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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   4001 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for February 12, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, what are you reading?

I'm going through Freinacht's 12 Commandments for extraordinary people to master ordinary life, which came out recently. I think it suffers from the gimmick of being a response to Peterson's 12 Rules, because it doesn't put the effort into that aspect. In any case, so far it's the usual combination of saturated nice-guy sentiments underpinned by a deep materialism, and it is as interesting as ever to see how the two are reconciled in Hanzi's persona. The writing could use more restraint, but it seems to be improving.

I haven't been on this site since they moved off Reddit but I used to love these threads every Friday. I'm glad they're still happening.

I've been reading a lot of textbooks. Working through the problems in Gil Strang's Introduction to Applied Mathematics; this is the third textbook of his I've used; none have been for classes. I just love the man and his presentation of mathematics, it feels so relevant, useful, and meaty. I just finished reading Principles of Vibration by Benson Tongue and highly highly recommend it - very conversational style with fun and hilarious problems.

On the non-textbook side, I just started Moon Dust, an account of the Apollo astronauts after they came back from the Moon. I love the writing style.

Still Moby Dick. It's a big one, but not that big - I'm just being slow.

I like it. It's a good book. The author is very self-indulgent, but also very skilled, so I forgive him.

The Mormon People, by Matthew Bowman. I've been living in Utah for over a year now, and want to have a better understanding of the foundation of the culture here. There are concepts and vocabulary that come up often that I feel like I need to be more familiar with.

Bowman is a member of the church, so he probably doesn't go as hard as an outside observer might, but there is certainly some wild stuff around the formation and early history of the church. When I reflect on it, it's a little surprising that the LDS religion has become a (somewhat) mainstream faith.

Reading Masters and Mages by Christian Cameron. Amazing standard fantasy so far. He writes battles better than anyone I've ever seen.

Becoming Trader Joe. Much better than I expected, it's an interesting read.

I just binge read Dungeon Crawler Carl. It was a very entertaining litRPG.

Some network just bought the rights to that series.

I've succumbed to Defiance of the Fall, which is not as compelling as DCC, but has the powerful advantages of 8+ completed books and an addictive pace. Earlier this week, the 8th Thousand Li book came out, and I tore through that in a day.

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On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


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