Josh B.

Comment Threads

• ScentOfViolets commented on Crib Sheet: Neptune's Brood
  There is a need for sophisticated experiments. Gravity is one of the less understood parts of physics. First, there is nothing that currently mandates that inertial mass and gravitational mass are identical[1]. And it's not an easy question, why would the amount of interaction mediated by a postulated but not detected graviton would have anything to do with the amount of interaction with the postulated Higgs field? To take these more-or-less in order, no, gravity is very well understood over a wide range of energies and length scales. The relationship of gravitational to inertial mass is not a postulate, but...
• John Kurman commented on Crib Sheet: Neptune's Brood
  Well, I found Neptune's Brood internally consistent and enjoyable. And unique. It may not be the first accounting detective story, but I believe it is the first one set in interstellar space. I read Graeber's book, but I don't think my powers of memory are quite up to Mr. Stross's. Nevertheless, the one thing I remember is Graeber's contention that gold and silver are used only in primitive times of chaos, paranoia and distrust. His example of medieval Muslim trade, where reputation gained currency, and name and word were as good as bond, was an unusual arrangement. (Unusual in the...
• Nick commented on Crib Sheet: Neptune's Brood
  A perfect opportunity this, as I've just read Neptune's Brood while on holiday and I loved it - preferring it to Saturn's Children (which was fine). One query here - should I take the names of Gould and Dennet as significant (the latter in particular considering the state of one of the characters and what ultimately happens to them?)....
• John Kurman commented on Crib Sheet: Neptune's Brood
  I'm sorry to belabor this, but... Its funny how people object to various handwavings, like whether it's possible to colonize space with travelling manufactories and fricking lasers beams, or if anti-matter is upsidaisium. Or whether the ending of the book was a car crash. I don't think it was. When it comes to objections, I'd say a lightspeed drive, one that "is cheap, compared to the cost of the propulsion systems currently in use for starships and in-system vehicles", pretty much wreaks havoc with a Freyaverse. Because it comes down to this. It's not a car crash, but a condensing...
• ilya187 commented on Crib Sheet: Neptune's Brood
  Barter, Graeber points out, isn't something that emerges, and that acts as a precursor to the development of money: rather, barter is what we get in atomized societies when fiscal systems collapse and nobody trusts their neighbours. True primitive tribal societies run on interpersonal debt and/or honour systems: everybody knows what their neighbours owe them, so there's no need to provide an immediate exchange for items of value received. Did Adam Smith, or anyone else, ever claim otherwise? AFAIK, primitive tribal societies use barter to trade with outsiders, not within the tribe -- and that's what is usually considered "precursor...