article
The future of the humanities is wide open
The humanities within universities are facing decline and financial prioritization, yet interest in liberal arts thrives outside academic institutions.
To understand the future of AI, look to the past
The hype about AI isn’t new. In his day, Victor Hugo was breathless about the book.
Why not publish all your notes online?
Contemplating whether to publish personal notes online reveals both the potential benefits of motivation and community engagement and the drawbacks of self-doubt and privacy concerns.
Time to concede nothing
A reflection on the enduring legacy of thinkers like Erasmus and Castellio, emphasizing the importance of perseverance in upholding values of civility and humanism amid modern strife and polarization.
Legendary computer game Myst started life as an interconnected network of cards in the equally legendary app HyperCard. To be precise, 1,355 cards in 6 HyperCard stacks.
Now, through graph analysis the last secrets of that network are finally being ‘deMystified’.
Five solutions to link rot in my personal note collection
Link rot on the Web poses significant challenges, which have prompted me to consider various strategies for preserving information, including summarizing sources, using archives, creating personal archives, accepting impermanence, and sharing knowledge.
Tame the chaos with just four folders for all your notes
Bob Doto’s A System for Writing recommends a structured Zettelkasten (note box) using four folders: In-box, Sleeping, References, and Main. With just these four you can manage your notes effectively and enhance the writing process.
Lord Acton took too many notes, but that doesn't mean you have to
Excessive note-taking can hinder productivity and completion of work, as illustrated by Lord Acton’s struggle to publish significant historical writings despite his vast knowledge. Oh, those Victorians.
The Dance of Joyful Knowledge: Inside Georges Didi-Huberman's Monumental Note Archive
Georges Didi-Huberman’s extensive collection of over 148,000 notes exemplifies the enduring relevance and creativity of the Zettelkasten method in art and philosophy.
Roland Barthes on the purpose of making notes
Note-taking should mainly serve as a means to enable writing rather than being an exhaustive record of knowledge. At least, that’s my approach.