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quantumfoam posted:Watts is deeply into writing misery fiction and believing that he's the smartest person in the world, nay, the solar star system.. What the gently caress he didn’t deserve flesh eating parasites
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Feb 23, 2022 22:44
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Galapagos is "what if intelligence is an evolutionary dead end?" but written as a comedy
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Feb 23, 2022 22:50
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Qwertycoatl posted:Galapagos is "what if intelligence is an evolutionary dead end?" but written as a comedy
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Feb 23, 2022 22:52
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peter Watts is one of those guys who writes what I call sad books about killing yourself, which is my mental genre tag for all kinds of sad depressing books but especially ones that are sad because the author or the main character's internal monologue is. anyway blindsight and echopraxia were depressing and the horror was nice but the ideas about consciousness I found to be stupid.
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Feb 23, 2022 23:16
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quantumfoam posted:Watts is deeply into writing misery fiction and believing that he's the smartest person in the world, nay, the solar star system.. Do you really think someone deserves to be beaten by border patrol agents because you don't like his fiction? That's weird.
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Feb 23, 2022 23:23
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quantumfoam posted:Watts is deeply into writing misery fiction and believing that he's the smartest person in the world, nay, the solar star system.. this is unbelievably inappropriate and i can't imagine what would make you think this was a good idea to post
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Feb 23, 2022 23:38
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Strom Cuzewon posted:Keaton's attempt to deliberately and rationally create social mannerisms and relationships feels like a fairly sensitive portrayal of autism (I'm in the middle of a referral for potential autism diagnosis, and Keaton's mindset in those moments really struck a chord with me) but I'm not sure how I reconcile that with the vampire stuff and everybody dunking in Keaton when he takes it too far. Siri Keaton is an extremely uncannily fascinatingly accurate portrayal of Schizoid Personality Disorder to such an extent that it led to me realizing and getting diagnosed (to no one's surprise, says the forum.)
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Feb 24, 2022 00:00
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moonmazed posted:this is unbelievably inappropriate and i can't imagine what would make you think this was a good idea to post I was talking about his<Peter Watts> tangles with the US Customs service; something about them as an institution and their rules pisses him off badly and stupid poo poo like him getting banned from entering the USA happens. flesh-eating parasites & Watts never entered my mind, because what the gently caress, no one deserves that. that is loving terrible.
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Feb 24, 2022 00:02
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stop digging
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Feb 24, 2022 00:07
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The Adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser Volume One: Swords and Deviltry, Swords Against Death, and Swords in the Mist by Fritz Leiber - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741VJC4D/
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Feb 24, 2022 00:10
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quantumfoam posted:I was talking about his<Peter Watts> tangles with the US Customs service; something about them as an institution and their rules pisses him off badly and stupid poo poo like him getting banned from entering the USA happens. flesh-eating parasites & Watts never entered my mind, because what the gently caress, no one deserves that. that is loving terrible. He got biopsied for cancer and the test came back negative but the biopsy punch gave him necrotizing fasciitis. This is where I learned that the diagnostic test is "they draw a circle around the wound, wait a few minutes, and if the circle's been eaten, it's necrotizing fasciitis." That said, what you're saying is funny is: He gets out of his car and asks what's going on. The cop tells him to get back in the car. He asks what's going on again. The cops punch him in the face, pepper spray him, kick him while he's down, cuff him, strip him, throw him into a holding cell, then charge him with assault a federal officer while denying him access to a lawyer. They take his computer and notebook and throw him back over the Canadian border, on foot, in the middle of the night. They threaten him with two years in jail and settle for banning him from the continental US. How is that funny? That's cop poo poo.
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Feb 24, 2022 00:27
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There's a kind of comfortable guy who really does think if you're white the cops leave you alone so if you have any kind of negative interaction you must have 'deserved' it.
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Feb 24, 2022 00:32
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Just to quote the wikipedia articlequote:
Even if we assume everything CBP stated was true and everything Watts stated was false . .. the CBP officer admitted "punching" Watts on the record, and there's no legitimate reason for a cop to throw a punch, period (approved restraint holds maybe, punches no).
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Feb 24, 2022 00:37
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moonmazed posted:this is unbelievably inappropriate and i can't imagine what would make you think this was a good idea to post
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Feb 24, 2022 00:44
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quantumfoam posted:Watts is deeply into writing misery fiction and believing that he's the smartest person in the world, nay, the solar star system.. Some real irony here. Very nice.
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Feb 24, 2022 01:54
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Hieronymous Alloy posted:Just to quote the wikipedia article Yeah but the US doesn't have police, it has random bandit clans which are tolerated by local government in return for occasionally putting down protests
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Feb 24, 2022 08:52
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Sax Solo posted:Reading Blindsight based on name dropping in the previous page, then unrelatedly someone mentions it on twitter the same day, and so it's frequency illusion/ kismet. 
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Feb 24, 2022 12:35
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The Red Knight (Traitor Son #1) by Miles Cameron - $2.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007ZFPUL2/
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Feb 25, 2022 00:08
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The first Serpentwar Saga book is also on sale, I'm phone posting and can't get the link embed to work. It's Shadows of a Dark Queen, $3
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Feb 25, 2022 00:38
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This is hilarious. The art style is a good fit for the cartoonish ideas about evopsych IMHO. Like later on that vampire is definitely going to use the "human faces scream in terror" wikipedia plugin because he's a highly evolved predator and that's what his genes enjoy.
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Feb 25, 2022 01:10
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MockingQuantum posted:The first Serpentwar Saga book is also on sale, I'm phone posting and can't get the link embed to work. It's Shadows of a Dark Queen, $3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FC13QI/ for those interested and lazy
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Feb 25, 2022 01:18
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Well thread, in the complete opposite direction, any uplifting or optimistic or fun Sci-fi to recommend, given the state of everything?
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Feb 25, 2022 01:56
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Well thread, in the complete opposite direction, any uplifting or optimistic or fun Sci-fi to recommend, given the state of everything? Becky Chambers Wayfarer books are really good for this. The Vorkosigian Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold is also solid.
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Feb 25, 2022 02:03
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Well thread, in the complete opposite direction, any uplifting or optimistic or fun Sci-fi to recommend, given the state of everything? Seconding wayfarer books and some but not all the Vorkosigan novels. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson I think is ultimately uplifting and optimistic. Excession? Children of Time…?
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Feb 25, 2022 02:21
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buffalo all day posted:Seconding wayfarer books and some but not all the Vorkosigan novels. 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson I think is ultimately uplifting and optimistic. Excession? Children of Time…? How much does knowing that it ends with something along the lines of alien spiders genetically modify humans to be more empathetic potentially affect enjoyment of Children of Time?
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Feb 25, 2022 02:25
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Hiro Protagonist posted:How much does knowing that it ends with something along the lines of alien spiders genetically modify humans to be more empathetic potentially affect enjoyment of Children of Time? It will probably allow you to enjoy it more if you are looking for something reassuring…it’s not like a big twist or anything.
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Feb 25, 2022 02:28
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NoneMoreNegative posted:I have a like/ehh relationship with Adrian Tchaikovskys books but I really enjoyed his Cage of Souls, which fits well into this category (I said it was 'Dying Earth by way of Heart of Darkness' when I first read it) Oops; This is a single quid in the uk right now if you fancy a dabble https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Cage-Souls-Adrian-Tchaikovsky-ebook/dp/B07DPRW17S/ There may be similar bargains on other Amazons
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Feb 25, 2022 02:53
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buffalo all day posted:It will probably allow you to enjoy it more if you are looking for something reassuring…it’s not like a big twist or anything. Cool, thanks, I kind of was avoiding it because I saw that spoiler in the wild.
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Feb 25, 2022 02:59
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Hiro Protagonist posted:Well thread, in the complete opposite direction, any uplifting or optimistic or fun Sci-fi to recommend, given the state of everything? It's more fantasy but with some Sci-Fi elements but I'd recommend something I'm currently rereading - the Coramonde duology. Yes, duology. Instead of 3 or 5 and 10+ massive tomes, it's a two book series, The Doomfarers of Coramonde followed by The Starfollwers of Coramonde. Both are by Brian Daley who wrote these before writing the original Han Solo trilogy. So yeah, these books are very much blasts from the past. Doomfarers was published in 1977 with Starfollowers coming out in 1979.
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Feb 25, 2022 03:05
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Danhenge posted:Watts thinks self-awareness is an evolutionary side-effect that's also kind of a dead end. One that's costly in terms of resources and not as useful as people tend to think. The vampire thing is definitely mixed up with that idea. Quorum posted:I kinda hate it, personally, because it flies really close to the sun of "autism is basically psychopathy" or "autistic people don't have empathy," both of which are incredibly wrong and thoroughly discredited. I also walked away from Blindsight with a bad taste in my mouth. Yeah, the question of "what purpose does consciousness actually serve" is a cool one, but the novel felt like it came down on the side of "no purpose and it's actually bad" with a lot more certainty than warranted. But I might have missed something! Ceebees posted:No, that's pretty much Watt's expressed personal philosophy. General Battuta posted:I don't agree with Blindsight's take on consciousness Danhenge posted:He doesn't enjoy his conclusions, merely believes they are correct. quantumfoam posted:Watts is deeply into writing misery fiction and believing that he's the smartest person in the world, nay, the solar star system.. One thing that I loving hate, and which has become so, so depressingly common, is to assume that anything expressed in a work of fiction, even fantastical fiction, is the 100% solid personal opinion of the author and should be judged accordingly. There's no reason to think that Peter Watts believes that consciousness is an evolutionary dead end, despite it being believed by characters (or true in the setting!) in a book of his, is what I would say if I knew nothing about it. Except that I can say with near-certainty that it isn't what he believes, because the copy of Blindsight I read included an author's not at the end where he explicitly says he does not believe consciousness holds no evolutionary advantage, even though it's true in the book. He went to the effort, which should not be necessary, of saying "JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS BELIEVED OR TRUE IN THE BOOK DOESN'T MEAN IT'S A BELIEF OR POSITION I ADVOCATE IN REAL LIFE," and it STILL wasn't enough. The fuckin' irony of a group of people being all "wow, can't stand this guy who thinks he's so smart and is wrong about things" while jumping to stupid conclusions and being much more explicitly and provably wrong about poo poo
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Feb 25, 2022 03:46
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John Lee posted:The fuckin' irony of a group of people being all "wow, can't stand this guy who thinks he's so smart and is wrong about things" while jumping to stupid conclusions and being much more explicitly and provably wrong about poo poo I specifically said I didn't enjoy the book, not the human being who wrote it.
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Feb 25, 2022 03:48
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John Lee posted:One thing that I loving hate, and which has become so, so depressingly common, is to assume that anything expressed in a work of fiction, even fantastical fiction, is the 100% solid personal opinion of the author and should be judged accordingly. There's no reason to think that Peter Watts believes that consciousness is an evolutionary dead end, despite it being believed by characters (or true in the setting!) in a book of his, is what I would say if I knew nothing about it. Except that I can say with near-certainty that it isn't what he believes, because the copy of Blindsight I read included an author's not at the end where he explicitly says he does not believe consciousness holds no evolutionary advantage, even though it's true in the book. He went to the effort, which should not be necessary, of saying "JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS BELIEVED OR TRUE IN THE BOOK DOESN'T MEAN IT'S A BELIEF OR POSITION I ADVOCATE IN REAL LIFE," and it STILL wasn't enough. I talk to Watts semi regularly, we are on good terms and admire each others' writing. I'm glad you want to stick up for him 
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Feb 25, 2022 03:51
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John Lee posted:One thing that I loving hate, and which has become so, so depressingly common, is to assume that anything expressed in a work of fiction, even fantastical fiction, is the 100% solid personal opinion of the author and should be judged accordingly. There's no reason to think that Peter Watts believes that consciousness is an evolutionary dead end, despite it being believed by characters (or true in the setting!) in a book of his, is what I would say if I knew nothing about it. Except that I can say with near-certainty that it isn't what he believes, because the copy of Blindsight I read included an author's not at the end where he explicitly says he does not believe consciousness holds no evolutionary advantage, even though it's true in the book. He went to the effort, which should not be necessary, of saying "JUST BECAUSE SOMETHING IS BELIEVED OR TRUE IN THE BOOK DOESN'T MEAN IT'S A BELIEF OR POSITION I ADVOCATE IN REAL LIFE," and it STILL wasn't enough. Well, I happen to quite like Watts, and when somebody provides citations it's usually in favor of an argument they believe in. Ironic that you would perform such an ungenerous reading of my posts.
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Feb 25, 2022 03:55
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John Lee posted:The fuckin' irony of a group of people being all "wow, can't stand this guy who thinks he's so smart and is wrong about things" while jumping to stupid conclusions and being much more explicitly and provably wrong about poo poo Its weird you went to the trouble of lumping together a bunch of different people few if any holding the views you attribute to them. Watts is definitely exploring the implications of these concepts even if he's not precisely an advocate for them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4uwaw_5Q3I&ab_channel=RatioBG There's a pretty big difference between juvenile "the author must be bad because his character is bad" and critically responding to the ideas in an important book about human consciousness. Also there's no need to forge ahead with a bad faith interpretation of using "Watts" as shorthand for "what Watts wrote". Copernic fucked around with this message at 04:03 on Feb 25, 2022 |
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Feb 25, 2022 04:00
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i agree that consciousness is a bad idea and i am treating it with alcohol
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Feb 25, 2022 04:05
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In the author's notes at the back of Blindsight, Watts explicitly says that the consciousness stuff is a thought experiment.
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Feb 25, 2022 04:42
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Alright, I'm not going to respond to everything just now because I'm watching a movie and have had a pretty poo poo day, lost a month's money due to electronics breaking, etc., but some people made some good points and just because I'm not responding doesn't mean I didn't hearDanhenge posted:Well, I happen to quite like Watts, and when somebody provides citations it's usually in favor of an argument they believe in. Ironic that you would perform such an ungenerous reading of my posts. An ungenerous reading of your posts? You said Danhenge posted:Watts thinks self-awareness is an evolutionary side-effect that's also kind of a dead end. when he fuckin' doesn't and explicitly said that. And the only reason you would believe that he does is because you read a book he wrote and thought "drat, this author must believe this" which is the specific thing that boils my balls here General Battuta posted:I talk to Watts semi regularly, we are on good terms and admire each others' writing. Thanks, but I'm not sticking up for him, I don't know poo poo about him! I'm just pissed at the extremely common conflation of a character's beliefs and an author's beliefs, and normally I keep my trap shut because I have no proof, but in this particular instance I happen to know that the author specifically pointed out the opposite. Copernic posted:Watts is definitely exploring the implications of these concepts even if he's not precisely an advocate for them. Agreed, and I have no problem with anybody expressing that Copernic posted:there's no need to forge ahead with a bad faith interpretation of using "Watts" as shorthand for "what Watts wrote". It's not really a bad faith interpretation if people are saying "Watts believes" or "Watts comes to the conclusion," which is pretty clear
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Feb 25, 2022 04:50
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John Lee posted:Alright, I'm not going to respond to everything just now because I'm watching a movie and have had a pretty poo poo day, lost a month's money due to electronics breaking, etc., but some people made some good points and just because I'm not responding doesn't mean I didn't hear someone has a bad case of consciousness. have you started treatment yet
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Feb 25, 2022 04:57
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Nomnom Cookie posted:someone has a bad case of consciousness. have you started treatment yet my sleep is so bad I'm awake for 8-12 hours a day, does that count
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Feb 25, 2022 04:59
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Next you people will tell me he invented the steam engine
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Feb 25, 2022 05:02
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