syllo's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo Link ParentThis was Grace's thought regarding that. I felt it made enough sense for me to not think about it any more.If Eridians have 5 arms and 3 fingers, shouldn't their number system be base 3 or 5 or 15 instead of base 6?
We have ten unique digits because we have ten fingers. Simple as that. Rockies have three fingers per hand and I guess they only like to use two hands when counting (they probably keep the other three feet/hands on the ground to stay steady). So they have six fingers to work with.
This was Grace's thought regarding that. I felt it made enough sense for me to not think about it any more.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo Link ParentI feel like one of my "problems" with hard sci-fi is that I find myself always trying to make sure all the science lines up correctly, even if it doesn't really matter at the end of the day....I feel like one of my "problems" with hard sci-fi is that I find myself always trying to make sure all the science lines up correctly, even if it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. Overall, I think it did a great job with the science aspects.
I did have one thing that I saw, and haven't found anyone else online talking about it, so I'm not sure if I'm missing anything: Rocky makes a remote control for controlling the Beatles when the ship is in centrifuge mode in order to stop their rotation. But they specify that Rocky's remotes work via audio waves, not radio waves. So how is it able to control the Beatles that are outside in a vacuum where audio waves can't propagate?
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo Link ParentBig fan of the twist that Ryland wasn't the self sacrificing hero that we think he is the entire time, and instead he is a "coward." Even when he is literally their only option in the flashback,...Big fan of the twist that Ryland wasn't the self sacrificing hero that we think he is the entire time, and instead he is a "coward." Even when he is literally their only option in the flashback, we just assume he decides to see reason, since he's clearly on the ship now. So when we see him go to Stratt with the flimsiest of reasons, saying he needs to stay on earth for the kids sake, when obviously if he wants to save the kids, he would go on the mission.
“Do you think I don’t know you, Dr. Grace?!” she yelled. “You’re a coward and you always have been. You abandoned a promising scientific career because people didn’t like a paper you wrote. You retreated to the safety of children who worship you for being the cool teacher. You don’t have a romantic partner in your life because that would mean you might suffer heartbreak. You avoid risk like the plague.”
But while he avoids risk, he is not a bad person, and everyone knows he won't sabotage the mission even if he's forced onto the mission. And I think this is really what made the ending shine for me. We just had the image of our Hero Dr. Grace shattered, but when push comes to shove with regards to saving his friend Rocky and the Eridians, he does make the choice to sacrifice his own life to save the others, and it really felt like that growth was earned. It really warmed my heart when I realized that at the end, he is kind of in the same position he started in, but this time it is more positive. At the beginning of the book, he was alone in his apartment eating a sad Lean Cuisine because he is hungry and he gets to teach kids science. And at the end of the book, he is isolated in his dome eating serviceable food just to stay alive, and he gets to teach kids science. But this time, he's there with his best friend Rocky because of a brave choice he made, while on Earth he was alone because of cowardly choices he made.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo Link ParentI think that not to have Ryland go back to Earth, or getting to see Earth saved was a very deliberate narrative choice by Weir. It is sad that he will probably not get to see Earth again, but on...I think that not to have Ryland go back to Earth, or getting to see Earth saved was a very deliberate narrative choice by Weir. It is sad that he will probably not get to see Earth again, but on the other hand, with the logical way that Weir builds consequences, I don't think there is a realistic way for there to be a short term happy ending there. Not even including time dilation so all of Ryland's friends would be old/dead, a lot of discussion was had along the lines of how even though they'll avoid the 50% of the population dying of starvation, once supply lines started drying up, the chances of wars and other conflicts are inevitable. I feel the book is meant to showcase the positives of humanity: how we can come together in a time of crisis (at least in the short term to build the ship) and how some of us are willing to sacrifice for the greater good. Showing Earth 30 years later would just change the optimistic ending into a pessimistic one.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo Link ParentI really enjoyed the narrative/worldbuilding choice to make the Eridians effectively mini-computers with perfect memory. When trying to create a shared language, there's the "fun" parts of...I really enjoyed the narrative/worldbuilding choice to make the Eridians effectively mini-computers with perfect memory. When trying to create a shared language, there's the "fun" parts of discovering new words and getting over the initial hump of communication, but getting beyond super basic stuff, it would normally require a ton of time and effort. Giving Rock the ability to remember every English word and seamlessly translate his grammar system to English, allows Grace's simple sound-to-word script be the only thing needed to "solve" the language barrier. And then once that problem was solved an no longer interesting to think about, seamlessly transition to Grace just not needing the laptop anymore as well.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir in ~books
syllo LinkOverall I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I never read The Martian, as the description of super realistic modern sci-fi didn't really appeal to me, as I generally like the world...Overall I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I never read The Martian, as the description of super realistic modern sci-fi didn't really appeal to me, as I generally like the world building aspects of my fiction. I ended up really enjoying the process of having some problem/question and then thinking of a relatively simple science experiment to solve it combined with the fantastical elements of the astrophage and Eridians. I was expecting way more getting into the weeds of science (which there still was some of it), but overall none of the science being done I felt like was very difficult and didn't really need a PhD person to do it (other than experience with various lab equipment).
Having read the blurb of it being about a guy waking up with amnesia and figuring out that he was sent to save Earth, the first chapter or two kinda failed to grab me, since Ryland was just trying to figure stuff out that we already knew (he's on a space ship, etc). But once he got caught up, I got more into it. I war extremely not expecting it to turn into a first contact type of novel, and I think that's what really sealed it for me. It added in just enough speculative sci-fi stuff that I found way more interesting to engage with. All of the thought into how another life form that could exist in such a different environment was right up my alley.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentI also loved that aspect of it! I kind of want to add some of their swears to my own language, if it wouldn't make me look weird to do so. The "profiteer" and "propertarian" were good, but I also...I also loved that aspect of it! I kind of want to add some of their swears to my own language, if it wouldn't make me look weird to do so. The "profiteer" and "propertarian" were good, but I also really liked when people would say "Stop Egoizing!" Even the act of being egocentric is taboo for them, just as owning property is.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentI thought the analogies were a little on the nose sometimes, specifically Thu and A-Io have a straight up proxy war using Benbilli. I didn't realize when it was published, and make me even more...I thought the analogies were a little on the nose sometimes, specifically Thu and A-Io have a straight up proxy war using Benbilli.
I didn't realize when it was published, and make me even more surprised at how competently it portrayed the Odonians and how corrupt (but not excessively so) the Ionians are. I would have thought with the Cold War would have encouraged a more Pro-America take, but I think that just makes it more interesting that they didn't.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentInteresting, I classified that as the denouement, I think specifically cause that's just where the book ends. We have Shevek's belief's challenged and we see the flaws throughout the book, and...Interesting, I classified that as the denouement, I think specifically cause that's just where the book ends. We have Shevek's belief's challenged and we see the flaws throughout the book, and then we end with this hopeful look to the future where the Odonians maybe start cooperating with the rest of humanity. It is definitely more interesting as a climax though, since we never truly get a giant conflict revolving around his actual thoughts, rather than what the revolutionaries on Urras are doing.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentI appreciate the insights! I've always been interested in linguistic fun fact type stuff (glottal stops are my favorite), but my knowledge definitely veers towards the pop science. The culture...I appreciate the insights! I've always been interested in linguistic fun fact type stuff (glottal stops are my favorite), but my knowledge definitely veers towards the pop science.
The culture shaping the language makes a lot of sense, especially with how overblown the various things I found via google search were. I still think it's an interesting concept to look at, especially from the aspect of a conlang that was tailor built for an ethical framework. The language in The Dispossessed was created by a group of Anarcho-Communists (based on a specific in-universe person and their works) when they were resettled on the the moon, with the goal of being a functional society, which explains their goal of embedding specific ethics into the language.
The quoted bit from Player of Games captures most of the idea. The other aspect is how the main character changes his strategy in a board game that is complex enough to represent reality, to go from aggressive and destructive to more cooperative and assimilating, without really realizing what he's doing until afterwards.
Seems like the real benefit of natural languages is that you can just take loaner words whenever your language is missing something? Do you have any opinions on "untranslatable" phrases (personally not a fan of that phrase) from other languages? Are people more likely to just feel the same emotions, but not express them if they don't have a specific word for it? E.g. Schadenfreude from German, or Gezelligheid from Dutch.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentI think it's relatively realistic. Since it takes place in a relatively small (still in the millions though, but for a whole planet each town seems pretty small), and at this point, everyone...I think it's relatively realistic. Since it takes place in a relatively small (still in the millions though, but for a whole planet each town seems pretty small), and at this point, everyone living there grew up there in the same culture. I think you see elements of it in various cultures around the world where public opinions enacts unwritten rules, for better or worse. In the US, even when companies have "unlimited" vacation, there is the social pressure from your coworkers to not abuse it, even if the whole point of it is to use it. I've also heard stories of PhD students that mimic some of what Shevek went through, where if your advisor doesn't like your paper, it's impossible to graduate/publish without caving to their whims.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentI really liked this quote: I like this concept of a sliding scale of two types of freedom. On Anarres, they are free to do whatever they want with his life, as long as they also do their civic...I really liked this quote:
He had not been free from anything: only free to do anything. Here, it was the other way around.
I like this concept of a sliding scale of two types of freedom. On Anarres, they are free to do whatever they want with his life, as long as they also do their civic duty. While on Urras, as long as you have a high paying job, all your other obligations are taken care of for you.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentFor the majority of the book, I do feel like it was a utopia. And when my opinion of that changed, was not when people were starving, but when Shevek realized they're being ruled by public...For the majority of the book, I do feel like it was a utopia. And when my opinion of that changed, was not when people were starving, but when Shevek realized they're being ruled by public opinion. I think it's easy to draw comparisons between the famine on Anarres and the Soviet Union or China and how it was a failure of the system. But for me, it showed how resilient it was, and how everyone put the society first. The only accounts of of "rebellion" there are when people, who are literally about to die of starvation, mobbing a food train. The only real failure is the lack of resources they have on Anarres.
The Rule of the Majority, and the implicit power structures of the Institute with Sabul. They mention at the beginning, everyone was keeping constant watch for hierarchies forming, and it seems we are the point 170 years in that people have gotten lax, and it is happening again. Especially with the young PDC member talkin about how they would beat up anyone who travelled to Urras and back. That being said, they still allow the Syndicate of Initiative to exist and participate in debates, even if they are shunned by everyone for it in their day to day lives. Because that is how to prevent "bad behavior" in this type of society, it's just that it gets easy to get stuck in their ways. I think the book ends on a very hopeful note here, with Shevek having a better grasp on the "Permanent Revolution" that Odo envisioned.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo Link ParentThe plot itself was meandering, but I feel like it added to the philosophy of the anarchism of the book. Maybe because of how meandering it was, I didn't actually enjoy the "climax" of the book...The plot itself was meandering, but I feel like it added to the philosophy of the anarchism of the book. Maybe because of how meandering it was, I didn't actually enjoy the "climax" of the book very much as it felt somewhat forced. The book for me is about how Shevek experienced the world and how it affects him; what part change and what parts remain resolute. So to have him randomly join the revolution on Urras and give a speech didn't feel like it added much for me.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo LinkLanguage Separate from my overall review, I wanted to start a discussion about Language, and how Language shapes the way we view the world I loved the notes on the Pravic language and how it...Language
Separate from my overall review, I wanted to start a discussion about Language, and how Language shapes the way we view the world
I loved the notes on the Pravic language and how it differs from Iotic or natural languages. The language that we use affects the way that we view the world. The intentional decision to combine the word for Work and Play, changes how you view both work and play. For Odonians, the work that you do is supposed to bring joy, so it makes sense to call them the same thing, as every time you think about it, it reinforces that idea. Plus, they have the separate word "kleggich" for drudgery for the things that just need to get done. Children have words "mamme" and "tadde" which are like "mamma" and "pappa" but is just for any adult acting in some sort of parental manner, since most kids are raised communally, and being raising by your birth parents is considered Propertarian.
In Ian M Banks Player of games, it touches on very similar topics. Natural Language vs constructed language. And the fact that languages have a built-in ethical framework.
...when Culture people didn't speak Marain for a long time and did speak another language, they were liable to change; they acted differently, they started to think in that other language, they lost the carefully balanced interpretative structure of the Culture language, left its subtle shifts of cadence, tone and rhythm behind for, in virtually every case, something much cruder.
Marain was a synthetic language, designed to be phonetically and philosophically as expressive as the pan-human speech apparatus and the pan-human brain would allow"Compared to the other language in the book:
Eächic was an ordinary, evolved language, with rooted assumptions which substituted sentimentality for compassion and aggression for cooperation. A comparatively innocent and sensitive soul like Gurgeh was bound to pick up some of its underlying ethical framework if he spoke it all the time.
I want to find examples of how the English language shapes thought and how you view the world. I remember reading about how in Mathematics, using 0 as a number was something that had to be discovered that then allowed new mathematical thought. Colors in various languages are a big one as well, as the delineations you have words for change how you perceive it. I've heard about blue instead of green on traffic lights in Japan because the word "Ao" refers to both blue and green shades. The word Orange didn't exist in English for a long time, so we just used the word Red instead, which is how we get the term "red-head" as well as various orange birds that are called red instead.
Interesting article on the topic: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-language-shapes-thought/. Talks about an Aboriginal community where all directions are absolute rather than relative, and because of that, they constantly know where North is. "For example, suppose I want to tell you that I saw Uncle Vanya on 42nd Street. In Mian, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea, the verb I used would reveal whether the event happened just now, yesterday or in the distant past, whereas in Indonesian, the verb wouldn’t even give away whether it had already happened or was still coming up. In Russian, the verb would reveal my gender. In Mandarin, I would have to specify whether the titular uncle is maternal or paternal and whether he is related by blood or marriage... And in Pirahã, a language spoken in the Amazon, I couldn’t say '42nd,' because there are no words for exact numbers, just words for 'few' and 'many.'" -
Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin in ~books
syllo LinkOverall I think I liked it. I really liked the worldbuilding of Anarres and ho the book is kind of an exploration of how true Anarchy would work in a society. I feel like I didn't really get much...Overall I think I liked it. I really liked the worldbuilding of Anarres and ho the book is kind of an exploration of how true Anarchy would work in a society. I feel like I didn't really get much out of Shevek being on Urras though. You get some glimpses of how Anarres is based on his reactions to stuff, but overall it just felt like generic consumerist society. The plot itself was meandering, but I actually didn't mind it much. Maybe because of how meandering it was, I didn't actually enjoy the "climax" of the book very much as it felt somewhat forced. The book for me is about how Shevek experienced the world and how it affects him; what part change and what parts remain resolute. So to have him randomly join the revolution on Urras and give a speech didn't feel like it added much for me. The only good tidbit we get out of this is how he realizes why the military is organized in such an inefficient heirarchy "was to enable men with machine guns to kill unarmed men and women."
I felt frustrated when there were de facto government via the rule of majority and everyone caring about what their neighbors think. But I think that was the purpose. We are in the most ideal form of an Anarchic society, and but it really is true that even when there are no rules, you still have to follow customs, otherwise nothing will work. At the same time, it does still work, but the right mindset needs to be maintained. I think Shevek had the right idea of reinforcing the "permanent revolution" where the people can't become complacent, otherwise they'll get stuck in their ways. It clearly has been working for 170 years, but they talk about how during the early years, everyone was on constant guard for any hierarchies that might appear. Even though the Odonians hate the Syndicate of Initiative, it is still allowed to exist and have a right to open discussions, and they are still provided with all the necessities everyone else receives.
I liked the little tidbits about other Humans in the Universe, but we really only see the Terrans a little bit at the end. Cool how no one knows who is the "original" humans. And a bit of a flip where the Hainish are the originals instead of Terrans. It was also funny how hard they had to hit me over the head with the Terran physicist Ainsetain and his theory of relativity before I realized that they're talking about Einstein but with an alien accent.
Physics stuff was also weirdly religious/philosohical? It's a decent way to have a workaround of having ultra complex physics without actually explaining anything. But at the same time, I feel like they just throw out a few tidbits of "past, present, and future are the same" and leave it at that.
I really liked it when physical things represent the societies. We get a very "in your face" example at the beginning where they just incinerate Shevek's pajamas instead of bothering to clean them because they have so many resources, while on Anarres people have like two sets of clothes total. Clothes with lots of pockets on Urras and later Shevek keeps secret notes in the pockets; lots of pockets are a thing of propertarians. On Anarres, the color orange: "It's definitely an excremental color.. As a functions analyst I must point out that there is no need for orange. Orange servers no vital function in the social organism at either the cellular or the organic level; in which case tolderance is a less good choice than excretion. Dye it dirty green, brother!"
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - Second nominations thread in ~books
syllo LinkThis is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Another book on the shorter side. It won the Nebula, Locus, and Hugo award for Best Novella in 2019/2020 and it's a unique...This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Another book on the shorter side. It won the Nebula, Locus, and Hugo award for Best Novella in 2019/2020 and it's a unique interesting read. The format is two Time Agents on different sides of the Time war writing letters back and forth to each other. In real life, it was written by a husband/wife duo, and other than having a general outline of the plot beforehand, they each wrote letters from one agent's perspective so they were genuinely reacting to the other character's letters which is a really neat way to writing a book.
(Also, after writing this, I looked at the previous nomination thread and saw it there as well, but nominating it again here anyway since I never got to discuss it with anyone when I read it back in 2020)
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke in ~books
syllo LinkWhat do you think the destroyed portions of the House represent? There are the Derelict Halls to the East of the First Vestibule where everything is destroyed, and Piranesi barely talks about it,...What do you think the destroyed portions of the House represent?
There are the Derelict Halls to the East of the First Vestibule where everything is destroyed, and Piranesi barely talks about it, other than the fact that he fishes there in the lakes that form there.
There are also the various sections of the Western Halls that he mentions that have had ceilings collapse.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Piranesi by Susanna Clarke in ~books
syllo Link ParentMy initial thought would there would be some sort of "Door of the Dead" where you could visit the souls of the dead. But I found it really interesting that they never actually talk about the other...My initial thought would there would be some sort of "Door of the Dead" where you could visit the souls of the dead. But I found it really interesting that they never actually talk about the other doors, or what useful things could be behind them, especially considering the coveted door is the one of Forgotten Knowledge.
Although maybe the side effects of the Other Worlds are related to their use. If the World of Forgotten Knowledge makes you forget things, would the Other World of Death rapidly kill you?
The one thing that truly made no sense to me was that the ship was not equipped in any way to do any real sample collection other than the astrophage itself. And even then, the Beatles were only capable of bringing back data. They know that an alien life form is causing the issue, so you would think they would include some sort of plan for another organism from one of the planets being the solution. The only reason the mission being a success is due to the xenonite and it's infinite utility made me appreciate it a bit less. If xenonite was just used for things that could have been done differently, but require more effort (like building the breeder farms), I wouldn't mind as much.