Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
Monday, November 18, 2019
Sunday, November 17, 2019
FALL by Neal Stephenson
Going to try experiential/phenomenological posting:
1Urdu, Verdande, Skuld
Clothe, Lachesis, Atropos
(Look up etymology. PS Don't get hung up on phenomenology, as it's a rabbit hole.)
(NTS>Make a list of books to read together: Reading Syllabi)
Quale, qualia
Neurobiology
Moore's Law & Singularity
And now at about 200 pages in, I'm getting to the overlap of current political climate and dystopian narrative.
The Red Card
1. Speech is aggression.
2. Every utterance has a winner and a loser.
3. Curiosity is feigned.
4. Lying is performative.
5. Stupidity is power.
p.221
"Humans were biology. They lived for the dopamine rush. They could get it by putting the relevant chemicals directly into their bodies or by partaking of some click bait that had been algorithmically perfected to make brains generate the dopamine through psycho alchemy."
p.293
"Every single time a neuron fires, the brain rewires itself a little bit in response to that event. Frequently used connections get strengthened. Neglected ones atrophy. Neurons get repurposed. Things get remembered--or forgotten."
At about halfway point and feeling like there has been a bit of overreaching. Sustaining interest becoming more difficult...
p.654
"...watching Bitworld through the LVU was literally like watching grass grow."
Kind of sums up what reading about it is like at this point. I've been skimming and am beginning to wonder if the novel is going to be able to pull any kind of redeemable plot back together.
Well, I skimmed through to the end. What a disappointment. I'd say, in general, the novel is about 500 pages too long. Where was his editor while this waste of paper was taking shape?! Sad example of what happens when a reputation replaces respect for the finished project. Sheesh...
Thursday, November 07, 2019
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