I love paper books, but now I find myself tapping on words I want to know the definitions of or get more information on. Turns out that doesn't work. — T Clark

I do that too. Doesn't work for me either :chin:

Sometimes I'll look up a word or place and then go off on a tangent for 15 minutes, looking at maps and photos, following a Wikipedia trail off into the sunset. Love it. — T Clark

Too, I do that too. Attention deficit.

No tapping on words here! Back in the day of cassettes :nerd:

The Shadow of the Torturer Audiobook (Roy Avers, noise reduced)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnw8WXRZbAM


0:00 - Introduction
3:59 - Chapter 1: Resurrection and Death
20:12 - Chapter 2: Severian
36:02 - Chapter 3: The Autarch's Face
52:32 - Chapter 4: Triskele
1:09:33 - Chapter 5: The Picture - Cleaner and Others
1:22:35 - Chapter 6: The Master of the Curators
1:48:48 - Chapter 7: The Traitress
2:10:37 - Chapter 8: The Conversationalist
2:24:00 - Chapter 9: The House Azure
2:38:17 - Chapter 10: The Last Year
2:55:00 - Chapter 11: The Feast
3:08:33 - Chapter 12: The Traitor
3:24:02 - Chapter 13: The Lictor of Thrax
3:40:56 - Chapter 14: Terminus Est
3:55:32 - Chapter 15: Baldanders
4:13:50 - Chapter 16: The Rag Shop
4:29:20 - Chapter 17: The Challenge
4:43:45 - Chapter 18: The Destruction of the Altar
5:00:42 - Chapter 19: The Botanic Gardens
5:18:55 - Chapter 20: Father Inire's mirrors
5:35:26 - Chapter 21: The Hut in the Jungle
5:50:41 - Chapter 22: Dorcas
6:03:28 - Chapter 23: Hildegrin
6:18:08 - Chapter 24: The Flower of Dissolution
6:34:28 - Chapter 25: The Inn of Lost Loves
6:51:28 - Chapter 26: Sennet
7:03:56 - Chapter 27: Is He Dead?
7:15:10 - Chapter 28: Carnifex
7:28:24 - Chapter 29: Agilus
7:42:15 - Chapter 30: Night
7:56:17 - Chapter 31: The Shadow of the Torturer
8:09:30 - Chapter 32: The Play
8:28:15 - Chapter 33: Five legs
8:41:13 - Chapter 34: Morning
8:52:26 - Chapter 35: Hethor
9:15:36 - Appendix

I'm told the version with Jonathan Davis is excellent. Don't know about Roy Avers.

In any case, prepare to have no idea what is going on or why. :grin:

Don't know about Roy Avers. — Jamal

All I know is he's free :up:

...prepare to have no idea what is going on or why. — Jamal

I will probably fall asleep before I realise how confused I am :wink:

There's nothing like the words of a professional torturer to send you into a peaceful sleep.

I'll take your word for that :smirk:
Sayin' nuffink that will get me into truble :zip:
определённо nyet :scream:

Спокойной ночи :yawn:

I'm presently reading At The Existentialist Café, by Sarah Bakewell. Her writing style can best be defined by 'chatty'. I've a better idea of what the existentialists were trying to come to grips with than ever before. I've also picked up more information on who was sleeping with whom than I really desired. Has anyone else read her books? This one in particular?

Regards, stay safe 'n well.

I wanna recommend At the Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft (or most of his stories) if you'd like to experience a bit of dark suspense.

• Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, Karen Barad
• Critical Realism: An Introduction to Roy Bhaskar's Philosophy, Andrew Collier

:up:

Finished:

• The Color Purple, Alice Walker: great read.
• The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin: it was okay.
• Ubik, Philip K. Dick: friggin amazing!

:cool: :up:

Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning, — 180 Proof

Sounded interesting, so I looked it up on Amazon. Here's from the spiel there:

The starting point for Barad’s analysis is the philosophical framework of quantum physicist Niels Bohr. Barad extends and partially revises Bohr’s philosophical views in light of current scholarship in physics, science studies, and the philosophy of science as well as feminist, poststructuralist, and other critical social theories.

That certainly is...provocative. Any thoughts so far?

Ubik, Philip K. Dick: friggin amazing! — _db

:cheer: my favorite from him by far. Addictive, a fever-dream pace, hilarious, flamboyant, disturbing, horrifying all in one. And pretty damn short.

Not yet, I just started. I'll let you know. Check out her wiki
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Barad
and the synopsis of her "agential realism". I'm interested in her "feminism" only insofar as she grounds it in (her) ontology, which is new to me (in this formulation).

Check out her wiki — 180 Proof

I took a look. Sounds pretty creepy. Set me straight if I'm wrong.

"Creepy"?

"Creepy"? — 180 Proof

Ok, ok. Just let us know what you think once you've finished.

:ok:

The Intelligence of the Cosmos: Why Are We Here? New Answers from the Frontiers of Science
by Ervin Laszlo

Two biographies:

The eclipse of Yukio Mishima, Shintaro Ishihara

The last words of Yukio Mishima, Takashi Furubayashi.

Two biographies:

The eclipse of Yukio Mishima, Shintaro Ishihara

The last words of Yukio Mishima, Takashi Furubayashi. — javi2541997

[joke]I've decided you won't be allowed to read any more Japanese authors, especially Mishima. I think they have a bad influence on you.[/joke]

My parents literally think the same :rofl: they are worried because they see I am pretty "obsessed" with Mishima!

I just read an article in "Nautilus" - "How the Physics of Nothing Underlies Everything." A bit popular sciencey for my taste, but it does highlight the perennial problem with the whole "Why is there something rather than nothing?" question - What does "nothing" mean? Here's a link:

https://nautil.us/how-the-physics-of-nothing-underlies-everything-22894/

Pretty interesting, indeed. Thanks for sharing the link :100:

Here is a link to a site called Libretexts. That's what it is - free text books for a range of disciplines. Mostly science. Neat site.

https://libretexts.org/

At the top of the page, click on "Explore the libraries."

Going for round 2 here, to get a better understanding:

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke

Novel:

Infinite Ground by Martin McInnes

Going for round 2 here, to get a better understanding:
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke — Manuel

Nice. I've been wanting to re-read this for some time. Enjoy.

The Philosophy of the Enlightenment
by Ernst Cassirer

Keep the Aspidistra Flying
by George Orwell

Here is a link to an interesting article about population growth from "Quillette."

https://quillette.com/2022/08/20/the-unexpected-future/

The predictions it makes about future population growth are significantly different from ones I've read elsewhere. I'm not sure if that should make me suspicious. Numbers I've read elsewhere say that human population will reach a maximum level of about 11 billion people in 2100 and then drop off a bit until it reaches equilibrium. This article predicts a maximum population of about 9 billion people in 2050 dropping to equilibrium of about 8.5 billion by 2100. That population will have a significantly different age distribution than our current one - a much larger proportion of old people. This is predicted to lead to a drastic worker shortage, a much heavier burden on the young to support the elderly, and the end of economic progress, at least by the mechanisms which currently drive it.

I'd be suspicious of any article published by Quillette, and a cursory sweep of the authors' wiki page strongly suggests they are dumb.