Justin PotNov 6, 2023

"Grok" being the name for an AI chatbot is just the latest example of tech bros not understanding science fiction. In "Strangers In a Strange Land", the famous 1950's novel the term comes from, to "grok" something is to understand it on a deep level. AI chatbots, as we all know by now, do not grok—they bullshit.

I'm really tired of sci-fi terms being used by people who read the books and got nothing from them beyond “lol this word sounds cool”. (See also: “metaverse”.)

Show threadBen RamseyNov 6, 2023
@jhpot @mamund It’s somewhat fitting, though, that Musk would latch on to terms created by authors who libertarians claim as one of their own, even if Heinlein himself might not recognize today’s libertarians.
Show threadDamien (TIG BUSINESS)
@ramsey @jhpot @mamund I was thinking about that the other day. Would he approve of the lolbiterian nature of Musk, or punch him in the face because he's a fascist?
Nov 6, 2023 at 8:17pmWeb
Show threadFeralRobotsNov 6, 2023
@aeduna @ramsey @jhpot @mamund
Depends - are we talking 'Heinlein 1958', or 'Heinlein 1988'?
Show threadDamien (TIG BUSINESS)Nov 6, 2023

@FeralRobots @ramsey @jhpot @mamund Yes, there's that too - like a lot of people he changed over time. And if you're reading just the books then you're inferring the author's state of mind, and I certainly didn't read them in order...

so i don't have an answer :) I just had the question pop into my head.