Scaramanga
New member
Just got the November issue of Analog and found a nice article from one of my favorite science fiction authors, Larry Niven. It helps to read it while I'm watching the .50 caliber crap on MSNBC. :barf:
Niven's Laws, 2002 (There are 26, but I'm just posting the high points)
1a) Never throw **** at an armed man.
1b) Never stand next to someone who is throwing **** at an armed man.
You wouldn't think anyone would need to be told this. It dates from the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
2) Never fire a laser at a mirror.
4) Giving up freedom for security has begun to look naive.
Even to me. Many of you were ahead of me on this - Three out of four hijacked airplanes destroyed the WTC and a piece of the Pentagon in 2001. How is it possible that these planes were taken using only five perps armed with knives? It was possible because all those hundreds of passengers had been carefully stripped of every possible weapon. We may want to reconsider this approach. It doesn't work in high schools either.
7) Any damn fool can predict the past.
Military men are notorious for this, and certain writers too.
14) The only universal message in science fiction: There exists minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them.
16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy.
19) Think before you make the cowards choice. Old age is not for sissies.
Niven's Laws, 2002 (There are 26, but I'm just posting the high points)
1a) Never throw **** at an armed man.
1b) Never stand next to someone who is throwing **** at an armed man.
You wouldn't think anyone would need to be told this. It dates from the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
2) Never fire a laser at a mirror.
4) Giving up freedom for security has begun to look naive.
Even to me. Many of you were ahead of me on this - Three out of four hijacked airplanes destroyed the WTC and a piece of the Pentagon in 2001. How is it possible that these planes were taken using only five perps armed with knives? It was possible because all those hundreds of passengers had been carefully stripped of every possible weapon. We may want to reconsider this approach. It doesn't work in high schools either.
7) Any damn fool can predict the past.
Military men are notorious for this, and certain writers too.
14) The only universal message in science fiction: There exists minds that think as well as you do, but differently.
Niven's corollary: The gene-tampered turkey you're talking to isn't necessarily one of them.
16) There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.
It doesn't really reflect on the cause itself. Ad hominem argument saves time, but it's still a fallacy.
19) Think before you make the cowards choice. Old age is not for sissies.