Read Blood Meridian, Nick. --- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505
505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Mon, Sep 4, 2023, 1:13 PM Nicholas Thompson <thompnicks...@gmail.com> wrote: > 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/ >> > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > 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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