Pre-ordered! I can still remember how eye-opening (and frankly life-changing) The Shallows and The Glass Cage were when I first read them almost a decade ago. Happy to support your work and looking forward to reading the latest.
Congratulations! This will be the first book on my reading list for next year:) I read "The Shallows" over a decade ago and felt encouraged to find such incisive writing on the perils of technology. Looking forward to sharing this with my readers as well!
Very much looking forward to reading Superbloom and spreading the word. You sounded the alarm about tech and the incursion of the optimization mindset way ahead of the curve. Thank you for your work!
Also, I'm feeling happy and refreshed that you know it's a Joy Division reference and definitely not a New Order one. I could never stop myself from feeling offended that they existed...
Looking forward to reading this. I've written about precisely this 'connection' alienating us from ourselves, the world, and others. One element of this is indeed communication technology. But, there's an invisible monster that most people forget: the interface. The feed, timeline, the 2D 'page' as a replacement for reality, a simulacrum, isn't the sole cause; but, I think it's the invisible hand that led us astray into the woods.
Thanks. I agree. I spend a good deal of time in the book exploring the psychic and social consequences of the shift from the old point-and-click online interface to the touchscreen's swipe-and-scroll interface, as well as of social media's adoption of the automated feed algorithm for determining what people see. We adapted to those changes easily, even happily, without realizing how deeply they would alter how we see each other and the world.
Excellent. Eager to check that out. The position I try to defend imagines Maps as an interface to connect us to the world. Seeing ourselves in a context of meaning, in a context of history, in a context of culture. Perhaps you'd like to check it out. give the title of your Substack, it something you just might find compelling. :) Short read. https://ryandavidmullins.substack.com/p/world-models-bringing-focus-back
Your two previous works have had an enormous impact on virtually everything I do, especially when it comes to attention, curation, and knowledge management. One of my favourite insight from The Shallows:
"What we're experiencing is, in a metaphorical sense, a reversal of the early trajectory of civilization: we are evolving from being cultivators of personal knowledge to being hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest."
It's through your work that I learned of Vannevar Bush and his 'Memex'; reshaping how I thought about cognitive extension and knowledge integration/preservation, fundamentally transforming my relationship with information; building my own personal Memex and using devices for their utility rather than their narcosis.
If there is any way I could get a signed copy of Superbloom from you, I would jump at the chance.
ON my Christmas list. The convergence of the previous two books in Superbloom is, as you've observed, preordained when one follows the cluetrain. Perhaps it's the result of my profession, but all that you're describing has another cultural partner in crime. Modernism wished to appropriate the speed, wonder and drive to simplification characterized by technology. Interestingly, the early Modernists were for the most part, leftists, Marxists and certainly the proto-Progressives we now refer to today. Look closely at the barren, people-less, emotion free and austere handiwork of Modernist architects. The recent resurgence of "mid-Century Modern" in architecture in many ways corresponds/echoes the effects of tech-driven communication. Further, the recent rediscovery of Paul Rudolf, the most prolific exponent of what was, even then, referred to as "Brutalism". He created (and his clients realized) some of the most ghastly, uninhabitable buildings built in the 20th century. I may not have the details right, but I can't help thinking there's a connection between your observations and the built environment.
Interesting. There does seem to be a connection to architecture, though my ignorance on that subject probably precludes me from seeing it fully. (On the literature side, at least, a lot of the Modernists were anything but leftists and Marxists - Yeats, Eliot, Pound, Stevens, for instance.) Thanks, Henry
Pre-ordered! I can still remember how eye-opening (and frankly life-changing) The Shallows and The Glass Cage were when I first read them almost a decade ago. Happy to support your work and looking forward to reading the latest.
Thanks!
Congratulations! This will be the first book on my reading list for next year:) I read "The Shallows" over a decade ago and felt encouraged to find such incisive writing on the perils of technology. Looking forward to sharing this with my readers as well!
Many thanks, Ruth. I really appreciate it.
Very much looking forward to reading Superbloom and spreading the word. You sounded the alarm about tech and the incursion of the optimization mindset way ahead of the curve. Thank you for your work!
Also, I'm feeling happy and refreshed that you know it's a Joy Division reference and definitely not a New Order one. I could never stop myself from feeling offended that they existed...
Look forward to reading it. You can gladly take my money for even the most oblique Joy Division reference.
An aside, but germane to the topic: This is the only music-bio-pic that matters:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ani6MlnXj2g
Yes, good movie. "I'm Not There" was good, too, and "24-Hour Party People" (at least the Joy Division part).
Looking forward to reading this. I've written about precisely this 'connection' alienating us from ourselves, the world, and others. One element of this is indeed communication technology. But, there's an invisible monster that most people forget: the interface. The feed, timeline, the 2D 'page' as a replacement for reality, a simulacrum, isn't the sole cause; but, I think it's the invisible hand that led us astray into the woods.
Thanks. I agree. I spend a good deal of time in the book exploring the psychic and social consequences of the shift from the old point-and-click online interface to the touchscreen's swipe-and-scroll interface, as well as of social media's adoption of the automated feed algorithm for determining what people see. We adapted to those changes easily, even happily, without realizing how deeply they would alter how we see each other and the world.
Excellent. Eager to check that out. The position I try to defend imagines Maps as an interface to connect us to the world. Seeing ourselves in a context of meaning, in a context of history, in a context of culture. Perhaps you'd like to check it out. give the title of your Substack, it something you just might find compelling. :) Short read. https://ryandavidmullins.substack.com/p/world-models-bringing-focus-back
Your two previous works have had an enormous impact on virtually everything I do, especially when it comes to attention, curation, and knowledge management. One of my favourite insight from The Shallows:
"What we're experiencing is, in a metaphorical sense, a reversal of the early trajectory of civilization: we are evolving from being cultivators of personal knowledge to being hunters and gatherers in the electronic data forest."
It's through your work that I learned of Vannevar Bush and his 'Memex'; reshaping how I thought about cognitive extension and knowledge integration/preservation, fundamentally transforming my relationship with information; building my own personal Memex and using devices for their utility rather than their narcosis.
If there is any way I could get a signed copy of Superbloom from you, I would jump at the chance.
Thank you for everything you do.
ON my Christmas list. The convergence of the previous two books in Superbloom is, as you've observed, preordained when one follows the cluetrain. Perhaps it's the result of my profession, but all that you're describing has another cultural partner in crime. Modernism wished to appropriate the speed, wonder and drive to simplification characterized by technology. Interestingly, the early Modernists were for the most part, leftists, Marxists and certainly the proto-Progressives we now refer to today. Look closely at the barren, people-less, emotion free and austere handiwork of Modernist architects. The recent resurgence of "mid-Century Modern" in architecture in many ways corresponds/echoes the effects of tech-driven communication. Further, the recent rediscovery of Paul Rudolf, the most prolific exponent of what was, even then, referred to as "Brutalism". He created (and his clients realized) some of the most ghastly, uninhabitable buildings built in the 20th century. I may not have the details right, but I can't help thinking there's a connection between your observations and the built environment.
Interesting. There does seem to be a connection to architecture, though my ignorance on that subject probably precludes me from seeing it fully. (On the literature side, at least, a lot of the Modernists were anything but leftists and Marxists - Yeats, Eliot, Pound, Stevens, for instance.) Thanks, Henry
this is beautiful, have you seen christopher Alexander's work? does it co-inside with your take here?