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I used to worry about this, but I realized that at some point, it will cease to matter. When everyone has dirty laundry, no one does, and the guy with none seem

I used to worry about this, but I realized that at some point, it will cease to matter. When everyone has dirty laundry, no one does, and the guy with none seems fake. We’re just in the one or two decade window where deepfakes aren’t prevalent yet and people still get outraged over stuff they read on Twitter. I give it another 10-15 years, tops. Future startup business idea? Reasonably scandalous fake social media posts, enough to seem real but not enough to truly exclude you from anything.

phaedrus 6y ago
Your last paragraph is actually an idea fleshed out / minor plot point in a Neal Stephenson novel.
- keiferski 6y ago
  Interesting, I’ve never read any of his works, but I will have to now.
  - phaedrus 6y ago
    The novel is called, "Fall, or Dodge in Hell." It's probably even better if you know some of the characters from previous novels, but I haven't read his other stuff yet and still enjoyed this one. It's a sprawling story that seems almost like he duct-taped several manuscripts together to stuff them all into one novel. However that's not a reason to not like the book so much as just an observation that many of the side-tangents could have held their own as stand-alone stories.
    - Inhibit 6y ago
      Hmm. Well said. I've not been able to put my finger on what bothers me about a few of his novels and that's a good description of it. REAMDE was long also but didn't really suffer from that. I think it made Seveneves unreadable (for me). The Diamond Age was another Cyberpunk thriller. It and Snowcrash were fairly tight novels without endless tangents and I think I like them best of his novels I've read.
  - RandallBrown 6y ago
    Most of his books are fantastic. Fall Or Dodge In Hell is the book referenced and it's a loose sequel to REAMDE. (Which is a really fun techno-thriller novel that explores what happens when ransomeware locks up some very bad people's computers.) Cryptonomicon is a fantastic fictionalization of Alan Turing and breaking the enigma code combined with a cool story about what encryption can do in the future. Snowcrash is probably his most famous and is very cyberpunk and awesome. (Not my favorite of his though.)
njharman 6y ago
Exactly!!! Not getting married used to be cause for ostracism. Having child out of wedlock. Having long hair as a male! There will always be busy body haters who find a reason to exclude you, to elevate themselves above you. They are fucks. And unless you want to be one of them, are utterly ignorable. Most people worth knowing, don't care.

phaedrus 6y ago

Your last paragraph is actually an idea fleshed out / minor plot point in a Neal Stephenson novel.

keiferski 6y ago
Interesting, I’ve never read any of his works, but I will have to now.
- phaedrus 6y ago
  The novel is called, "Fall, or Dodge in Hell." It's probably even better if you know some of the characters from previous novels, but I haven't read his other stuff yet and still enjoyed this one. It's a sprawling story that seems almost like he duct-taped several manuscripts together to stuff them all into one novel. However that's not a reason to not like the book so much as just an observation that many of the side-tangents could have held their own as stand-alone stories.
  - Inhibit 6y ago
    Hmm. Well said. I've not been able to put my finger on what bothers me about a few of his novels and that's a good description of it. REAMDE was long also but didn't really suffer from that. I think it made Seveneves unreadable (for me). The Diamond Age was another Cyberpunk thriller. It and Snowcrash were fairly tight novels without endless tangents and I think I like them best of his novels I've read.
- RandallBrown 6y ago
  Most of his books are fantastic. Fall Or Dodge In Hell is the book referenced and it's a loose sequel to REAMDE. (Which is a really fun techno-thriller novel that explores what happens when ransomeware locks up some very bad people's computers.) Cryptonomicon is a fantastic fictionalization of Alan Turing and breaking the enigma code combined with a cool story about what encryption can do in the future. Snowcrash is probably his most famous and is very cyberpunk and awesome. (Not my favorite of his though.)

njharman 6y ago

Exactly!!! Not getting married used to be cause for ostracism. Having child out of wedlock. Having long hair as a male! There will always be busy body haters who find a reason to exclude you, to elevate themselves above you. They are fucks. And unless you want to be one of them, are utterly ignorable. Most people worth knowing, don't care.