Hi, Steve, Thanks for your observations concerning bad hand writing and early typing as shaping The Mind, for better or for worse. My handwriting is hopeless. I cannot even read my own notes. Not sure what it has done to my mind, but it is something else that we share.
I know I am bending the thread, here, but I think of Cormac MacCarthy's *Stella Maris* as a kind of science fiction ... historical science fiction, perhaps? I have read it twice this summer. A Romance, of sorts. Nick On Mon, Sep 4, 2023 at 1:31 PM Steve Smith <sasm...@swcp.com> wrote: > Great list Carl! And more interesting yet to me: > > *I would like to feed...* > *...into the AI and see what millennium long sci-fi it could turn out. * > > I'm definitely fascinated by the implied interpolation (and > extrapolation?) an LLM can do in what is by definition firstly *linguistic* > space and what that implies for it's ?dual? in conceptual space? > > and even more interesting: > > *How would what it writes be different if it could be taught to write > using a nib pen a la Stephenson or a brush on washi paper?* > > In my lifetime I have kept various chronicles and correspondence via > handwriting using (mostly) roller-ball ink pens but also for some periods > fountain pens. A great deal more of that type of > chronicle/correspondence was effected on a keyboard much like (or exactly) > the one I'm typing on now (circa 2011 13" Macbook Pro)... As you all > painfully know, I'm pretty prolific in e-mail/e-txt which reflects a few > things: > > - my handwriting is abysmal and can be physically/emotionally/mentally > excruciating to execute sometimes. > - I learned to type at a very young age to compensate for the above > and it really freed me. > - I sometimes feel that I am actually *thinking* differently whilst > using the von-Neuman-esque linear "tape" as extended memory/program-space. > - I have at times in my life had a similar experience when working > with mathematical notation and with geometric constructions. > - These experiences are significantly different qualitatively (when > done by hand vs keyboard/mouse/etc)... > - each mode is distinct with benefits/detractions > - I feel I *think* and *feel* differently when coupling my > cognitive self to my recorded/expressive self? > > I choose to use a fountain pen on well-toothed paper when I want to write > "meditatively"... the feel of the nib on the tooth and the flow of the ink > and the smell and the sounds all provide something similar to "breath work" > for me. > > I'm not sure my facility with the keyboard actually serves me. As many > of you may suspect, and I suspect so myself, it allows me to be much less > thoughtful and rigorous than I would be in handwriting or if I had some > other throttle or impedance elements between linguistic centers and "paper"? > On 9/3/23 10:44 PM, Carl Tollander wrote: > > Gregory Benford's "Galactic Center Saga". > Greg Bear's "Darwin's Radio" and "The Way" series. > Benford, Bear, and David Brin also extended Asimov's "Foundation" series - > more stuff actually happens > Larry Niven's "Ringworld" and all its spinoffs and prequels, anything with > the character Louis Wu in it. > Neal Stephenson's "The Diamond Age" > Bruce Sterling's "Distraction" > Anything by Terry Pratchett. > Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time" and sequels. > Lin Carter's short story "Masters of the Metropolis" > > That should keep you busy for a few days. I suspect not everyone would > think of these as optimistic. > > I would like to feed Timothy Snyder's Youtube lectures on Ukraine > and Neal Stephenson's "Quicksilver" > and Eiji Yoshikawa's "Taiko" > into the AI and see what millennium long sci-fi it could turn out. > How would what it writes be different if it could be taught to write using > a nib pen a la Stephenson or a brush on washi paper? > > R.A. Lafferty wrote sometime ago "Arrive at Easterwine" about a computer > writing a novel from a mashup perspective of its creators. > > Carl > > > On Sun, Sep 3, 2023 at 11:13 AM Jochen Fromm <j...@cas-group.net> wrote: > >> I have read "Highway of Eternity" from Clifford D. Simak this weekend, >> one of the books from the golden age of science fiction which is comparable >> to "The city and the Stars" from Arthur C. Clarke and "The end of eternity" >> from Isaac Asimov. Both belong to my favorite books. Modern authors don't >> write like this anymore. Their books are often gloomy and depressive, and >> do not span millions of years. What is your favorite science fiction book? >> Will the AI breakthrough in large language models lead to more optimistic >> science fiction books again? >> >> -J. >> >> -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . >> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv >> Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom >> https://bit.ly/virtualfriam >> to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com >> FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ >> archives: 5/2017 thru present >> https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ >> 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >> > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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