3 ms·
Where does the machine begin and end? Even a fountain pen is a highly advanced mechanism which we owe to countless generations of preceding, inventive toolmaker
by mrugge 8mo ago
Where does the machine begin and end? Even a fountain pen is a highly advanced mechanism which we owe to countless generations of preceding, inventive toolmakers.
- asdff 8mo agoFountain pen is still more or less the same tool as the lowly stick left partially in the campfire. It is just packaged more cleanly perhaps. It is not drawing for you or writing for you.
- mrugge 8mo agoConnoisseurs of calligraphy may disagree. My point was that humans are very connected to and identify deeply with their tools. Probabilistic autocomplete we are so excited about these days is just another slab on a deep stack of abstractions humans use to interact with the world. A stick and the campfire are also tools that do not pre-exist. Just try to make a campfire without a matches or try to make a stick without a cutting tool. Also try to write the next great novel using a stick and a campfire instead or a fountain pen. Tools that are available become the defining factor of the great works a generation can produce. Nothing is different this time.