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2024-12-23 17:35:40 +08:00

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Which pieces of “philosophically interesting” science fiction do professional philosophers recommend? - Very exhaustive list of great SF.

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u/Sylocat [+7] Canterlot Campaign*

I like some of the counterintuitive choices like Lewis and Adams... there's more to rationality than just atheism and mundanity.

u/None [+3] *

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u/alexanderwales [+5] Time flies like an arrow*

I read quite a bit of translated work, and I think translation can be really tricky thing. A bad translation can destroy tone and beauty of the language, as well as stripping out a lot of the idioms, puns, etc. Douglas Hofstadter (of Gödel, Escher, Bach fame) writes about this a lot in Le Ton beau de Marot, which I recommend.

u/None [+1] *

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u/ajuc [+5] *

I thought Lem robot stories series can't be translated. Especially the ones with Trurl and Klapaucius. Then I read Kandel translation. This is masterpiece. Like writing the book a second time, in another language. BTW I just learned he is translating Jacek Dukaj. I'm happy.

u/ZombieboyRoy [+3] *

And don't forget all the stories, fables, legends, and oral traditions lost in the currents of time, which no translator can ever revive.

u/None [+3] *

This is a problem with fiction, I think. Niche fiction (like sci-fi) has this problem to a greater extent. It also created another problem: Hardly anyone writes sci-fi or fantasy in Dutch (to give one example) because the market isn't big enough.

u/noggin-scratcher [+2] I am a happy tree*

Robert Zemeckis, Back to the Future 2 (movie, 1989). Another complex model of metatime -- I set my students to work trying to figure out the model of time travel here, and they at least got close. (Chalmers) That's always a high-scorer for nerd-sniping... always feels like a consistent model is just slightly out of reach; that you could hammer out the last details with a little bit more thought.

u/xkcd_transcriber [+1] *

Image Title: Nerd Sniping Title-text: I first saw this problem on the Google Labs Aptitude Test. A professor and I filled a blackboard without getting anywhere. Have fun. Comic Explanation Stats: This comic has been referenced 60 times, representing 0.1443% of referenced xkcds.

^xkcd.com ^| ^xkcd sub ^| ^Problems/Bugs? ^| ^Statistics ^| ^Stop Replying ^| ^Delete

u/None [+2] *

Copy-pastes half of that list onto my wishlist. Thanks for posting this.

u/None [+4] *

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u/alexanderwales [+3] Time flies like an arrow*

It's probably included there because a fair portion of the plot is devoted to a version of the Prisoner's Dilemma.

u/poliphilo [+2] *

If that scene had actually had a Prisoner's Dilemma dynamic it would have been a lot more interesting.

u/None [+1] *

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u/FeepingCreature [+2] GCV Literally The Entire Culture*

press the button instantly or not at all. Give it to me. You can tell 'em I took it by force. Give it to me, and I'll do what you shoulda did ten minutes ago. :throws the remote overboard:

u/None [+1] *

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u/FeepingCreature [+2] GCV Literally The Entire Culture*

The point of the scene was that the Tattooed Prisoner is more rational than the whoever held the button. Thus the "what you shoulda did ten minutes ago"; it's an object lesson in precommitment.