Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
Iain Banks' Culture setting is probably the closest thing to outright paradise in science fiction. It's an interstellar post-scarcity techno-anarchist utopia, where sentient machines do all the work and the humans hang around engaging in hobbies or other hedonistic pursuits. Some do choose to work, but there's no requirement for it since money isn't required. … Continue reading A reread of Consider Phlebas
Not Till We Are Lost is the fifth Bobiverse book by Dennis Taylor. I've been following these books for years. Although there's usually a delay in reading new releases because they're initially exclusive to Audible. I do listen to the occasional audiobook, but most of my reading is Kindle editions. Thankfully they subsequently get released … Continue reading Not Till We Are Lost
For some reason I had never read Joe Haldeman's The Forever War, and recently decided to remedy that. Like most classic sci-fi novels, it's a quick read, much shorter than most contemporary novels. It's often been called a Vietnam veteran's response to Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Haldeman himself disputes that, although he admits it's … Continue reading The Forever War
A few weeks ago I reviewed Neal Asher's new book Dark Diamond. It takes place in his Polity universe, a future interstellar society ruled by AIs, where everyone is effectively immortal, but in a dangerous universe. That book featured Ian Cormac and other characters from his earlier Agent Cormac series. I read the first book … Continue reading The Agent Cormac series
A couple of weeks ago I reviewed the movie Mickey 17, which I found fairly intelligent. That movie is based on a book, Mickey 7, by Edward Ashton. The book turned out to be on Kindle Unlimited and didn't look long, and I needed a break from some of the other stuff I was reading, … Continue reading Mickey 7
In discussions about the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics, one of the concerns I often see expressed is for the perverse low probability outcomes that would exist in the quantum multiverse. For example, if every quantum outcome is reality, then in some branches of the wave function, entropy has never increased. In some branches, quantum … Continue reading Is quantum immortality a real thing?
First a gripe. This week Amazon Prime announced that they were canceling The Wheel of Time. Amazon is in business to make money, and it makes sense to cancel shows that don't get viewership. But it seems like a lot of people didn't even know the third season was out. Those who did felt like … Continue reading Murderbot, Mickey 17, and other TV notes
SelfAwarePatterns 