[FRIAM] Polostan - Neal Stephenson

[Steve Smith]

Another possible discussion inoculant:

I just did my first read (listen through of Audiobook) of Neal 
Stephenson's latest: Polostan

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polosta
    <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polostan>n

as the first in another Epic series it promises to match his System of 
the World <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baroque_Cycle>historical 
fiction series... in this case explicating a different era of science, 
technology and culture.

Juxtaposed with a more proper *alternate* history via the Difference 
Engine <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Difference_Engine>, it is in 
it's own way much more fascinating for it's clever framing as a fully 
plausible (yet dramatized) description of real-world events of an 
acutely pivotal time in our (semi-recent) history (1930s).   I look 
forward to the continuation of the "Bomb Light" series it apparently 
kicks off.

On 2/3/26 6:54 pm, Steve Smith wrote:
>
> JZ -
>
> I'm glad you asked, though I doubt I can do much to relight the flame 
> myself...
>
> I've been noticing this as well.  I happen to (also) be in the midst 
> of doing lots of Springtime refresh (cleaning chimney, blacking stove, 
> restarting Kombucha jar, re-starting a yogurt-batch method, pruning 
> fruit trees, pre-preparing garden beds, etc.    This is not (just) 
> virtue signalling for all my DIY projects, it is also to reflect the 
> tone of engaging in lots of things as "re-inoculating/culturing of 
> living batches"...  and FriAM (+ the constellation) does feel like a 
> living batch that has weakened and drifted (as did my Kombucha and 
> Yogurt cultures).
>
> I will admit to preferring (not exclusively) the company of LLMs over 
> various social engagements, and especially those with more technical 
> spine than not.  FriAM has been from time to time such for me.   I 
> still appreciate the meso-tech discussions that arise here from time 
> to time...  the roots of the weeds are a bit much, but I suppose that 
> is all relative?
>
> I assume some of our more active posters/innoculators here (yourself 
> included) DO have greener forums for many/some purposes.  I do not.  I 
> do *read* a lot to feed some of the same thirst.  I also dream vividly.
>
> I'm definitely distracted by "current events" and/but avoid thrashing 
> those dead horses here very often.
>
> I've never been an active in-person member of FriAM proper (though I 
> made an effort 20 years ago to attend every month or three) nor of the 
> vFriAM version...   really not my mode.   I am sad if/that there is 
> not still a core in-person group, I have been assuming (e.g. my recent 
> introduction of a new potential participant).  I've moslty been more 
> available for WedTech or SimTable-adjacent activities or as you know 
> Salon's at Jenny's when she is in town.
>
> I don't find myself particularly adept at seeding interesting 
> conversations here.   I think Glen has been the most effective at 
> this.  I'm assuming he is suffering/enjoying his own weighted vector 
> in your 1-N basis space of possible reasons for suppressed/depressed 
> activity.
>
> I've been feeling a general sense of decoherence across many aspects 
> of my life which I will blame on A) MAGA 2.0; B) AI tech-topic 
> acceleration; C) my own aging brain and body (69 next week).
>
> I've pinged a couple of (semi)regulars here offList "recently" and got 
> no response, so maybe that is another data point?
>
>
>
> On 2/3/26 5:45 pm, Jon Zingale wrote:
>> I know I came to this group in what appears to be its twilight. The 
>> in-person meetups are weirdly sad. I feel pressed to ask if it is the 
>> case that everyone is either:
>>
>> 1. on vacation/ too busy
>> 2. too depressed / failing to find inspiration
>> 3. moved on to greener forums
>> 4. preferring the company of LLMs
>> ...
>> N. waiting for someone frail to post
>>
>> Sometimes I trawl reddit or whatever discord, but I cannot help but 
>> feel like beacons of inspiration are becoming fewer and further 
>> between. This group has managed to inspire me, keep my interest, for 
>> over a decade. In that time, I pushed myself to understand 
>> perspectives that I would never have dreamed existed. I hope there is 
>> still something to talk about.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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