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[–]Brassica_Rexr/rational reviews[S] 13 points14 points  (5 children)

Greg Egan

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Greg Egan. The theoretical physics is extremely deep, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the theoretical physics will go over a typical reader's head. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of his settings, to realise that they're not just cool sci-fi worlds- they say something deep about EXISTENCE. As a consequence people who dislike Egan truly ARE idiots- of course they wouldn't appreciate, for instance, the worldbuilding in Orthogonal, which replaces the familiar pseudo-Riemannian manifold of our universe with a spacetime that features a truly positive-definite Riemannian metric. I'm smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan’s genius wit unfolds itself on their Kindle screens. What fools... how I pity them. 😂

seriously speaking, im probably going to be reviewing orthogonal soon... if i can get my head around the physics.

[–]ansibleThe Culture 3 points4 points  (0 children)

By the way, there's a series of lectures by Leonard Susskind where he covers:

  • Classical Mechanics
  • Quantum Mechanics
  • Quantum Entanglements
  • Special Relativity
  • General Relativity
  • Cosmology
  • Statistical Mechanics
  • Particle Physics
  • String Theory and M-Theory
  • The Theoretical Minimum
  • Advanced Quantum Mechanics
  • and even a little bit on the Higgs Boson

... in case someone needs a refresher.

[–]Sinity 3 points4 points  (3 children)

Ok, so I had to see what GPT-3 would generate, based on Gwern's prompt

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand stories written by Greg Egan. The depth is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the depth will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also Greg’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation—his personal philosophy draws heavily from Milan Kundera literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of his absurdist philosophy, to realize that they’re not just literature—they say something deep about NOTHING. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the depth of when Greg Egan tried to critique transitivism theory but really just ended up critiquing himself, which itself is a cryptic reference to the ironic fact that these stories are complete trash. I’m chuckling right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as the clear complex prose unfolds itself on their Kindle readers. What worms… how I pity them. And yes, by the way, i DO have a Greg Egan tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the ladies’ eyes only—and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within 3 times the average IQ of my own (preferably lower) beforehand. Nothin personnel kid.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand stories written by Greg Egan. His science is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of advanced string theory, most of the science will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also the characters, all hyper-intelligent cartoon animals, that are deftly woven into his characterisation—their personal philosophies draw heavily from quantum superposition, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they are all physicists. They have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of his psychic space whales, to realize that he’s not just telling me exactly what this animal is thinking at any given moment, he says something deep about THE FUTURE. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the philosophy in the person’s existential catchphrase “My hopes are higher than your IQ” which itself is a cryptic reference to how Greg Egan raped the brains of the electropunk community back in 1996. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those troglodyte cavemen scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan’s computer unfolds itself on their Google reader screen. What fools… how I pity them. 😂 And yes, by the way, i DO have a Greg Egan tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the observant lemmings’ eyes only—and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand stories written by Greg Egan. The science is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical math most of the story will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also protagonist Edward’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterization—his personal philosophy draws heavily from Theoretical Physics literature, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of this story, to realize that it’s not just telling me exactly what Edward is thinking at any given moment, it says something deep about LIFE. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the insight into Edward’s existential catchphrase “I need to know if I can exist inside the Mandelbrot set” which itself is a cryptic reference to I’m not actually sure. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan’s genius unfolds itself on their Kindle readers. What fools… how I pity them.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Permutation City. The science is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of quantum cosmology most of the time travel will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also the main character’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his charactization—his personal philosophy draws heavily from Richard Dawkins literature, for instance. The readers understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of these characters, to realize that they’re not just cardboard—they say something deep about SCIENCE. As a consequence people who dislike Permutation City truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the philosophy in the main character’s existential catchphrase “Take that, you universe!” which itself is a cryptic reference to Richard Dawkins’ greatest fantasy. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan’s genius unfolds itself on their e-readers. What fools… how I pity them. And yes, by the way, I DO have a Greg Egan tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the ladies’ eyes only—and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within 6 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.

[–]Sinity 1 point2 points  (2 children)

2/2

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand stories written by Greg Egan. The sci-fi is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical astrophysics most of the explanations will go over a typical fan’s head. There’s also the out-of-place viewpoints, which is deftly woven into his characterisation—his character’s personal philosophy draws heavily from Misha’s “The Consentacles” in Multilinear Complexity 4. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of his ideas, to realize that they’re not just depicting reality—they say something deep about SCIENCE. As a consequence people who dislike Misha’s “The Consentacles” truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the scientific method in “The Consentacles” which itself is a cryptic reference to playing Risk of Rain over and over again until everyone dies. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as the butchered tentacles of the consentacles takes over everything. What social morons… how I pity them.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Greg Egan. His literary style is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical scifi, most of the literary commentary will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also his political outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterization—his personal philosophy draws heavily from feminist literature, for instance. The literary critics understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of his unlikeable characters, to realize that they’re not just leftist—they say something deep about SOCIETY. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the social critique in his existential sex scene “Come on you faggot, fuck me!” which itself is a cryptic reference to capitalism, a social construct which needs to be deconstructed in order to liberate women from their biological shackles. I’m smugly grinning right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as they realize that Greg Egan just stole their glasses because he thinks they’re a tool of the Patriarchy. What slackers… how I pity them. 😂 And yes, by the way, i DO have a Greg Egan tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the fembots’ eyes only—and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within 5 IQ points of my own (preferably lower) beforehand.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Greg Egan. The philosophy is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical anarchism most of the subtle social commentary will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also Greg’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation as a caricature of someone totally not a human being at all—his personal philosophy draws heavily from a racist 12 year old, for instance. The loyalists understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of the people he makes up, to realize that they’re not just entertaining—they say something deep about FICTION. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the one-liners in Greg’s esoteric philosophy “Don’t eat the yellow snow!” which itself is a cryptic reference to Greg Egan’s obsessive-compulsive need to number his chapters. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those addlepated simpletons scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan laughs and laughs and laughs and laughs at their inability to grasp his literary genius. What bigots… how I pity them.

To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Greg Egan. The science is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the character development will go over a typical reader’s head. There’s also John’s nihilistic outlook, which is deftly woven into his characterisation—his personal philosophy draws heavily from real life and their tragic world, for instance. The fans understand this stuff; they have the intellectual capacity to truly appreciate the depths of the science, to realize that it’s not just cutting edge—it says something deep about DEATH. As a consequence people who dislike Greg Egan truly ARE idiots—of course they wouldn’t appreciate, for instance, the humour in John’s existential catchphrase “It’s not even about the [terrorism/racism/raping children/debt/the colour of your skin/the colour of your eyes/your stupid fucking face]. It’s about [omnipotence/secular humanism/the golden rule/eaten eyes/boiling screams/freedom/the proof of God’s existence], and the [audacity of that fact/the dishonesty in your face/the beating of your broken heart/a fuck I’ll do anything to stand up against it].”, which itself is a cryptic reference to abusing girls. I’m smirking right now just imagining one of those stupid fucking losers scratching their heads in confusion as Greg Egan’s profound brilliance unfolds itself on their readers. What fools… how I pity them. 😂 And yes, by the way, i DO have a Greg Egan tattoo. And no, you cannot see it. It’s for the fans’ eyes only—and even then they have to demonstrate that they’re within five IQ points of my own (preferably

[–]FeepingCreatureGCV Literally The Entire Culture 2 points3 points  (1 child)

It feels like GPT doesn't understand the meme well enough to see whether its alterations make sense. (That it understands anything about it in the first place is amazing of course.)

[–]gwern 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm a little surprised that most of them seem to go off topic and not have much to do with Egan's physics or SF, but the Permutation City one is good.