Orolo interviews a man from the outside world using a question list five centuries old. "Do your neighbors burn one another alive?" He isn't being quaint. Old questions cut past the novelty of the moment straight to the permanent things: fear, ritual, power, belief. Fresh takes go stale in a day. The old question is still sharp because it has survived every previous novelty. Ripped from the novel: "Do your neighbors burn one another alive?" was how Fraa Orolo began his conversation with Artisan Flec.

— In our words · Source: Anathem (Neal Stephenson)