YMMV / The Mote in God's Eye

• Accidental Aesop: Some critics interpreted the book as supporting monarchism. Pournelle and Niven wrote an essay, "Building the Mote in God's Eye", that said they weren't trying to argue that an empire was the best option for future humanity.
• Memetic Mutation: The phrase "on the gripping hand" became very popular among hackers.
• Yellow Peril: This book was wtitten at the height of US paranoia about China, which seemed to have an inexhaustible population, the apparent ability to steal and replicate any Western technology, and a society that appeared to assign people to fixed roles (farmer, miner, engineer, diplomat etc.) for life.