Samantha Rinne asked Gianluca Cameron:

You seem to have a very strange reading list? You've got books on non-binary in the same list as books about sexism against men and boys, books about Satanism and books about the afterlife (as well as books on pantheism and Taoism), books on magic and then the Bible (which is very anti-sorcery), the Communist Manifesto then Anarcho-Capitalist one.

Gianluca Cameron Thank you for the question, Samantha. Non-binary is a subject that I am interested in and the "Second Sexism" book shares an author with "Better Never to Have Been" which is written by South African philosopher David Benatar. The latter book details his controversial anti-natalist philosophy where he assigns a negative value to being brought into existence and argues for the extinction of all life. I am interested in pessimistic philosophy and that is about as pessimistic as you can get. I do believe that individual people can be sexist toward men but I don't necessarily think it is a widespread or major social issue (I do think circumcision at birth is wrong, though). Perhaps Benatar will change my mind. In regards to non-binary, it is a concept that is hotly debated and seems to me like an interesting idea/experience to explore.

In regards to the religious aspect, I am interested in the occult and got offered a free Bible by a Christian society at university.

I thought "How could I turn down a free Bible?"

So I didn't. Satanism appears to be this weird mix between self-help, philosophy and anti-theism. Due to its unique nature, I was attracted to it although I must confess I have not at this point read any Satanist texts.

In regards to politics, I am somewhat left-wing and am currently reading the Communist Manifesto so I suspect I will have more sympathies with that manifesto than the Anarcho-Capitalist one. It was the opposition of Ayn Rand to commonly held cultural beliefs about altruism that attracted me to read some essays from her. From what I have read, not that big a fan. Still, I did at one point inspect and lurk around in certain radically libertarian online spaces due to this seeming opposition to the moral norm.

I am under no delusion that I will read all of these works within my lifetime. Some I will read, some I will put off forever and never have the pleasure of gazing upon them. That is life and that is also my weakness. In a sense, it is just works I would maybe like to read at some point because they seem quite interesting to me. Sorry, if the answer's vague or contradictory but that is all there is to it.

In regards to the occult, I sought a greater understanding of the symbols I often cribbed for my stories. A dash of "symbolism" here and there. But there's also the fact that the idea of symbols/thoughts having a direct effect on reality is intriguing.

I never thought that I would receive a Goodreads question from the author/developer of Oracle of Tao. Needless to say, I am also intrigued by your work and would love to play the game/read the book at some point. Although, maybe I'll die before then. I don't know. Again, not making any promises.

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