I did hear of that idea Mr Sn9 (let's bring back Dickensian mannerisms!) Sully of Slashdot claims to have met Mr Stephenson at a book signing. Quote forthwith

I did hear of that idea Mr Sn9 (let's bring back Dickensian mannerisms!) Sully of Slashdot claims to have met Mr Stephenson at a book signing. Quote forthwith: According to Neal, Diamond Age and Snow Crash are not in the same universe at all. He stated further that any similarity is just due to the coincidence of the both novels having the same author. Anyway. It was a good idea even if it was incorrect. Mayhap another shining hypothesis slain by ugly facts. To clarify: I was implying to Gwern that Snow Crash would be a dismal universe to live in because the world was clearly in some kind of stagnation or slump caused by the (I don't have a good way to express this with words properly) backwash of globalization. If the Diamond Age is an evolution from Snow Crash then it is a much better world to live in. My original impression is strongly of a more fragmented world yet also one with more stability and wealth as compared with Snow Crash, which is a slow motion train wreck. Ironically I believe we truly do live in the world of Snow Crash. We've stagnated badly over the last few decades and we're just about waking up to the consequences of it now. It won't surprise you to learn I'm in favour of an aristocratic approach to tackle the problem like the Vickies. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11724637 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11724637