Brin is touchy about stars

~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

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Lizardywizard Avatar lizardywizard replied to your post: In hindsight, I probably should have known that an…

wait I’m confused, what is a star worshipper and why does this make you feel broken (don’t have to answer if you don’t wanna, just curious)

I was using “star-worshipper” to mean people for whom looking at the night sky inspires awe. They tend to go on about how light pollution is bad for the soul and I’m not complete as a person until I’ve seen the Milky Way with my own eyes. I’ve heard this sort of thing enough over the years that I’m now sensitised to it: even things that, taken on their own, are value-neutral or only mildly charged statements about stargazing and the absence thereof tend to make me bristle because they invoke all these other memories of proselytising star-worshippers. (There have also been at least one or two statements in the textbook that were more than mildly charged.)

Now that I think about it, making the entire link and only the link italicised might have obscured the fact that it was a link. The last couple paragraphs of the linked post explain why it makes me feel broken.

(Later reflection suggests that I can feel awe or something in that neighbourhood, but only about people, not things, and especially not things that have been hyped up as awe-inspiring.)

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#lizardywizard #no offence to your friend-shaped objects #being in awe of stars in their animistic capacity as people would be another thing altogether #replies #adventures in University Land #Brin is touchy about stars

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~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

In hindsight, I probably should have known that an astronomy textbook would be written by star-worshippers.

Dammit, I just want to learn some neat stuff about space and pick up some miscellaneous science credits and not be made to feel broken. Is that really so much to ask?

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#Brin is touchy about stars #was already a tag #adventures in University Land #oh look an original post

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~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

‘“You know,” Harry’s voice said quietly from beside him where his arms leaned on the railing next to Draco’s, “one of the things that Muggles get really wrong, is that they don’t turn all their lights out at night. Not even for one hour every month, not even for fifteen minutes once a year. The photons scatter in the atmosphere and wash out all but the brightest stars, and the night sky doesn’t look the same at all, not unless you go far away from any cities. Once you’ve looked up at the sky over Hogwarts, it’s hard to imagine living in a Muggle city, where you wouldn’t be able to see the stars. You certainly wouldn’t want to spend your whole life in Muggle cities, once you’d seen the night sky over Hogwarts.”‘

excuse me but fuck you

Tags:

#Brin reads HPMOR #Brin is touchy about stars #I think this is a stronger version of the reaction I had a couple dozen chapters ago #when he casually claimed that human emotions were universal among humans #I know *very* well that just because you’re running on human wetware *doesn’t* necessarily mean you’ve got the full suite of human emotions #very well indeed #oh look an original post #things that make me uncomfortably aware of my apparent inability to feel awe