Charlie Stross

@fullsquare

How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

I dunno, but AI machine god will figure it out from first principles in a nanosecond once we turn it on!

@nfultz @techtakes Neal is a great big history nerd. I do not take him for a big-time business brain.

@picklefactory The point of the “interesting billionaire to move the plot forward” is that for science fiction to engage the reader it plausibly needs a character with *agency*, i.e. the ability to drive a change in the status quo.

Having a Magic Billionaire on call allows the author to neatly sidestep the humongous amount of maneuvering it takes to put an Ordinary Joe in a position to start the plot moving. (Neal did it in Cryptonomicon and it was painful to behold: ate a third of the book.)

@gerikson I know Neal (we’ve gone drinking together) and I think he *is* right wing/conservative by disposition, but also thoughtful enough to understand nuance and shades of grey: he’s not a reflexive knee-jerk type, or willing to follow someone else’s flag.