those great readers we call humanists

positive/loose definitions of humanism (contra death of humanism)

ok but what is it that generates the ability to capture the nuance of a smile.

i wonder if a death of seeing, of contemplating art, or poetry or an inability to read is part of what enables AI, which then becomes self fulfilling

hence the increasing importance of the rag and bone men - the collection of old clothes became lucrative business from the 15th to the 18th centuries

who are the rag and bone men of the internet? situating paper establishments takes place at “cross roads of commercial routes, and if possible near large centres of consumption” < what are the similar cross roads and centres today? ofc the internet doesn’t really work like that - and the lack of physical models creating mental analogies is a problem. information agglomeration.

information_rules

so long as the technique was still in its infancy, the early pioneers (reasonably enough) did not possess an appropriate vocabulary in which to describe the instruments and materials with which they were beginning to work The Technical Problems and their Sokution

reversing this, it is in th nature of early experiments that the vocabulary, an conceptual vocabulary an grammar, is not at that point available. it will only appear later when it people have a chance to talk about what they’re doing or theorise about it.