Ringworld Engineers

What Hacker News says

1. UI_at_80x24Jul 2020
   "The RingWorld is unstable!" I LOVE it when there are real-world engineers interjections on sci-fi at this level. Thank you so much for the insight and reference. Ringworld Engineers is a book I have fond associations with as it was written to directly answer/address these 'real complaints' about the engineering challenges in sci-fi. This to me is the heart and soul of sci-fi and I don't see it often enough in modern sci-fi. Thrust gravity in the Expanse is one example of real-life physics in more recent books.
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2. scotchbonnetSep 2019
   Larry Niven - Ringworld (+ Ringworld Engineers), The long Arm of Gil Hamilton, Oath of Fealty (Oh man! They had instant messaging wetware! ...And a diving board!).

   Robert Heinlein, Joe Haldeman, and Issac Asimov are some other heavy hitters in this space.

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3. photochemsynFeb 2023
   Using a timer to restrict online time is a possible approach.

   The science fiction novel "The Ringworld Engineers" by Larry Niven (1980) features one Louis Wu, who at the beginning of the story has become a 'wirehead' (wireheading being "the act of directly triggering the brain's reward center by electrical stimulation of an inserted wire, for the purpose of 'short-circuiting' the brain's normal reward process and artificially inducing pleasure.") He manages it by use of a specially designed timer which requires several hours of painstaking work to reset.

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4. boobsbrNov 2017
   Yup, Larry Niven's "The Ringworld Engineers". The main protagonist uses a "droud" (as the implant is called in the book) to directly stimulate the brain with electrical impulses.

   He only disconects the droud because he knows he will die from starvation, dehydration and atrophy if the doesn't go through the motions daily. But every moment without the droud is existential dread.

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5. camillerAug 2010
   Another theory:

   "How much intelligence does it take to sneak up on a leaf?" - Larry Niven (The Ringworld Engineers)

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