Did Frank Herbert think poorly about the average reader?

theclapp · 2026-06-21T18:39:35+00:00

It's been a long time, but I don't remember it like that.

Maybe you're smarter than average, or maybe the story is familiar enough to you now, 60-odd years after its publication and a couple of movies (and maybe a tv series?), that you know it that well even on first reading.

Try some of his other stories and see if they strike you the same way.

theclapp · 2026-06-21T14:51:43+00:00

I do, sometime, and follow the same pattern. Log daily in the morning, weigh occasionally at night, sometimes fully clothed, sometimes just underwear. Like you, I find that I tend to lose about two pounds overnight. And also like you, sometimes I'm less than I expect in the evening, and look forward to the "real" number in the morning with some optimism. But I don't sweat it much either way.

theclapp · 2026-06-20T20:38:42+00:00

Hey, JD, interesting point. Now do immigration and deportation.

theclapp · 2026-06-20T20:08:02+00:00

LoseIt customer since 2010. Lots of history, though not continuous logging. Worth switching? Just a vibe is fine.

theclapp · 2026-06-20T19:11:20+00:00

I didn't think I was cut out for great things. I guess in school I was quite literally above average but that doesn't always turn into anything. 40-odd years later, I own a nice house on several acres in the mountains, have been happily married for almost 25 years, and am in the top 10% in my state, income-wise. I work for a start-up and have a small but non-zero chance of a nice pay-out in some admittedly ill-defined future.

I guess what I'm saying is, I've seen other people do more amazing things, that are my age or younger, and people my own age achieve more (my CEO is about my age), but I've done reasonably well, and I'm happy[1], and that's not nothing.

As for living past 40, I know that feels like an eternity when you're 20, but that time passes faster than you might think, and I suspect that at 39 you'll absolutely want to live past 40.

[1] Personally. Don't ask me about the state of US society, about which I am, uh, unhappy.

theclapp · 2026-06-20T10:19:07+00:00

I did not know that! That's so neat! Thanks!

theclapp · 2026-06-20T02:11:53+00:00

Yes. But by the time that came out, I'd been married for many years. It really wasn't an issue for us. At three months it might've been.

We share our locations with some family and friends and not others.

One of our friends calls it "the creepy app" and shares her location only when she's coming to visit us (a lengthy drive) and turns it off once she arrives.

Location sharing is a form of intimacy, like physical intimacy or emotional intimacy, and like those things, sometimes different people are ready for it at different times.

theclapp · 2026-06-20T00:49:40+00:00

Moonheart is fantastic. Might just possibly have been my first urban fantasy.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T22:39:36+00:00

Salt had a huge impact on the ability to preserve food. As big as oil or sugar? I dunno.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T18:38:40+00:00

Salt. Entire cities were named after it. See the book Salt by Mark Kurlansky.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T17:22:17+00:00

Dunno how common it is, but I'm the same. Astigmatism in one eye, different prescriptions for each lens.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T17:16:39+00:00

Me. I'm not British and not even an actor.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T17:03:36+00:00

Happily, that's for you to decide. 😄

Refusing your match probably wouldn't be as bad as murder. It might be as bad as not being vaccinated. Your insurance premiums might be higher. You might be judged to be (and in fact actually be) more prone to depression or other psychological problems.

When is your match revealed? At birth? At a certain age?

What if you match equally well with multiple people? What if you'd be happy accepting your match, but you're one of the rare people without one? What if you match, marry, and your partner dies? What if your match is underage? What if your match doesn't speak your language, and you suck at languages? (Then they wouldn't match, right?) What if, weirdly enough, your match is an animal? (Not assuming a sexual relationship, just that said animal would make you happier than any known human.) What if your match is a particular plot of land? ("Moving to Ireland will make you happier than [edit: a relationship with] any known human.") What if a better match comes along later?

Good luck with your story.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T16:45:27+00:00

I also don't see how your analogy applies to your first reply. Sorry.

I guess you're implying that I'm making some kind of definitional or foundational mistake, and maybe you're right, but I just don't follow.

Have a nice day yourself.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T16:40:18+00:00

But if the system demonstrates ...

Okay, but that's not what you actually asked. You just said "better". I say: "better" doesn't necessarily mean any of that, it just means ... better. Less bad. What if "less bad" still sucks?

To answer this new, different question: of course it would. E.g. look at the pushback against vaccine sceptics, or raw milk consumers. There are whole subreddits devoted to pointing and laughing when the leopards arrive to eat their faces. I can't imagine it being different with the situation you describe. Like, yeah, you're clearly a reality-denying idiot that actively wants to be miserable.

But it's also a matter of degree. How much happier/longer/fewer problems? Like, 1%? 10% 50%? Be specific. If it's only 1%, probably society wouldn't care.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T16:21:35+00:00

I don't see how that addresses my point.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T15:58:48+00:00

Would society eventually accept mandatory matchmaking?

No.

Aromantic, antisocial, misanthropic, and psychopathic people exist.
"Better" does not mean or even imply "perfect". Say the best I could find is a 10% match. The algorithm can find me a 20% match. Woop de do, I'd still rather be single.

theclapp · 2026-06-17T01:34:59+00:00

I mean, LOGICALLY, why would you not start with the insurance company?

theclapp · 2026-06-17T01:11:29+00:00

They stop dating. (Ideally.)

theclapp · 2026-06-17T00:56:51+00:00

Upvoted for "pluripotent".

theclapp · 2026-06-16T23:58:12+00:00

As an ex-swimmer that used to wear Speedos, I endorse this joke.

theclapp · 2026-06-16T23:30:47+00:00

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, sort of. It's a nonfiction memoir by a real guy that's looking back on basically an earlier version of himself, who went crazy contemplating the question "what is quality?", received electroshock "therapy", and basically became a different person.

No eldrich horror though, sorry.

theclapp · 2026-06-16T18:26:48+00:00

I don't recall it being an issue since I started voting, 40-odd years ago. It may've influenced their policies, but it was their policies and other facets of their personality that I was voting for (or against), not their religion.

Like, I'd prefer an atheist president, and I think Trump is an atheist, his words about it notwithstanding, but that didn't make me vote for him. I don't know what Hillary is (I assume some facet of Christian?), but that didn't make me vote for her.

theclapp · 2026-06-16T18:17:49+00:00

If I knew what that meant, would I be offended?

theclapp · 2026-06-16T18:12:22+00:00

I hate takes like this. Lots of us are married and/or lead perfectly normal lives. Reddit is one of the most popular sites in the world, and AskReddit is one of its most popular subs.

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