Neal Stephenson Quote
So the Sumerians worshipped Enki, and the Babylonians, who came after theSumerians, worshipped Marduk, his son.Yes, sir. And whenever Marduk got stuck, he would ask his father Enki forhelp. There is a representation of Marduk here on this stele -- the Code ofHammurabi. According to Hammurabi, the Code was given to him personally byMarduk.Hiro wanders over to the Code of Hammurabi and has a gander. The cuneiformmeans nothing to him, but the illustration on top is easy enough to understand.Especially the part in the middle:Why, exactly, is Marduk handing Hammurabi a one and a zero in this picture?Hiro asks.They were emblems of royal power, the Librarian says. Their origin isobscure.
So the Sumerians worshipped Enki, and the Babylonians, who came after theSumerians, worshipped Marduk, his son.Yes, sir. And whenever Marduk got stuck, he would ask his father Enki forhelp. There is a representation of Marduk here on this stele -- the Code ofHammurabi. According to Hammurabi, the Code was given to him personally byMarduk.Hiro wanders over to the Code of Hammurabi and has a gander. The cuneiformmeans nothing to him, but the illustration on top is easy enough to understand.Especially the part in the middle:Why, exactly, is Marduk handing Hammurabi a one and a zero in this picture?Hiro asks.They were emblems of royal power, the Librarian says. Their origin isobscure.
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About Neal Stephenson
Stephenson's work explores mathematics, cryptography, linguistics, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes nonfiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired. He has written novels with his uncle, George Jewsbury ("J. Frederick George"), under the collective pseudonym Stephen Bury.
Stephenson has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (founded by Jeff Bezos) developing a spacecraft and a space launch system, and also co-founded the Subutai Corporation, whose first offering is the interactive fiction project The Mongoliad. He was Magic Leap's Chief Futurist from 2014 to 2020.