Learning to Be Me (1990) [pdf]

Commenters focused on whether the PDF of Greg Egan’s “Learning to Be Me” was being distributed with his permission. mjd reported that Egan had confirmed the story was posted without authorization, and argued that the person hosting it should have sought permission before making it available. In mjd’s view, the author should not have to track down each online distributor and request removal; prior consent is both a legal and ethical obligation. The host, gwern, said they were willing to take the PDF down if Egan objected, but noted that Egan could contact them by email or comment. Gwern also disputed the concern about attribution, saying the PDF metadata and URL credit Egan, even if the formatting itself does not.

Other commenters praised Egan’s work and pointed readers toward related writing. Marha01 mentioned another story set in the same universe, while ImaCake recommended Egan’s website and singled out “Oceanic,” adding that the author’s books can make for demanding bedtime reading. The disagreement is less about Egan’s literary reputation than about responsibility: gwern emphasized readiness to remove the file and the credit already provided, while mjd maintained that those points do not replace getting permission before publishing someone else’s work.