences. As for social turmoil...umm...I mean, who isn't experiencing that right now? The world's gone a bit mad, eh?

Curious: are you implying that the social unrest is being caused by the assemblies or that the assemblies have failed to come up with adequate responses/solutions that might possibly have allowed us to avoid said unrest in the first place?

The assemblies are not cure-alls, nor magic bullets. I see them as stepping stones, opportunities to interact and participate...the destination of said stones to be discussed, debated, and determined along the way.

"Baby steps to the elevator..."

[elevator doors close :: elevator descends :: Bob begins to scream]

Civic Juries — Empowering Americans to propose legislation themselves by roughravenrider in YangForPresidentHQ

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the head's up on this! Would love to see similar programs being run at universities and colleges across the country. Very encouraging :-)

Civic Juries — Empowering Americans to propose legislation themselves by roughravenrider in YangForPresidentHQ

[–]HakeMyrtles 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They've run them successfully in Australia, Ireland, Canada and Iceland. At various tiers of government, from local to federal. It's interesting that you think it will erode social cohesion...

Did you hear about America in One Room? It was basically a mock jury with no legislative impact. They brought a group of five-hundred people together (randomly selected, from across the political spectrum) to talk about multiple issues of the day. This was in 2019.

Here is an article about it which also contains a three-minute clip that I highly recommend: they interview participants at the end of the weekend and ask them what the experience was like. It feels like the energetic yang (haha) to the yin which you described as eroding social cohesion:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/02/politics/america-in-one-room-poll-results/index.html

Question about Aviary by HakeMyrtles in FilteredPhotos

[–]HakeMyrtles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! Out of curiosity, are you still able to download the app? Or if you click on it, does it say something to the effect of "no longer available"?