249 books
—
442 voters
All of these facts are periodically rediscovered, usually by chance readers of this file, causing a great deal of alarm. This state of concern lasts minutes at most, before the matter is simply forgotten about.
“Instead of judging every activity for its potential to succeed, we should judge our projects for their potential to spawn more projects.”
― Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective
― Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned: The Myth of the Objective
“You mean old books?"
"Stories written before space travel but about space travel."
"How could there have been stories about space travel before --"
"The writers," Pris said, "made it up.”
― Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
"Stories written before space travel but about space travel."
"How could there have been stories about space travel before --"
"The writers," Pris said, "made it up.”
― Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
“Life begets intelligence, intelligence begets smart matter and a singularity.”
― Accelerando
― Accelerando
“But—let me tell you my cat joke. It's very short and simple. A hostess is giving a dinner party and she's got a lovely five-pound T-bone steak sitting on the sideboard in the kitchen waiting to be cooked while she chats with the guests in the living room—has a few drinks and whatnot. But then she excuses herself to go into the kitchen to cook the steak—and it's gone. And there's the family cat, in the corner, sedately washing it's face."
"The cat got the steak," Barney said.
"Did it? The guests are called in; they argue about it. The steak is gone, all five pounds of it; there sits the cat, looking well-fed and cheerful. "Weigh the cat," someone says. They've had a few drinks; it looks like a good idea. So they go into the bathroom and weigh the cat on the scales. It reads exactly five pounds. They all perceive this reading and a guest says, "okay, that's it. There's the steak." They're satisfied that they know what happened, now; they've got empirical proof. Then a qualm comes to one of them and he says, puzzled, "But where's the cat?”
― The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
"The cat got the steak," Barney said.
"Did it? The guests are called in; they argue about it. The steak is gone, all five pounds of it; there sits the cat, looking well-fed and cheerful. "Weigh the cat," someone says. They've had a few drinks; it looks like a good idea. So they go into the bathroom and weigh the cat on the scales. It reads exactly five pounds. They all perceive this reading and a guest says, "okay, that's it. There's the steak." They're satisfied that they know what happened, now; they've got empirical proof. Then a qualm comes to one of them and he says, puzzled, "But where's the cat?”
― The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
“Nobody ever imagined a bunch of Orcs would steal a database table…”
― Halting State
― Halting State
Ic’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Ic’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Ic
Lists liked by Ic









































