The sometime Internet guru now campaigns against “the ideology he helped create, Web 2.0 futurism, digital utopianism, which he now calls ‘digital Maoism,’ indicting ‘internet intellectuals,’ accusing giants like Facebook and Google of being ‘spy agencies’.”
Category: ideas
Why Creating A Perfect Language Is Impossible (It’ll Never Stay That Way)
Amateur linguist John Quijada spent three decades creating a new language that was as perfectly logical, consistent and precise as possible. When he published his manual on the Web in 2004, specialists hailed his achievement. Then enthusiasts started using the language – and requesting changes. Then they started making the changes themselves.
How The Communications Revolution Has Changed Culture
“Through the Internet and the new tools of communication we see a tremendous development of young amateurs who make things, create videos, short films, music. Not all this output is brilliant, but this activity tells us that what Nietzsche calls “the will to power” is today’s will to create. This will is something consumer society hasn’t destroyed, nor has it managed to turn people into entities that only want brand names.”
Why We Need Patent Aggregators
“Navigating the long tail of technology patents requires a significant amount of niche expertise, time, and other resources. This is where patent aggregators come into play.”
If Our Universe Is Just A Matrix-Style Simulation, How Could We Know?
Here’s one physicist who claims to have an answer.
Why You Shouldn’t Necessarily Trust Those Pop-Psy Studies
“When you have scientific evidence, and you put that against your intuition, and you have so little trust in the scientific evidence that you side with your gut–something is broken.”
The Atlantic‘s Ten Ideas That Changed The World In 2012
Conor Friedersdorf: “So think of what follows as a proposition to ponder: all that follows” – from the rise of 3D printers to the demise of centrism in US politics – “is either going to reshape our world, or would reshape it if only the idea in question were given its due.”
Study: Black And White Patterns Inspire Black And White Thinking
“That the ratings of those who saw the gray frame and the blue and yellow frame were virtually identical indicates it wasn’t a generic contrast in colors that made the difference. Rather, the image of black against white appears to wield unique metaphorical power.”
Don’t Think; Just Do It Should Be Don’t Do It; Just Think
“Even in small doses, mindfulness can effect impressive changes in how we feel and think — and it does so at a basic neural level.”
Visiting Writers’ Houses (From The Comfort Of Your Couch)
“Whether seen in person or in a photograph, the effect of viewing any revered author’s home is similar: histories once subject to biographers’ caprice take on the irrefutable weight of physical reality.”