Category Archives: complexity

Writing

I spent most of today writing up my Nussbaum/Sloterdijk/Ulmer/SF Zero article, turning handwritten rough draft into (sloppily) typed rough draft. A fun process. Essentially, I critique Nussbaum’s connection between critical thinking and empathy, and argue instead for a post-pedagogical, non-critical, … Continue reading

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Clinton on Johnson is Really about Rhetoric

Stephen Johnson has a neat post today on Bill Clinton’s reaction to The Invention of Air. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I am looking forward to it this summer. Anyways, in his praise for … Continue reading

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Not the Negation of Science

My love affair with Kevin Kelly continues; his recent post on the non-death of theory is definitely worth a read. Kelly responds to Chris Anderson’s recent article on The Death of Theory, in which Anderson argues that massive, computational approaches … Continue reading

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Embracing Error

I found Tim Barker’s “Error, the Unforeseen, and the Emergent The Error and Interactive Media Art” on work/space. In Barker, I hear what Lanham would refer to as a strong defense for rhetoric: one that recognizes probability not as a … Continue reading

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Sometimes the “Rhetoric of Change” Really Means Change

I wanted to share Norm Scheiber’s article “The Audacity of Data” on Obama’s economic theory. It seems that Obama strays from traditional political philosophy in favor of something which Scheiber labels as “non-ideological” but which I might refer to as … Continue reading

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Complexity Theory and Authorship as Plurality

There was a discussion on a listserv today regarding why the individual author has become a myth. I cranked out a short response and figured I’d share. The original poster referred to the Emersonian (right?) “nothing is original” mantra. While … Continue reading

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