zlacker

>>laurex+(OP)
> There was no standardization of parts in the probe. Two widgets intended to do almost the same job could be subtly different or wildly different. Braces and mountings seemed hand carved. The probe was as much a sculpture as a machine.

> Blaine read that, shook his head, and called Sally. Presently she joined him in his cabin.

> “Yes, I wrote that," she said. "It seems to be true. Every nut and bolt in that probe was designed separately. It's less surprising if you think of the probe as having a religious purpose. But that's not all. You know how redundancy works?"

> “In machines? Two gilkickies to do one job. In case one fails."

> “Well, it seems that the Moties work it both ways."

> “Moties?"

> She shrugged. "We had to call them something. The Mote engineers made two widgets do one job, all right, but the second widget does two other jobs, and some of the supports are also bimetallic thermostats and thermoelectric generators all in one. Rod, I barely understand the words. Modules: human engineers work in modules, don't they?"

> “For a complicated job, of course they do."

> “The Moties don't. It's all one piece, everything working on everything else. Rod, there's a fair chance the Moties are brighter than we are."

- The Mote in God's Eye, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (1974)

[…too bad that today's LLMs are not brighter than we are, at least when it comes to writing correct code…]

>>comex+y3
That book is very much fun and also I never understood why Larry Niven is so obsessed with techno feudalism and gender roles. I think this is my favourite book but I think his best book is maybe Ringworld.

>>mnky98+D5
Ringworld is a great book. The later books have great concepts, but could do without so much. . . rishing. Niven plainly inserted his furry porn fetish into those books, for reasons unclear to any human alive.

>>Loughl+rb
>for reasons unclear to any human alive

Given how prevalent furries seem to be, especially in nerd adjacent culture, I'd say he was ahead of his time.