@corbin Isn’t this also the idea behind the Mathroska Brain gigastructure?

@sailor_sega_saturn @hrrrngh A few of these have sprung up after Five Star Movement got popular in Italy. These political descendants have been real quiet after the drama flared up. Our local instance (Movement Now) has one MP.

@gerikson I second Use of Weapons, but I also like Excession and the Hydrogen Sonata, where the Culture has to do some self-reflection.

@mountainriver @froztbyte Yes, and if confronted the memelord can retreat into the more palatable-in-polite-company form of “they just repeat what they’re told _as if_ they were reprogrammable and without any individual thought”. And _clearly_ the confronter is one of them, because they didn’t recognize this important nuance, thus proving the point.

@cstross @mountainriver @froztbyte What's old is new again. I hear even phrenology is making a comeback.

@mountainriver @froztbyte The NPC meme says hi.

@BlueMonday1984 The machines are finally starting to understand art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K7aY-_b9sk

@smiletolerantly @gerikson AFAIR there was a short story where the Culture takes a look at Earth around the 70ies and decides to leave it alone for now.