We’ve already established that I usually don’t read the comments on these posts, because I am a weak and fallible human and thus seek to avoid “engagement” at all costs.
Well, if Mr. Psmith does not read the comments, what is the point of having a Comments section?
It reminds me of a factory I worked in many years ago. There was a Big Red Button on the wall that we were assured would bring the whole place to a standstill if pushed -- but obviously the button should only be pushed in a life-or-death situation. No-one ever pushed the button, and thus we all suspected it was not connected to anything and would not really stop the line. Is this Comments section analogous to that Big Red Button?
It is perhaps my most-recommended book, I still think about it regularly.
It really did change my life in enduring ways, and in particular as I became more of an authority to be careful of the subtle ways in which one can express power over others, even unintentionally.
It's not always wrong to do so, of course (I'm a parent, children need firm guidance), but it should be done deliberately and consciously.
I guess I need to read The Dispossessed again. The first time around, I got the impression that LeGuin loved and approved of the anarch-communists, and fully believed their society would work, and would be better than ours.
> The only scifi author I can think of who doesn’t really fit this schema is Greg Egan, but that’s because he’s too autistic to model human beings, and so the “characters” in his stories are the laws of physics themselves, and as soon as we make that mental switcheroo he once again fits neatly into this tradition.
Hal Clement is another worth mentioning. I greatly enjoyed his novel _Close to Critical_, speculating on life under conditions near the critical point of water.
"Did that make your heart flutter a little bit?"
Nope. It made my stomach turn a bit perhaps, but that's about it.
It made me a bit sick, and want to overthrow the society that built it...
Which, really, is also how I felt at the end of my years in India (with full apologies to the wonderful friends and great food).
Well, if Mr. Psmith does not read the comments, what is the point of having a Comments section?
It reminds me of a factory I worked in many years ago. There was a Big Red Button on the wall that we were assured would bring the whole place to a standstill if pushed -- but obviously the button should only be pushed in a life-or-death situation. No-one ever pushed the button, and thus we all suspected it was not connected to anything and would not really stop the line. Is this Comments section analogous to that Big Red Button?
Other people read the comments.
Yes, The Dispossessed is Le Guin’s masterpiece.
Oh "The Lathe of Heaven", is my favorite Le Guin book. Anarres, is so dry and depressing. :^)
It is perhaps my most-recommended book, I still think about it regularly.
It really did change my life in enduring ways, and in particular as I became more of an authority to be careful of the subtle ways in which one can express power over others, even unintentionally.
It's not always wrong to do so, of course (I'm a parent, children need firm guidance), but it should be done deliberately and consciously.
Ok, so now you must return to the great and possibly insane Master Beckwith and contemplate his *Greek Buddha* (Princeton UP 2017).
I guess I need to read The Dispossessed again. The first time around, I got the impression that LeGuin loved and approved of the anarch-communists, and fully believed their society would work, and would be better than ours.
> The only scifi author I can think of who doesn’t really fit this schema is Greg Egan, but that’s because he’s too autistic to model human beings, and so the “characters” in his stories are the laws of physics themselves, and as soon as we make that mental switcheroo he once again fits neatly into this tradition.
Hal Clement is another worth mentioning. I greatly enjoyed his novel _Close to Critical_, speculating on life under conditions near the critical point of water.