3 Matching Annotations
  1. Apr 2023
    1. 13:14 - [Aby] Telegram and telephone destroy the cosmos.13:18 Mythical and symbolic thinking13:20 strives to form spiritual bonds13:22 between humanity and the surrounding world,13:25 shaping distance into the space13:27 required for devotion and reflection,13:31 the distance undone13:32 by the instantaneous electrical connection.

      Telegram and telephone destroy the cosmos. Mythical and symbolic thinking strives to form spiritual bonds between humanity and the surrounding world, shaping distance into the space required for devotion and reflection, the distance undone by the instantaneous electrical connection. —Aby Warburg, [00:13:14] quoted in Aby Warburg: Metamorphosis and Memory (Original quote??)

  2. Feb 2023
    1. “...it can be very useful for coming up with ideas out of thin air, essentially. All you need is a little bit of seed text, maybe some notes on a story you've been thinking about or random bits of inspiration and you can hit a button that gives you nearly infinite story ideas.”- Eugenia Triantafyllou

      Eugenia Triantafyllou is talking about crutches for creativity and inspiration, but seems to miss the value of collecting interesting tidbits along the road of life that one can use later. Instead, the emphasis here becomes one of relying on an artificial intelligence doing it for you at the "hit of a button". If this is the case, then why not just let the artificial intelligence do all the work for you?

      This is the area where the cultural loss of mnemonics used in orality or even the simple commonplace book will make us easier prey for (over-)reliance on technology.


      Is serendipity really serendipity if it's programmed for you?

  3. Dec 2022
    1. But Thamus replied, " Most ingenious Theuth, oneman has the ability to beget arts, but the ability tojudge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their usersbelongs to another ; and now you, who are the fatherof letters, have been led by your affection to ascribeto them a power the opposite of that which theyreally possess. For this invention will produce for-getfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it,because they will not practise their memory. Theirtrust in writing, produced by external characterswhich are no part of themselves, will discourage theuse of their own memory within them. You haveinvented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding ;and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom,not true wisdom, for they will read many thingswithout instruction and will therefore seem to knowmany things, when they are for the most part ignorant

      and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise." pp 563-564