I'm not very convinced by this article. A lot of the "realities" are not, they're policy choices. Just as an example, the notion of the non-driving elderly adult having to be taken by their child to some office to get an ID is just a consequence of the US choosing not to have compulsory and free or nominal charge ID for all residents. Most of the other objections are equally dependent on specific policy choices, which may apply in some places and not others.
Oddly, I have a friend who's not much into SF but absolutely loved Quicksilver (and the whole Baroque Cycle). She also enjoyed Anathem. But Cryptonomicon or other Stephenson's books left her uninterested.
I suppose it's a matter of taste then. I don't really mind the expository style. Incidentally, Greg Egan is also one of my favourites, and I'd say he does use some amount of exposition, for example in Diaspora, or the Orthogonal Series (amazing work).
I liked Anathem a lot. I think I enjoyed all of Neal Stephenson's books up to (but excluding) Seveneves, whereupon I gave up on him. Anathem is one of my favourite books.
spoiler
However, it's true that Neal Stephenson somewhat recycles the same themes and concerns. For example, the whole "radioactive storage under an academic institution" thing was used in The Big U as well. The theme regarding Platonism appeared in different forms, for instance in the exploration of the organ in Cryptonomicon. That didn't stop me from enjoying it though.
The whole notion of monks in space seems absurd because of how people see monks. But this is both ahistorical and contrary to the way they work in the book. Copernicus and Mendel were monks. And these particular ones were all about learning maths and theorics (physics). They didn't optimise for technology, because they weren't allowed, but they optimised for learning, for extracting information out of tiny details. I think they'd do alright in a scientific(ish) mission.
I get why people say this, but I like his digressions. It's not just a matter of learning something new (though occasionally one does) but of how he uses language to express it.
Fantastic! I'm back in. Thank you so much.
I think PTH is not around, not sure about Apollo.
Heh, wrong type of tracker. :)
The dissolution of the SFRY was not just a tragedy, but a crime.
Excellent job, Wolfkiller.
Oh, and buying fossil overpriced energy in the bargain too. How truly good.
What was it that did it for you, the hypocrisy, the lack of contact with reality, or the blood lust?
Interesting article, and I definitely agree I prefer clear instructions when those are possible.
I only have an objection. When it's said that no matter how well chatbots behave, it's bad design, and that they're being used to substitute expensive people; well, expensive people's interface is chatting too. So in that regard I'm not sure there's a meaningful difference. Obviously there is if the chatbot is badly behaved, but the article says that it's a problem even setting that aside.