Random Thread

[rotting bones]

I had a sudden realization that Nabokov's Ada is the best novel I've ever read. Kundera's Unbearable Lightness loses out only because it has no sunlit gardens. Casanova's Memoirs are of comparable quality, but the fact that they're self-reports of a real life rapist and murderer creeps me out.

[Moose-tache]

Ada is indeed wonderful. Some of the best world building I've ever read, combined with Nabokhov's amazing prose. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants to write a fantasy or alt-history novel, simply because you'll hate yourself and give up.

[rotting bones]

One Hundred Years of Solitude is another novel with amazing conworlding.

[Raphael]

What, Nabokov wrote an alternate history novel? Wow. I didn't see that coming.

[Raphael]

Unrelated: Any news about the situation in East Palestine? No, not the part of the Middle Eastern country. The town in the Midwestern/Northeastern USA. Apparently they had one of the worst chemical accidents in the history of their country a few days ago, but there seems to be relatively little reporting about it.

[Man in Space]

Unrelated: Any news about the situation in East Palestine? No, not the part of the Middle Eastern country. The town in the Midwestern/Northeastern USA. Apparently they had one of the worst chemical accidents in the history of their country a few days ago, but there seems to be relatively little reporting about it.

This is actually pretty close to me.

Train carrying 20 cars of vinyl chloride derailed and they had to evacuate half the town because it’s super combustible. Thankfully, instead of another Halifax incident, they were able to bleed the cars and then do a controlled burn.

[Raphael]

Good luck.

[Moose-tache]

The accident was less terrible than it could have been because the crew had two people in it, something the railroads have been trying to change for years.

[Raphael]

The accident was less terrible than it could have been because the crew had two people in it, something the railroads have been trying to change for years.

Very, very good point.

[Raphael]

OK, perhaps the author of this article simply misunderstood something, but if it's true, it's just priceless:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/13/2359 ... usk-tweets

(Warning: that website seems to have difficulties right now.)

[Glenn]

Unrelated: Any news about the situation in East Palestine? No, not the part of the Middle Eastern country. The town in the Midwestern/Northeastern USA. Apparently they had one of the worst chemical accidents in the history of their country a few days ago, but there seems to be relatively little reporting about it.

This is actually pretty close to me.

Train carrying 20 cars of vinyl chloride derailed and they had to evacuate half the town because it’s super combustible. Thankfully, instead of another Halifax incident, they were able to bleed the cars and then do a controlled burn.

A college friend of mine is the pastor of a church nearby; he and his congregation have been helping provide aid to the evacuees. I first heard about the train derailment indirectly from them through social media. I agree that there seemed to be little reporting about it when it first occurred, but that seems to have changed; at least, I have started seeing articles about it in the national media.

(On a different note, hello, everybody! I am a long-time member of the ZBB, but it has been a few years since I have posted anything. I hope to change that, at least for a while.)

[Raphael]

Welcome back, and thank you for the update!

[hwhatting]

Hi Glenn! Қош келдің! It's good to see you here again!

[Kuchigakatai]

How... long ago did you stop coming by? I've been around here since 2008 and I don't remember any Glenn!

[zompist]

How... long ago did you stop coming by? I've been around here since 2008 and I don't remember any Glenn!

I just checked incatena.org, and Glenn stopped by in 2014, at least. So you probably weren't paying attention.

[Ares Land]

Welcome back!

[Glenn]

Hi Glenn! Қош келдің! It's good to see you here again!

Рақмет! (I fear that I have lost most of what little Kazakh I had, although I retain a fair amount of Russian.)

Welcome back, and thank you for the update!

Welcome back!

Thank you!

How... long ago did you stop coming by? I've been around here since 2008 and I don't remember any Glenn!

I'm not surprised. I joined the board in in April 2002, when it was still the Virtual Verduria Message Board, and concerned almost entirely with Almea. I was a fairly active poster for the first few years, but then fell off, and largely stopped posting after I got married in 2007. These days, I am a regular lurker, but, as Mark noted, it's been several years since I posted anything. I hope to change that, at least temporarily. At any rate, greetings to all!

[WeepingElf]

So, welcome back, Glenn!

[Raphael]

Question: Does anyone know of a good book on the phenomenon known as "normalcy bias"? Preferably an affordable book, that is, a book sold at "academics writing for the general public" prices, not at "academics writing for other academics" prices.

Bump?

[keenir]

Question: Does anyone know of a good book on the phenomenon known as "normalcy bias"? Preferably an affordable book, that is, a book sold at "academics writing for the general public" prices, not at "academics writing for other academics" prices.

Bump?

A.J.Jacobs had at least one anthology covering different mindsets, experiments, and such...if anyone has handled normalcy bias, I'd bet its in there somewhere.