Ask Neal Stephenson 499
Our latest Slashdot interview victim... err... guest... is Neal Stephenson, author of (among others) Snow Crash, CRYPTONOMICON, the much-discussed essay, In the Beginning was the Command Line, and more recently a series of books he calls The Baroque Cycle. (Last month Slashdot reviewed the series' third volume, The System of the World.) Now you can ask Neal whatever you want. As usual, we'll send him 10 -12 of the highest-moderated questions and post his answers verbatim when we get them back.
A prediction, please (Score:5, Interesting)
10 years from now... (Score:5, Interesting)
Also as a science fiction author - when you write, do you try to paint a realistic picture of the future or simply one that will suit the needs of your story?
Genres of future works? (Score:5, Interesting)
In any event, the question: the first book of yours I read was Snow Crash, followed by Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon. This earned you a spot in my head as an excellent author of techno/SF/cyberpunk (for lack of a more definitive, preferably singular, term). While I've enjoyed the Baroque Cycle (though I admit to not having read the The System Of yhe World yet), I also look at a novel like Snow Crash with an almost wistful nostalgia. With all that said, do you have any plans to write anything else in that genre/style, or do you feel you've explored it as far as you're interested in doing?
Re:Genres of future works? (Score:5, Interesting)
What were you thinking? (Score:4, Interesting)
What was going through your mind at that moment?
Re:What were you thinking? (Score:5, Interesting)
FYI moderators on crack -- those are the names of characters from Neal's book Snowcrash.
I've thought of that too -- Neal, some of your books have very creative names, while some have common John Doe kinda names.
Where the hell do you get your ideas for names from?
Enoch Root, Hiro Protagonist, Y.T., ad infinitum.
Re:What were you thinking? (Score:4, Funny)
Like many writers, Mr Stephenson subscribes to a name-generating service. For a reasonable fee, a quarterly list of names is sent to him. If he sees a name he likes, he calls the service and tells them which one he intends to use. The service checks to see if any other author has already claimed that name, and if not, Neal gets to use it.
As Mr Stephenson is a very forward-thinking, technology-adept sort of person, I imagine he uses one of the more modern name services, with web access.
right to keep and bear code (Score:5, Interesting)
more detailed explanation... (Score:5, Interesting)
If as much license were applied to the second amendment as has been claimed under the first, we would all be packing hand-held nuclear weapons. Is a port scanner or code disassembler too much to ask?
Just one question (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Just one question (Score:3, Funny)
Cowboy Neal
Book endings (Score:3, Interesting)
I mean, I don't want to know that Princess Nell had two kids and lived in a trailer park for the rest of her life finally dying of emphezema, but it'd be kinda nice to get just a bit more detail before being dropped off with only a bare explaination of events.
Re:Book endings (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd like to ask this question:
Okay, so you're satisfied with your endings...why? What about them appeals to you? What is it you're going for? What constitutes a good ending for you? What don't you like in an ending?
(And for the record, I like your books enough that I simply don't want them to end; I've never had the visceral reaction to your endings that some seem to have.)
Re:Book endings (Score:3, Interesting)
The Ending -- *SPOILERS* (Score:5, Interesting)
I was jolted by the ending too, but then I realized he really did end it the way it should be ended. I'll explain my take on it below, but first let me point out that I'm going to be discussing major spoilers, so if you haven't read the book--- WHY ARE YOU READING THIS ANYWAY?
OK, with that out of the way, here's the ending: Nell, Miranda, and Carl are pulled out of the water by the mouse army. A church bell rings. The end.
Now here is what happens next: The Celestial Kingdom achieved its goal and equilibrium begins again between the phyles. Miranda marries Carl, they both become the parents for Nell she always wanted, Nell is now queen of a brand new phyle, and she can go on to whatever she wants to do as she deals with the other phyles in trade and negotiations. Hackworth is no longer needed and the book wasn't about him, a big hint for which is given in the subtitle of the book that talks about a "Young Lady."
All of the above is implied in the book. Nell was trying to find her "mother." She found her. Carl was trying to find Miranda. He found her. Nell was trying to solve the primer. She solved it. The mouse army needed to find their queen. They found her. The struggle between the phyles needed to move to a new level of equilibrium. It did. Finkle-McGraw wanted to figure out how best to use the primer. He figured it out. The end.
The only thing Neal Stephenson didn't do was spell all this out at the end. He merely implied it by noting what the characters were seeking, and then showed they each found what they sought. Bells play. The end.
Re:The Ending -- *SPOILERS* (Score:3, Insightful)
Cryptonomicon Sequel (Score:4, Interesting)
I did not think you would get into the sequel thing, since most others have trouble pulling it off. However, you did a brilliant job of it in the Baroque cycle.
Personally, I thought Cryptonomicon ended wehere it had to, and the Baroque Cycle provided a nice view of the history behind the origins of the characters. However, I'm more curious about how you would take Cryptonomicon in the future, if you were to do so.
Also, I'd asked you this in person when you had given a talk at Georgia Tech - about the endings of your books, to which you had replied that you were quite happy with them the way they were.
But -- if you could have ended them differently, what kind of alternate endings do you think you would have come up with?
Thanks.
Add to the question about book endings!!! (Score:3, Interesting)
But -- if you could have ended them differently, what kind of alternate endings do you think you would have come up with?
Moderators and editors - PLEASE add this thought to the highly-moderated question earlier about Neal's endings. I'd rather hear this followup, rather than waste one of of 10-12 questions on a re
Re:Add to the question about book endings!!! (Score:3, Insightful)
Shatner: Um... That mare had a foal?!
The lack of respect... (Score:5, Interesting)
Science Fiction is normally relegated to the specialist publications rather than having reviews in the main stream press. Seen as "fringe" and a bit sad its seldom reviewed with anything more than condecesion by the "quality" press.
Does it bother you that people like Jeffery Archer or Jackie Collins seem to get more respect for their writing than you ?
What are you writing now? (Score:4, Interesting)
What are your writing plans after Baroque cycle? (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of us fans loved it when you were in the world of pure sci-fi, though we appreciate the Baroque Cycle, we were wondering if you are going to get back into the world of cyberpunk, or future worlds, or what have you, like in The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon. What are your writing plans when the Baroque Cycle is complete?
Re:What are your writing plans after Baroque cycle (Score:3, Interesting)
I believe the connection between the Past (Baroque Cycle), the Present (and recent past) in Cryptonomicon, and the Future (yet to be written?) will be made -- we're just in the middle of it. Enoch Root *is* the same character in the Baroque books and Crypto -- that's what makes them all sci-fi. My guess is that he's a time traveler, though others have their opinions [ibiblio.org].
The intricate family connections also lead me to believe that the story will continue in the future, not only with the Shaftoes and Waterhous
The abrupt endings (Score:3, Insightful)
Cryptonomicon (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Cryptonomicon (Score:3, Informative)
Singularity (Score:5, Interesting)
MOD PARENT UP: Re:Singularity (Score:5, Insightful)
To expand a smidge further: as covered earlier on Slashdot [slashdot.org], the problem that the singularity presents to futurists is troubling. By definition the singularity is the point at which the rate of technological change is faster than can be imagined.
How does that sort of thing bother you as an author of futurist/speculative fiction? Wouldn't you rather there be a nice crash of civilization to keep the pace of technological advancement slow enough so that predictions in your books get outpaced by the march of technological "progress"?
Of course, given said crash of civilization, you'd best have most of your assets in gold [google.com]. And it might be unlikely that your publisher would continue writing you checks, but that's a different story.
Re:MOD PARENT UP: Re:Singularity (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:MOD PARENT UP: Re:Singularity (Score:4, Informative)
Because of its superior electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion and other desirable combinations of physical and chemical properties, gold also emerged in the late 20th century as an essential industrial metal. Other uses:
Re:MOD PARENT UP: Re:Singularity (Score:3, Interesting)
Chronology (Score:3, Interesting)
Do you plan to fill in the gaps? Will we see how the formation of a data haven specifically leads to the abolition of the government as we know it, or are these novels not meant to reference each other?
Enoch (Score:5, Interesting)
Please give us some more details about Enoch Root. He's quite an amazong character, but you leave us really guessing about him. Is he the same person throughout the years? Is he the embodiment of the biblical Enoch?
Re:Enoch (Score:3, Informative)
Who would win? (Score:5, Funny)
Corporate/Political Criminals? (Score:5, Interesting)
Physics and Physicality (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Stephenson:
In some of your books, your action scenes are far detailed (and better informed) than are those of many authors, who gloss over the ways that actual physical objects, including people, interact at close range (including skateboarding, diving, fighting, and the awkwardness of in-car sex with Amy Shaftoe).
This leads me to ask, Are you a skateboarder? Surfer? Martial Artist, and if so of what variety? (Or Rock climber, spelunker, etc.) If Yes in a general sense, how often do you participate in such things now?
More generally, what physical activities that you find especially invigorating mentally?
Tim
wheeeeee (Score:4, Interesting)
Second...
It would sem that your father was a big inspiration for Command Line. What has inspired you for your other works? I've always been fascinated by the inspirations of an author's particular works, as they usually give a deeper insight to the work than just the included text.
Spacesflight (Score:5, Interesting)
Going from human to silicon (Score:3, Interesting)
Also, do you think that going from human to non-biological entity would be like going from an LP to a compact disc in the sense that just the platter and fidelity would change and not the tune, or would a person's humanity be replaced with something entirely different? Thanks,
macshune
Undersea Cables research, and inspiration (Score:5, Interesting)
ttyl
Farrell
What are you reading these days? (Score:5, Interesting)
If that's the case, please include a work of modern fiction or two in your list; something you think that a fan of your work might also enjoy.
Cryptonomicon Future Timeline (Score:5, Interesting)
What's the deal with "Nipponese"? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What's the deal with "Nipponese"? (Score:3, Interesting)
storygramming (Score:5, Interesting)
Idempotent mentoring (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Idempotent mentoring (Score:3, Funny)
Probably not exactly what you meant, though.
Money (Score:5, Interesting)
You've obviously spent a lot of time thinking about money lately. Is there anything going on in the modern world with monetary systems (barter networks, for example) that you find particularly interesting? What do you see on the horizon with respect to money?
PS -- thanks for the great books!
BeOS (Score:5, Interesting)
Jedidiah.
Snowcrash & Christianity (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Snowcrash & Christianity (Score:5, Interesting)
Dark atmosphere to modern sci-fi (Score:5, Interesting)
In the beginning was the command line... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:In the beginning was the command line... (Score:3, Informative)
Liza
Travel tips for modern primitives? (Score:5, Interesting)
I greatly enjoy your travel stories, both non-fiction (Mother Earth, Motherboard) and in particular your descriptions of the Philipines in Cryptonomicon.
Can you share some of the ideas you've developed for savvy trav'lin? For instance, how do you deal with carrying sufficent technology (whatever level you deem this to be) while minimizing the risk of theft, breakage, or loss by other means? Do you dress native or carry your entire warddobe? [And broader, do you travel with something close to nothing, picking up necessary items as the need arises? What do you not leave home without?]
Do you carry any sort of self-defense means in some places, and if so What and Where?
Tim
Ideal writing environment? (Score:5, Interesting)
My question(s) is(are) this: what is your ideal writing environment? Have you been to anywhere in particular in your travels, or have a writing setup/gig that has compelled you to really get words down, physically, ready for someone else to read?
Dude, this election is a wash (Score:3, Interesting)
Causes, methods. (Score:5, Interesting)
I have found your works to be both illuminating and invigorating. Having said that, why do you write? That is to say, Is there an overall guiding influence to your craft as a whole, and does that somehow inform what you set out to accomplish in each novel?
Kind Regards, Sergio A. Mora
Any one thing that... (Score:5, Interesting)
Mr. Stephenson,
I have been reading and finding your books interesting. However, I was wondering if there was a prediction that you felt was going to happen, but didn't...and this surprised you to no end. Was there such a prediction and what was it?
Thank you.
Dealing with "Groupies" (Score:3, Interesting)
In short, what's it like being a Rock Star to the Nerds?
Writing over programming (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you returning to your "roots"? (Score:3, Interesting)
So my question is this: were the Baroque Cycle books just an excursion away from that synergy that you had with the high-tech common man, or the start of a long-term trend? Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying they were bad books (far from), just wondering how it fits in.
Confidential Proposal, Off shore data haven (Score:5, Funny)
I am sorry and I solicit your permission into your privacy. I am Barrister Leonardo Akume, lawyer to the late Dr. Koffi Abachus, a brilliant Nigerian mathematician.
My former client, late Dr. Koffi Abachus, died in a mysterious plane crash in the year 1994 on the way to a scientific conference to make an announcement of the utmost importance to mankind.
He was planning to present a paper regarding his extensive work on data storage. It is said the data storage device he had developed, would be roughly ten times more secure compared to the latest quantum excyption techniques. The device was about the size of a steamer trunk, and stored on a privately owned island close to the coast of Nigeria. Dr Koffi Abachus is also the King of the local tribe by heritage...
Oh well.. Should there BE a data haven? If so, where?
"/Dread"
As a historian (Score:5, Interesting)
So I wonder, how do you see us? Having gone from science fiction to historical novels, how do you view historians and how we write history?
Which Comes First (Score:5, Interesting)
How do you avoid writer's block? (Score:5, Interesting)
Ending consultants? (Score:5, Funny)
-russ
Re:Ending consultants? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm browsing now, looking for prior questions before posting the following:
"What happens to you at the end of the books you write? Every one of your novels starts out breathtakingly rich and full of stuff that is some of the best near-future SF I've read in 30+ years, but staged within a context that is conventionally acceptable. But each of the few novels of yours I've read swerves wierdly in late chapters. Are you schizophrenic, is there a hidden agenda here, or what?"
Yeah, I'm really masochistic/stupid enough to RATFC's.
Hope you get the Q.
SF Depression (Score:4, Insightful)
Neal, I read a lot of science fiction (yourself, gibson, asher, mm smith, banks...to name a few) and as much as enjoy reading the genre I can't but help get mildly depressed by the fact that I know that all this stuff will eventually happen in some way/shape/form and I won't be around to experience it.
And I'm not just talking about tech (eg. molly's eyes in Neuromancer) here, I'm also talking fundamental societal shifts and advancements that often underpin the great SF works.
Do you ever get depressed or get this sinking feeling that you were born a century or two too early, and how do you deal with it?
A Greater social commentary (Score:3, Interesting)
How do you see your books (Snow Crash in particular) fitting in with the greater social criticisms of our time? Is there a over arching point that you are trying to convey? How do you see your novels fitting in with the greater commentary of our culture as portrayed in cyberpunk?
Present Tense (Score:5, Interesting)
Why did you start using the present tense after writing your first two books (The Big U, Zodiac) in past? What does it do for you that past tense does not? Was it hard to get your novels accepted by the publisher because of the unexpected tense?
Blue Origin (Score:5, Interesting)
The rise and fall of the nation-state (Score:5, Interesting)
your 5 major works explore the rise and fall of the modern nation-state. The Baroque Cycle shows its genesis and rise (esp. vis a vis the development of centralized banking and modern financial systems), Crypnotomicon sows the seeds of its fall (untraceable tax havens through strong crypto and electronic "money") and Snowcrash and Diamond Age show a "post nation-state" world.
Was it always your intent to explore this theme way back when you were writing Snowcrash, or did it grow "organically" as you started working on new books?
Now that this theme has a beginning, middle and end, do you intend to continue exploring it in future books, or is it now "done" and time to move on to new subjects?
The state of the metaverse (Score:5, Interesting)
Without question, text based chat on IRC, AOL, instant messaging and elsewhere has played a major role in bringing the masses online. Ironically, in an age of high-powered video cards and broadband, internet communication it seems text-based communication still works the best. While text-based communication unquestionably has advantages over graphical forms of communication (ie, I can search usenet postings from years ago) there still are some disadvantages. Flame wars erupt on message boards over the misinterpreted connotation of an otherwise benign comment. The lack of body language and tone of voice seem to be the primary causes. In many cases, "call me now" is the only option to prevent a disaster.
What do you feel is standing in the way of the "true" metaverse becoming reality? Or is it only a matter of time before an innovative developer brings it to us? Also, how would you feel about Digital Rights Management in a metaverse? Do you think that DRM would encourage artists to create their own works, leading to a more diverse and vibrant metaverse, or would the world be better off without it?
Free Pizza? (Score:3, Interesting)
And a follow-up, what do you take on it?
Education (Score:5, Interesting)
And i've recently finished Highschool.
I was wondering what you think are the major flaws in the current western educational system.
And in what ways do you think it could be improved?
journalism (Score:5, Interesting)
Snow Crash - Past and Present (Score:5, Interesting)
What was on the gold foil? (Score:3, Interesting)
Electric Till Corporation vs. Microsoft (Score:5, Interesting)
Debt to Pynchon? (Score:5, Interesting)
research, and your interest in phosphorus (Score:3, Interesting)
I noticed in the first two Baroque cycle books that you're enchanted by the distillation of phosphorus from urine.
As a matter of fact, it is described in both books with a level of detail that suggests, shall we say, first hand knowlege of the process.
How much alchemical (and mathematical) tinkering do you do when researching your books? How do you go about researching such things...
solo binges of ravenously devouring of source materials, or do you seek out experts early on the process to point you in the right direction?
-Sgt.P.
Correlation between length and value (Score:3, Interesting)
Worldview? (Score:3, Interesting)
In your books (Snow Crash and Diamond Age particularly, because they deal with the future) you discuss moral and physical systems of the world - how people organize themselves to optimize their well-being or achievement or how groups work to do so. How do you think the world will organize itself in the future?
Non-Science Prediction Question (Score:5, Interesting)
May we hear what your opinion is over "intellectual property" -- copyright, patents, and so forth?
Metaphor Shear (Score:5, Interesting)
The question: Children today interface more directly with technology by bypassing some of the metaphor elements of a GUI (i.e. kids learn how to use a computer without ever touching a typewriter and know that the "desktop" is really just a folder in a file directory). Where do you see this phenomenon leading, as younger generations learn to work with technology and associated concepts with less "intermediation"? Is this something "new", or is this the classic "older people are less willing to adopt innovative technologies"?
Future: Information Security in Disinformation Age (Score:4, Interesting)
gravity's rainbow (Score:3, Interesting)
Cryptonomicon Question (Score:4, Interesting)
The conspiracy in the World War II period of Cryptonomicon travels halfway around the world with a large amount of solid gold punch cards. While the cards are being transfered, Rudy notes that the information on the gold is quite valuable; this makes sense as one wouldn't use gold to make punch cards unless the information you wanted to put on them was more valuable than the gold. These punch cards go down with their submarine, but are then later brought up by the Saftoes. Randy notices that the gold has been punched, but no mention is made of the cards after that point.
What's on those cards?
Your role in the hacker community (Score:3, Interesting)
Apart from the sacred text, your novels also serve as a shared hacker mythology, honestly capturing the experience of being a geek in the midst of stories that are just really really good.
Contrasted with the works of more consciously self-important hackers (eg. esr), your writings seem even more important because you don't seem to intend them to be. If hacking is a meritocracy, then so is writing about hacking, and your place in the pantheon has undoubtedly been earned.
My question, then, is how you view your own relationship to the "hacker community", especially vis-a-vis esr and others who explicitly position themselves as "hacker anthropologists", and whether you consciously conceive of your role as storyteller and mythmaker... or whether you're just an geek who writes geeky things and happily discovered that other people wanted to read them.
Theories developed from your own work? (Score:3, Insightful)
Have you developed any theories or ethical guidelines that you believe make power effective or not effective; and has your perspective on real life has been influenced by your own research/work in this area?
Non-SF influences (Score:3)
What is your favorite novel, album, and movie in the 21st century?
Nipponese (Score:5, Interesting)
However, in Cryptonomicon you keep up the pattern despite the novel being set in the past and present. Even if soldiers in the Pacific theater of WWII preferred the slang "nips" to "japs," I find it difficult to accept that Randy Waterhouse and his techie friends not only say "Nippon" and "Nipponese", but that Randy even thinks in those terms.
Do you know something that I don't about how people think and talk about Japan/Nippon, or are you trying to bring your readers around to your own preferred terminology through good, old-fashioned immersion?
Is this the best use of your communication time? (Score:3, Interesting)
That being said, is this the best way to intelligently interact with your fans? In other words, do you believe that the slashdot moderation system, with which I'll assume you are familiar, truly pushes up the most interesting questions to the fore? Can you imagine an alternative way for a celebrity to engage in profound discourse with his fans in this many-to-one relationship?
Neal: is there a conspiracy against strong crypto? (Score:3, Interesting)
The question is, how far will the US Gov't go to cripple crypto, and what are they doing now?
Item: we know Microsoft got off way light at the hands of the US-DOJ. Is that because the gov't wants to encourage and popularize the sort of pathetic security Windows is famous for? Was there a quid pro quo between M$ and the NSA involving Windows backdoors?
Item: voting machines. The top four vendors of electronic voting systems (ES&S, Diebold, Sequoia, Hart Intercivic) all run Windows as components and they all...well, suck. We know more about Diebold because we actually have the code available for download and test (google my name "Jim March" and "Diebold") due to an idiotic open FTP site on their part. The point here is that even in this app that screams "security!", piss-poor or completely missing crypto was tolerated and even promoted.
We could go on for days.
Thoughts?
(And a followup: given that Cryptonomicon brought this issue to public view more than any other document in history in my opinion, have you been pressured officially as a result? I consider it one of the two most "wonderfully subversive" novels written lately; the author of the other (John Ross of "Unintended Consequences") has indeed been harassed (by the BATF).)
Do new publishing models make sense? (Score:5, Interesting)
In the Beginning...then there was Be, now what? (Score:3, Interesting)
When Be gave up the ghost, one of the fre innovators left in the OS market died, but at the same time Apple moved to its BSD-based OS X.
Do you think that OS X, with Aqua and apple's many consumer-friendly apps, in combination with the BSD-based Darwin is the present-day successful analoge to Be?
And just out of curiousity, since you had a BeBox at the time, what do you use now?
Re:Enoch Root (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you ever going to clear up this mystery in another book or are you going to let us twist in the wind forever?
And just thanks for all the great writing over the years. Your books are what I pack on long trips and have kept me company in Poland, Russia, California, and an excruciating mid-December move from Chicago to Dubuque, Iowa. I'd like to make a special plug aimed at oter Slashdotters for the Wired article Hacker Tourist: Mother Earth Motherboard [wired.com] which kept me fascinated during a long trip up the Pacific Coast Highway in 1996. I'd buy your grocery list, man.
Re:Enoch Root and Finux... (Score:3, Insightful)