Anonymity
“We” who have names and personalities — and, not incidentally, bodies — are expressing strong views about ai. We speak or write of “it”, a noun with no other name, as something anonymous —...
Category: language
Creative Writing
Remember the phrase, “creative writing”? Did it annoy you? It did me. Now that we’re getting more familiar with ai, I think I know why. And I’m even more annoyed. It goes beyond writing,...
Essayism Review: Towards a Definition
Brian Dillon, Essayism, London: Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2017 I’ll start with the conclusion so there’s no chance of wandering off and reaching a different one: the book led me to understand “essayism” to be...
Reading for Pleasure
I read somewhere recently (irresponsible, irresistible phrase!) that the proportion of us who read for pleasure is dropping, and has been for some time. The implication was that most of us, most of the...
An Abecedarium
The current issue of Flusser Studies marks the twentieth year this small, online journal has been publishing research and commentary on the life and work of Vilém Flusser (1920 – 1991). I’ve been a...
Who Reads?
Apparently the US federal government is having difficulties recruiting agents to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). There are a number of reasons, but one important one is that applicants often cannot pass an “open...