On How Technology Made Us What We Are
This chat between Tom Chatfield and and Tom Hodgkinson was interesting, I thought. I’d no idea that when the Incans – and, from some quick browsing, other Mesomerican peoples – invented the wheel, they saw it as something for children. It stayed a plaything because their lives were dominated by mountainous slopes.
On Gerolamo Cardano
He was certainly an extraordinary man. There’s something, I think, to telling students stories about the people who have helped invent today’s: mathematics. It may be the most abstract of subjects. But the range of characters involved in it are far from dull. This wrestling with the abstract, perhaps, might provide an In for those...
Dulwich Street Art
I love the idea of the Dulwich Outdoor Gallery. In 2011, Ingrid Beazley who was working at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, met Stik, the street artist, and showed him round the permanent collection. From there, the project was born and fairly soon walls across Dulwich and Peckham were given modern interpretations of old masters. Today,...
Putting my money where someone’s voice isn’t
Here’s a short story.I had a paid subscription to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.I had it because I liked the technology and wanted to support it.I’ve read recently about ethics concerns that have caused employees and film stars to complain.So I’ve cancelled my subscription and have signed up to Claude instead. It’s...
We design AI as the sea designs a boat
Tom Chatfield ‘s Wise Animals is a fabulous book. (A big thank you to Simon Roberts for the recommendation) This, from Daniel Dennett via Emile-Auguste Chartier, made me think. “One could then say, with complete rigour, that it is the sea herself who fashions the boats choosing those which function and destroying others.” It made...
Not really very Phoenix-like
It’s a pain when the people you’ve registered your domain name with stop trading. I’ve lost access to the name monkeymagic.net and so am having to port things across. WordPress has changed a little since the registrars went down so the back-ups half work but not completely. Tags and categories still need some playing...
Snippets from The Old Boys
Really enjoyed William Trevor’s The Old Boys. “As the future narrows one turns too much towards the past. One sees it out of proportion, as though it matters.” “Mr Nox was not lonely … but he had faced loneliness as a boy and come to terms with it. It was like getting over measles, knowing […]
Mohini The White Tiger and Learned Helplessness
I’ve been watching a lot of TED talks recently (part of a NY’s resolution), and have been struck by the number that say something along the lines of “school is broken” and “how do we make children like school?”. There’s a sad story about a tiger called Mohini that Tara Brach tells as follows....
Gentling
Bonnie explains that there are two basic ways of taming a wild horse. One is to tie it up and freak it out. Shake paper bags, rattle cans, drive it crazy until it submits to any noise. Make it endure the humiliation of being controlled by a rope and pole. Once it is partially submissive, […]
Gramsci’s “Optimism of the Will”
Isn’t it pointless to fight back? Antonio Gramsci, the Italian political writer jailed by Mussolini’s Fascist regime, believed in “pessimism of the intellect and optimism of the will.” In other words, you can know your clapboard house is on fire, and you’re a long way from civilization. But you have to call 911, get out […]