"We should delicately and subtly undermine the idea that truth and facts are possible in the first place. Once people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things are open to us."
I am so impressed with how Pullman has, with the 20 year gap since the Golden Compass / #HisDarkMaterials, seamlessly updated the themes of his work to deal with today's pressing issues in The Secret Commonwealth.
@books
@datatitian
When The Golden Compass came out on film, I watched it and it's a story which stuck with me. For a young adult fantasy story it seemed to draw on deep cultural mythology, far more than - say - Harry Potter.
Seeing this kind of wisdom come from the author I will definitely have to investigate his work more closely.
@cjd oh there is so much in store for you if you've only seen the film! That covers the first book of the original trilogy, but the scope of the story expands so much further in the next two. Despite its YA categorization, the series deals with difficult metaphysical questions, challenges notions of black & white good v. evil, and is so brutally tragic at times it makes George RR Martin seem weak
@datatitian
I've read Taleb, Popper and James C. Scott so I'm not new to the idea of reasoning under the condition of uncertainty. But being able to enjoy such concepts in fictional form sounds really exciting.
@cjd I didn't recognize any of those names, but I see anarchism come up with James C. Scott, so I can go into the real reason why I love these books. The reason I think they've held up so well to time and to my own evolving view of the world is that the overt criticism of religion in the books is rooted fundamentally in a skepticism of power. While I doubt Pullman would use the label, for me it's an anarchist allegory in the same vein as Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven
@datatitian
Yes, his characterization of a church which governs what types of scientific exploration are acceptable also hits close to home.
If you are in to non-fiction, I recommend Taleb's Antifragile because it provides a solid mathmatical basis for a lot of what is otherwise common sense and common wisdom.