Scientists have used metaphors to conceptualize and understand phenomena since early Greek philosophy. Aristotle used many anthropomorphic ideas to describe natural occurrences, but the technology of the time, needing constant human intervention, offered little in the way of metaphors for the mind. Since then, theorists have compared the human mind to the clock, the steam… Continue reading Mind Wide Shut: Recent Books on Mind and Metaphor
Networks and network protocols are often seen as sites of control, but extreme connectivity eludes control. Diseases, worms, viruses, these all spread beyond our control because of connectivity — networks — that are beyond our control. When networks cause problems is it because they work too well, not because they are broken. Roy ChristopherI marshal… Continue reading Haxploitation: Three Recent Books
Just when I thought I’d missed it, The Laurelhurst Theater here in Portland brought Blade Runner: The Final Cut back around (I wasn’t here when it first played, and somehow, I missed the movie’s original release, though during that same time I managed to see all three original Star Wars movies as they came out).… Continue reading Blade Runner Redux
“Through fiction we saw the birth Of futures yet to come Yet in fiction lay the bones, ugly in their nakedness Yet under this mortal sun, we cannot hide ourselves” — Isis, “In Fiction” There’s an episode of The Twilight Zone I watched as a kid that stuck with me. I don’t remember all of… Continue reading Recurring Themes, Part Five: The End of Humanity
“…which may have also very well been the reason for Martin Heidegger’s mistake, now that one stops to think about it. Which is to say that very possibly Martin Heidegger was busily writing one of his books through all of that time. Very possibly the book he was so busily writing was one of the… Continue reading Headroom for Heidegger: Three New Books
