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Plane change maneuvers _are_ expensive; reusing that sentence can't possibly detract from a book.
by db48x 11y ago
Plane change maneuvers _are_ expensive; reusing that sentence can't possibly detract from a book.
- aaronbrethorst 11y agoRephrasing such a sentence undoubtedly requires far less energy than the delta v necessary to accomplish the actual maneuver.
- rosser 11y agoComing up with different phrasings of the exact same concept per book is potentially more expensive in terms of suspension of disbelief. "Why is she taking a whole paragraph to say, 'Plane change maneuvers are expensive'?"
- mikeash 11y agoWhy bother? It's not like Stephenson invented that sentence. It's a fact, stated in the simplest possible way. If you google that literal sentence, you'll find quite a few uses unrelated to his books.
- EdwardCoffin 11y agoWant to take a swing at that yourself? I did do some google searches for the phrase in question, and other people have used it online (though I admit all the citations I found in my cursory search date to after Anathem, though that is no guarantee that they are aping it.)
- e12e 11y agoNo comment on re-use or what-not, but: https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+expensive&num=50&safe=off&source=lnt&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1970,cd_max:1980&tbm= https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+ex...