3.4 KiB
Greg Egan - "In the Ruins" - rational and rationalist.
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Author: u/ArgentStonecutter Emergency Mustelid Hologram*
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URL: http://gregegan.customer.netspace.net.au/MISC/RUINS/Ruins.html
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Score: 19
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Created: 2015-07-30T14:51:05
Post:
Comments:
u/Rangi42 [+12] (3 hours later)
Heh, "Kardashian type-3 civilization."
u/Transfuturist [+1] Carthago delenda est. (12 hours later)
Rational Keeping Up.
...
u/None [+4] (6 hours later)
This is easily the most horrifying dystopian satire I've seen since Brave New World.
u/PeridexisErrant [+2] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (9 hours later)
Eh, it could be a lot worse. Clearly other parts of the world are doing OK, and scientists can still be found...
u/None [+1] (10 hours later)
Eh, it could be a lot worse.
Well yes, but that's why it's satire rather than "Everyone's dead, Jim."
u/PeridexisErrant [+2] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (14 hours later)
I meant more that in most of the classic examples, you get a sense that this is the state of the whole world - eg 1984, Brave New World, etc - whereas here it's just a country that many people don't like anyway.
I mean, there are already very large and powerful countries where things generally suck, and that's normal (for them, which is bad) not a dystopia.
u/None [+6] (21 hours later)
Actually, in 1984 we ever saw or heard anything outside the UK. For all we know, it could have been a North Korea-style failed state.
I mean, there are already very large and powerful countries where things generally suck, and that's normal (for them, which is bad) not a dystopia.
Yes, but my original comment was a deliberate exaggeration for effect.
u/None [+4] (56 minutes later)
I'm not really a fan of how heavy-handed the story is. It reads as a caricature. And... the word "nerd" apparently bothers him? I mean, I see his point kind of, but I don't feel very persuaded by it. I mostly like Egan though, but I'm afraid the stories I like most are the least rational.
u/ArgentStonecutter [+7] Emergency Mustelid Hologram (an hour later)
It was the heavy-handedness that reminded me of this subreddit. I mean, you wouldn't describe HPMoR as "subtle" would you? ^^
u/BadGoyWithAGun [+7] (3 hours later)
On the Author Tract scale, HPMOR is right up there with Left Behind.
u/ArisKatsaris [+5] Sidebar Contender (18 hours later)
And... the word "nerd" apparently bothers him?
It IS an insult, you know. That some of us use it on ourselves is just like all "reappropriations" of words. Call yourself a nerd all you like, but if you don't consider yourself one, please also don't use it to describe others either -- not unless you want to belittle them.
u/hyenagrins [+2] (13 hours later)
From sidebar:
The story is like a puzzle; readers can reach the same solution as the characters by using the information provided earlier in the story.
The ultimate if a bit crude application of this principle, I stopped mid story and grabbed a piece of paper to work out the solution. And the final connection to higher dimension rotation is undoubtedly satisfying.