Ninety-nine percent of everything that goes on in most Christian churches has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual religion. Intelligent people all notice this sooner or later, and they conclude that the entire one hundred percent is bullshit, which is why atheism is connected with being intelligent in people's minds.
Neal StephensonCrappy old OSes have value in the basically negative sense that changing to new ones makes us wish we'd never been born.
Neal StephensonThe story is everything, so it always begins with a story.And research is a kind of scaffolding built underneath the story as I go along. My enjoyment level varies, but in general, I'm writing about topics I find interesting, so I can't gripe too much.
Neal StephensonIf the Coastal Republic had believed in the existence of virtue, it could at least have aspired to hypocrisy.
Neal StephensonI don't even want you to nod, that's how much you annoy me. Just freeze and shut up.
Neal StephensonWe are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. Marxism. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information.
Neal Stephenson