so i stumbled upon a thing on reddit
the thing is that there’s an obscure early scifi book by none other than wernher von braun, that is about mars colonization, where they find already existing civilization, leader of which is called elon. apparently this is why megaracist elon’s father named him that:
Interest in this novel increased in 2021 when people connected the Martian leader, called the Elon, to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, suggesting that von Braun may have somehow foreseen Musk’s space exploration ventures.[15] However, Errol Musk, Elon’s father, asserted in 2022 that he was fully aware of the von Braun connection in naming his son.[16]
also in that book: tunnels used for high-speed travel; nation-states became obsolete because of some magic tech; highly technocratic planetary government as a result. that stimulant habit seems historically accurate then, even if it’s cut with ketamine sometimes. some more red string on corkboard https://www.mind-war.com/p/the-elon-how-a-nazi-rocket-scientist this tracks as one of his grandparents moved from canada to south africa because canada in 40s wasn’t racist enough for them, and with all the technocracy inc things.
so yeah, motherfucker might be believing - or even groomed into - that he’s destined to be a planetary overlord, all based on nazi scifi, and he’s playing it out irl with all the fuck you money he has
Wait wait wait, so you are telling me, not even his bad ideas are his?
One thing you should realize about Musk is that he isnt that smart, and that he also doesnt have much ideas. i think the only real contributions he ever had were the retracting tesla handles that dont work when frozen and the shape of the cybertruck. Even his gamer handle is uninspired. cyb3rgam3r420. And stuff which gets attributed to him, like community notes on twitter, were actually created pre his takeover. The man is a puddle.
you can see this all the time in these circles. yudkovsky’s diamondoid bacteria are rehashed drexler’s nanomachines
The fact that Iain M. Banks is name-dropped in the poster in the article is a travesty… I have no doubt “the Elon” thinks himself some badass Special Circumstances operative, and OpenAI/Grok/… as laying the foundations for Culture Minds. It’s not. He’s not. Goddamnit I wish Banks was still alive.
@smiletolerantly Listen, I knew Iain—went drinking with him semi-regularly—and he despised Musk. One of his best villains, Joliet Veppers in “Surface Detail”, is based on Musk.
I am delighted to hear that Veppers was literally based on Musk
a) how do I keep discovering accounts of people I admire on this platform,
b) I fucking LOVE Accelerando and the Eschaton series,
c) that… really comforts me in a strange way. I always thought Veppers was supposed to be Bezos, but this is even better.
And lastly I am sorry for the loss of your friend.
@smiletolerantly Not to worry, working on a new space opera that hopefully scratches the Banksian itch *and* sticks the knife into the TESCREAL true believers …
fuck yes. I don’t think my brain knows what to do with the happy/excited neurotransmitters that news caused it to produce
Cannot wait for it!!
@smiletolerantly his favourite part of Excession was when Dave Excession shouted “Excession!” and jumped in his spaceship
Considering his reaction to being asked about evangelion (?? I know nothing about this series) was just to shout NERV (?? again I know nothing I dont know who Nerv is. But this is apparently not a normal fan reaction, like warhammer fans shouting waaarrgh) not far of the mark.
NERV is the organization that runs the eponymous mech suits. It’s a bit like if someone asked about the Simpsons and he just replied “Springfield!” like yea that’s a thing from the show, but couldn’t you think of a quote from a character or something?
Wait what. I always assumed it was some quirky side char.
Oh no, it’s a very serious (in context of a psychological tragedy sci-fi anime with bionic mecha fighting lovecraftian kaiju) paramilitary national (or maybe a supranational) goverment body affiliated with a shadowy cabal of conspirators.
Its logo is also quite heavily featured on the unscalable mountains of promotional merchandise for the franchise, so it’s an easy thing to name drop if you don’t know or remember much from the show but want to feel like you’re making a deep cut reference because you remember the name from a coffee mug you have or something.
They’re a supranational organization that nominally reports to the UN while actually being directed by an ancient conspiracy that is being subverted from within by a modern conspiracy. They build WMDs that are piloted by child soldiers. One of these child soldiers is the son of the commander. Another is a clone of the commander’s dead wife (maybe). NERV are the only ones who can stop the annihilation of all life on Earth by the lovecraftian kaiju, because they are the sole possessors of forcefields that run on loneliness.
… But there is a penguin!
Reading this post must be what having a stroke feels like. I would have trouble believing that if this wasn’t just how half these kinds of science fiction universes are.
LMAO
my god
Same :( Fuck cancer, that man deserved to live longer. I’d love to see Banks’ take on society as it is now. I feel like it’d end up being a mix between The Player of Games and Surface Detail.
A begruntled Culture citizen entasked with a seemingly straight-forward matter in a coincidentally-very-earth-like civ where capitalism reigns supreme in all the worst ways. A society on the brink of collapse due to leapfrogging technological advancements while ignoring, and possibly suppressing, the societal changes this necessitates, benefitting only those already in power. Not-entirely-clear motivations of unseen Culture Minds, presumably plotting beyond what is apparent to our protagonist. Getting to re-evaluate this strange society by experiencing first its thrills, then slowly but surely its horrors through the eyes of that protagonist, whose view of the world and themselves can never be the same afterwards.
All the while, a member of this fledgling society, finding themselves aboard the Culture vessel “I’m sorry, I thought there was still money on that card; here, try this one”, a state-of-the-art
warshipnope we don’t do those, a state-of-the-art Very Fast Picket, earth-bound with engines pushing their limits, is motivated by the fleeting hope of maybe, just maybe, getting there in time to share a crucial piece of information with the protagonist, but - oh, too late. This storyline lead nowhere, and you are still glad to have read it, for the possibly best parts of the book where the witty ship-banter that had you laughing with tears.Oh we also end the book with the cold-blooded murder of a
BezosMusk look-alike at the hands of SC, and thanks to the book you are left with the clear impression that in the grand schemes of things, this was not simply necessary, it was just.…something like that?
Perfection. In particular, “l’m sorry, I thought there was still money on that card; here, try this one” is the most perfect Culture ship name to have been written since Banks died imo, it’s spot fucking on.
💛