[extropy-chat] thank evolution for the interstate highway system

[Charlie Stross]

On 3 Dec 2003, at 02:41, Mike Lorrey wrote:

> Well, I assume you like SF. Neal Stephenson wrote a book called Snow
> Crash which you might be familiar with. A lot of the basic ideas he
> used in fleshing out his plot device of root language viral programming
> of humans is based on Jaynes' work. Of course, he does take it to a
> rather absurd conclusion... but that was the book that actually
> motivated me to read Jaynes, to get the straight scoop.

It's worth noting that Jaynes' book has been more than somewhat 
discredited in the field; he is to evolutionary biology pretty much 
what Immanuel Velikovsky is to planetography.

There's a reason some SF authors like his ideas; it's because they make 
for a great fictional playground-setting. That's not exactly the same 
thing as liking them because the evidence supports them ....



-- Charlie