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Small-Scale Question Sunday for December 10, 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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Even the sci-fi novels I recall reading which featured greater communications advances failed to reflect how I actually use cell phones in reality.

I remember a bit in an early Culture novel where a “phone” call is interrupted by a strange rushing noise. The resident supercomputer, which is naturally mediating all communications in its region, deduces that one participant is falling near terminal velocity, and dispatches a drone to rescue him. I can’t tell if this is Banks preempting the consequences of a surveillance state, or if he just forgot that inertial measurement already existed.