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Ventral EggSac
Dec 3, 2019



I can't really find anything saying that he did, but it's definitely his idea. That said I kind of hope he didn't though:

"National Defense Magazine reports that Niven offered his advice while in a public discussion with his longtime collaborator Jerry Pournelle:
Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants.
"The problem [of hospitals going broke] is hugely exaggerated by illegal aliens who aren't going to pay for anything anyway," Niven said.
"Do you know how politically incorrect you are?" Pournelle asked.
"I know it may not be possible to use this solution, but it does work," Niven replied."

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Deptfordx
Dec 23, 2013

There's a famous Niven story he used to tell.

On his 21st (might have been 18th can't remember) Birthday he was given a Million dollars (About 8 Million inflation adjusted for 60 years of inflation) by his father with the injunction "Son. don't lose it"

So I'm not massively suprised he turns out to be an over-privileged idiot with a stunted sense of empathy.

Feldegast42
Oct 29, 2011

COMMENCE THE RITE OF SHITPOSTING

Niven fucks outside his own species

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl
pournelle would have liked to have hosed, but sadly even the Reagan military buildup was insufficient to give him an erection

mind the walrus
Sep 22, 2006

Ventral EggSac posted:

"National Defense Magazine reports that Niven offered his advice while in a public discussion with his longtime collaborator Jerry Pournelle:
Niven said a good way to help hospitals stem financial losses is to spread rumors in Spanish within the Latino community that emergency rooms are killing patients in order to harvest their organs for transplants.
"The problem [of hospitals going broke] is hugely exaggerated by illegal aliens who aren't going to pay for anything anyway," Niven said.
"Do you know how politically incorrect you are?" Pournelle asked.
"I know it may not be possible to use this solution, but it does work," Niven replied."
Well that dude can get hosed. Hey Niven-- your alien concepts eat poo poo and your cat-people were always lame.

Ventral EggSac
Dec 3, 2019

Yeah I mean I guess really I created this thread to call attention to this new fact I learned about Larry, which is very disappointing to me. Larry I have some worlds you can shove up your ring, you gently caress.

Lawman 0
Aug 17, 2010

Nationalize the concept of ring worlds imo

frogge
Apr 7, 2006


I hope not. I checked out his ringworld series through the library and read them all because I can't help myself once I start something. The weird :biotruths: stuff and sex was a tad much even being forgiving about the different cultural mores in his heyday.

Unkempt
May 24, 2003

...perfect spiral, scientists are still figuring it out...
I once told him I hated his t-shirt.

That's my celebrity anecdote. Thank you.

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl
looked him up on wikipedia and was surprised to find out he was still alive, for some reason i thought he was dead

MadDogMike
Apr 9, 2008

Cute but fanged
Stupid question, how the hell is his last name pronounced? Keep hearing NIGH-ven or NIV-en, not sure which is right really, I'm just used to reading it not hearing it.

Midjack
Dec 24, 2007



MadDogMike posted:

Stupid question, how the hell is his last name pronounced? Keep hearing NIGH-ven or NIV-en, not sure which is right really, I'm just used to reading it not hearing it.

Short i like hit.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer
Oh poo poo and here I was thinking that Pournelle was the rear end in a top hat of the duo

StashAugustine
Mar 24, 2013

Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

Tighclops posted:

Oh poo poo and here I was thinking that Pournelle was the rear end in a top hat of the duo

same

Farmer Crack-Ass
Jan 2, 2001

this is me posting irl
if i remember right pournelle got himself banned from ARPAnet so perhaps they are both the assholes of the duo

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer
Footfall would make an incredibly epic mini series event if adapted well but I always figured they would have to edit out all the Jerry Pournelle parts about conservative salt of the earth 'muricans fighting the atomic space elephants in post-asteroid attack idaho or whatever.

A scientifically "accurate" Cold War-era alien invasion culminating in humanity's counter attack using an Orion pulse rocket armed with battleship cannons and the Shuttle fleet attached as detachable bomb-pumped x-ray laser gunships would be fuckin' sweet

Sarcastro
Dec 28, 2000
Elite member of the Grammar Nazi Squad that

Tighclops posted:

Footfall would make an incredibly epic mini series event if adapted well but I always figured they would have to edit out all the Jerry Pournelle parts about conservative salt of the earth 'muricans fighting the atomic space elephants in post-asteroid attack idaho or whatever.

A scientifically "accurate" Cold War-era alien invasion culminating in humanity's counter attack using an Orion pulse rocket armed with battleship cannons and the Shuttle fleet attached as detachable bomb-pumped x-ray laser gunships would be fuckin' sweet

Agreed, and Lucifer's Hammer would also be a great miniseries.

I think the thing that have to get tweaked a bit in a Footfall instead would be the group of sci-fi writers called in to be the official government think tank on how to respond to the aliens because only they, who are totally not self-superior author inserts no sir, have the imagination and mental capacity to do so. (that aside, an epic HBO-tier tight six episodes about the invasion of the evil space elephants would indeed be awesome)

Trying
Sep 26, 2019

Larry Niven never scored

Dr. Jerrold Coe
Feb 6, 2021

Is it me?
My favorite of his is the one where the guy gets cryogenically frozen and ends up in 1 million AD on a dying earth being chased by an evil cat lady who wants to gently caress him.

indigi
Jul 20, 2004

how can we not talk about family
when family's all that we got?

Jetto Jagga posted:

My favorite of his is the one where the guy gets cryogenically frozen and ends up in 1 million AD on a dying earth being chased by an evil cat lady who wants to gently caress him.

https://twitter.com/alterego/status/1352421384979238913?lang=en

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Jetto Jagga posted:

My favorite of his is the one where the guy gets cryogenically frozen and ends up in 1 million AD on a dying earth being chased by an evil cat lady who wants to gently caress him.

That was Philip Jose Farmer

Lemniscate Blue
Apr 21, 2006

Here we go again.
However, Niven's A World Out of Time has a similar enough premise that the error is understandable.

Okkult
Oct 10, 2012



I read a lot of Larry Niven as a teenager. I can't say I'm 100% shocked that Captain Biotruths turned out to be a racist.

Jazerus
May 24, 2011


there were just a few too many semi-rehabilitated nazis and such in ringworld for me to not find it a little sus, but i was a teenager when i read them so i didn't give it as much thought as i would now

fortunately asimov still mostly holds up

Chemtrailologist
Jul 8, 2007
In The Mote in God's Eye, the part where the ship is taken over by the gremlin creatures is one of the best parts of any scifi novel.

Tighclops
Jan 23, 2008

Unable to deal with it


Grimey Drawer

Jazerus posted:

there were just a few too many semi-rehabilitated nazis and such in ringworld for me to not find it a little sus, but i was a teenager when i read them so i didn't give it as much thought as i would now

fortunately asimov still mostly holds up

Asimov was such a poo poo to women in his personal life that I was once summarily rejected by a potential date for mentioning I read his stories as a child, I am afraid to revisit his work

Jazerus
May 24, 2011


Tighclops posted:

Asimov was such a poo poo to women in his personal life that I was once summarily rejected by a potential date for mentioning I read his stories as a child, I am afraid to revisit his work

i think you dodged a bullet if they judged you on childhood reading habits

and yeah a lot of his stuff has the '50s style sexism in spades, but mostly women are just like, not present. except for the greatest roboticist who ever lived, who was a woman.

Zesty
Jan 17, 2012

The Great Twist
Which I’m sure was presented as miraculous.

I recently listened to an interview with him and he seemed fine. Just an old. Don’t think I’ll check out his stuff afterall.

https://youtu.be/acDpO7Ya00I

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ikanreed
Sep 25, 2009

I honestly I have no idea who cannibal[SIC] is and I do not know why I should know.

syq dude, just syq!

Jazerus posted:

fortunately asimov still mostly holds up

Holds up as all dialogue being 3 copies of asimov chatting with himself

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