A Personal Statement from Iain Banks • Hacker News Board

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#261

Post by anigbrowl » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:30 PM UTC

nawitus wrote: post #79

polyfractal wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm...except that cryopreservation is still, as of this point, a complete crock of shit. Trying to find a necromancer would be more productive. As an ex-biologist, I can assure you that horrible cellular damage is being committed to these "preserved" people. I used to flash-freeze all sorts of cells, ranging from bacteria (e. coli) to animal (IMCD3 and MDCK kidney) to human (Human Embryonic Kidney, Primary cortical a…

>Hmm...except that cryopreservation is still, as of this point, a complete crock of shit. Trying to find a necromancer would be more productive. No, that's not very rational. Cryopreservation may have low chances of success, but it's like a billion billion billion times better than just dying (which has zero chance of success). Nobody is claiming that cryopreservation is very probable, but it's a lot better than noth…

Cryopreservation may have low chances of success, but it's like a billion billion billion times better than just dying

I don't know about that. I have this pet theory that our minds exist in a 5-dimensional non-euclidean space for which our brains serve as mere substrates, much as a CPU is merely a substrate for the running of a software program. I'm not saying you should adopt this theory (especially considering that I don't feel like explaining it and have only tenuous evidence, so it's basically a deeply-felt hunch), but nor do I accept your contention that it's freezing or nothing with no other alternative. For that matter I'm not convinced oblivion is so awful either, but that's more of a philosophical argument.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#262

Post by engtech » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:42 PM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #255

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I read Consider Phlebas and was very underwhelmed by it. Huh. Same here. I've only read CP and I honestly could not tell why everyone is so excited about Banks. Okay then, I'll add a few more titles to my wish list. Thanks!

Consider Phlebas is more of a literary novel that happens to take place in the future. I like all of Banks' work and thinkSwombat's suggested reading order above is spot on, but I also think Consider Phlebas is by far his best work.

My fav is Look to Windward, but you needed to be entrenched in the world to get a lot out of that book.

I still haven't been able to make myself finish Matter yet.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#263

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:47 PM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #257

reasonattlm wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 300 was far from useless - it was in fact the vehicle that enabled the Methuselah Foundation to do any of what it did: gain enough social proof and funding to invest in Organovo, boost SENS research far enough to gain funding from Peter Thiel and others, ultimately enabling it to spin off into the SENS Research Foundation, work behind the scenes to make the research community much more accepting of aging research…

Do you write any comments other than to promote your blog?

Threadjacking. Bad enough in other threads, utterly without respect in this one.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#264

Post by dbenhur » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:55 PM UTC

creamyhorror wrote: post #220

venus wrote: post #44

This is horrible news. We are all poorer today, all of us. Banks is an inspiration to all who read him - of what could be, what can be, what is to be. Cancer has claimed a terrible toll in my life. Three in my immediate family and counting, the countdown very fast for one of them. And now it seems to have turned its unwelcome gaze to my intellectual treasures. I hate this disease, I despise it so much it's hard to ex…

I completely empathise. I have a personal hatred of cancer as well. First Terry Pratchett and now Iain Banks. Satoshi Kon, taken by pancreatic cancer. Who's left? Why are all my favourite artists dying from this horrible family of diseases? Fuck cancer, and damn our perverse incentives. All you hackers and entrepreneurs, please make all the money you can and do something to advance the combined well-being of the worl…

Terry has Alzheimer's, not cancer. Arguably more tragic as it's slow and lingering, destroying your mind long before your body goes.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#265

Post by chris_wot » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:57 PM UTC

chris_wot wrote: post #64

This seems to have been pulled, because I'm getting a page not found...

Ah! It's back. No need to downvote me on this, I wasn't on the attack. Try hitting "reply" to say that's not the case. I merely wanted to see what was happening!

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#266

Post by gamblor956 » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 8:59 PM UTC

michaelochurch wrote: post #207

droithomme wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salaries in the life sciences are no where near where you think they are. Lots of people with biology degrees are making less than theatre majors. Even if you have the more elaborate title of "biochemist", salaries are around $45k, not the $125k you are expecting to earn. http://www1.salary.com/Biochemist-I-Salary.html Starting salaries are around $35k. If you are working for a non-profit foundation (ie: cancer resea…

See, that's my exact point. I didn't say that they make $125k (that's about average for a half-decent VC-istan programmer) because I knew scientific salaries to be low (I'm surprised to hear that they're that low) and they shouldn't be. Those salaries should be at least 3 times higher. You should make more working on scientific research that helps everyone than you'd make ($100-150k for typical programmers) writing y…

It depends heavily on the specific area of biology. I have friends making $35-40k in the LA area doing pharamaceutalogical research, and others making $250k+/year (also in the LA area) in some specialized areas of biochemical research that I don't understand enough to describe.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#267

Post by hp50g » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 9:05 PM UTC

nawitus wrote: post #114

hp50g wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The brain is like flash memory. Sure some of the conent is still possible to get at (electrical charge stays around for a long time) but the circuits between the flash cells are all dead. The connections are as important as the state. Not going to happen.

Alcor FAQ states this: “We know that secondary memory does not depend on continued activity of the nervous system, because the brain can be totally inactivated by cooling, by general anesthesia, by hypoxia, by ischemia, or by any method, and yet secondary memories that have been previously stored are still retained when the brain becomes active once again. Therefore, secondary memory must result from some actual alte…

Yes but freezing the damn thing fucks the dendrites up completely. The nervous system is dead.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#268

Post by gamblor956 » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 9:08 PM UTC

penny1001 wrote: post #146

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For yourself, the best things you can do today is massively reduce your sugar (and high-fructose corn syrup, which is nearly identical) intake[1] and increase excercise[2]. Reducing sugar will cause you to increase other macro and micro nutrients that are healthier (which may help) and most likely cause you to loose weight if you need to (which will help). Unfortunately, until public policy on diet (which is set by t…

Why don't you link to peer-reviewed studies that definitively prove that corn and sugar cause cancer. It's quite disturbing and outrageous that you're using Iain's cancer to scare the public for political gain.

It would be impossible to conduct such a study, as a causative study of this nature would be unethical under every established modern regime for scientific and medical ethics. Even a correlative study would be considered scientifically and medically unethical if a significant deviation is shown from the control group at any point during the study.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#269

Post by jholman » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 9:09 PM UTC

swombat wrote: post #182

limmeau wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you recommend as a first book to read? (edit: never mind, sibling thread has it covered: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5485695 )

If you LOVE science fiction already, I'd go straight for the jugular and start with Excession. It's hardcore, it's full of awesome technology, it will blow your mind and forever seduce you into the world of the Culture. If you're just a normal science fiction fan, start with Use of Weapons. It's complex and sci-fi-ish enough, but not as hardcore as Excession. The plot is amazing. To me it is one of the most memorable…

This isn't a good context in which to wax lyrical about how completely I fail to get why people like Iain Banks's SF, so I'll skip the ranting, but I'd love to have someone convince me what there is to like.

A loved one loves Banks, so I've tried really hard to get it, and I've failed. I recently read Excession and got zero value out of it. Also recently read Feersum Endjin; it was alright, but suffered from the same flaws as other Banks. I did enjoy The Algebraist, though I read it a while ago so it's a bit foggy. I also read, once upon a time, Consider Phlebas and Player of Games, and remember being utterly utterly disappointed in both, but I can't remember anything more than that.

Re: A Personal Statement from Iain Banks

#270

Post by nooneelse » Wed, Apr 03, 2013, 9:10 PM UTC

CoffeeDregs wrote: post #247

Very sad news indeed. Just introduced the works of Iain M. Banks to a friend, so something happy does come from sad news. Also, if you're a fan of the Culture universe and want a smile, have a gander at a list of Culture ship names @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_spacecraft_in_the_Cultu... "Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The" "Hand Me The Gun And Ask Me Again" "Lapsed Pacifist" "Subtle Shift In Emphasi…

We live in a pretty cynical time. One part of that is in our stories. We often take the quick path to "interesting" ideas by tearing apart good things. Utopia can't be, write about a dystopia instead. It is easier that way. This rut is comfortable.

It gets the author out of the hard task of building something that fits together well, and out of having to dream up something that works and that they would genuinely like to live in. Thinking up terrible things and things that fall apart can be much easier than thinking up what would make us lastingly happy. It also lets the listeners/readers/viewers of the story not think about their world in relation to some better world. That can be depressing; looking into a warm, comfy restaurant can just highlight how cold, poor, and hungry you are. Comparing our lives to those poor schmucks in some "utopia" with an terrible dark side isn't so bad; it doesn't impugn us for not having made something truly good to live in a reality.

But I'm so glad that Banks didn't go that route. Sci-fi needs to be able to get out of that rut. And it isn't that he doesn't know dark topics or how to write them; he can wrench a reader's guts along with the best of 'em. Yet he did the harder thing of looking for a consistent, shining-happy civilization to dream of living in. Gene Roddenberry got no small fame for a popular but rather more shoddy try at that many decades back. Banks did it with top notch sci-fi and writing skill. And I'd love to live in his utopia too.

But the books themselves, not the Culture, also include plenty of gut wrenching. Not as some easy dark side to the Culture itself. But at the edges of it, where the friction happens from its interaction with less nice places to live.