The development of spoken language was humankind’s first great networking technology.* Speech allows us to communicate thought and to think far better than we could… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (5): Literacy as Infrastructure for Thought
I recommend Tyler Cowen’s recent interview with Katherine Rundell. Here’s a highlight: It would be really important to me [when identifying a writing talent] that… Read More »Katherine Rundell on the aesthetics of language: form and substance
Two kinds of reading Niall Ferguson: I think there are two kinds of reading. When one’s reading for work, when one has to grapple with… Read More »Niall Ferguson on reading, remembering and shared culture
You too can experiment with ChatGPT at https://chat.openai.com This is post is pretty long, so I’m putting the “See Also” links here: DriverlessCroc AI fun:The… Read More »Eye on AI: ChatGPT and Me
Recommended by OpenCulture.org, via HN. See also: Writing and Reading as Technology (1): Transforming Fire; Slow BurnWriting and Reading as Technology (2): Half-baked BeginningsWriting and… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (15): videos on the evolution of the alphabet and the spread of writing
Hat tip: HNWith apologies to subscribers who received post 14 of this series out of order due to my enthusiasm for the subject matter… …… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (13): Erik Engheim on Gutenberg vs earlier Asian printing technologies
We often have convenience now because someone did the maths before. Ben Sparks With apologies to subscribers who received this out of order due to… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (14): Magical Paper Sizes; or, The Golden Non-Ratio
The technology of writing isn’t simply the infrastructure of thought: it’s the enabling infrastructure of most of the complex activities we think of as government.… Read More »Writing and Reading as Technology (11): Writing Rules
Chasing is the idea that the more resources we have, the better results we can achieve. Chasing is detrimental because… it takes us off our… Read More »Scott Sonenshein on Chasing and Functional Fixedness
Given that you already have far more than most people in history, and are as-good-as-certain to have more stuff than you’ll ever need even if… Read More »Guidelines 2022