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I don't think I've come across anything related to Borges that hasn't been worth reading. I really need to investigate him more. My first introduction was the

I don't think I've come across anything related to Borges that hasn't been worth reading. I really need to investigate him more. My first introduction was the 'Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge'[0], from which I will never forget "those that tremble as if they were mad" And in rare scenarios I've found 'On Exactitude in Science'[1] to be pertinent. The thing itself is it's own map (maybe even: the code _is_ the documentation). [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Emporium_of_Benevolent_Knowledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Emporium_of_Benevole... [1]: https://neilgreenberg.com/ao-quote-borges-on-exactitude-in-science/ https://neilgreenberg.com/ao-quote-borges-on-exactitude-in-s...

svrtknst 2mo ago
I refer to Exactitude quite often, but more often to highlight that the code isn't the documentation, to use the same analogy. When we make a map, it is a purposeful abstraction. It disregards some things and exaggerates others. The map cannot explain everything – to do so it would need to be exactly the same size as the land beneath it. When you make a map, document code, present or listen to an argument etc. you need to focus on what's important for this specific purpose. Otherwise your map will be useless. Either from being incomplete, of from being too complete.
- kragen 1mo ago
  This is the major theme of Funes, el memorioso as well. Borges may have been correct; Jill Price describes her near-Funes-level memory as a curse. It's somewhat of a disability for her. Like the fictional Funes, she lives with her parents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbQvmf0YOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbQvmf0YOQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Price https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Price
mdp2021 2mo ago
Have you read El Aleph and Ficciones? Have you read Libro del cielo y del infierno, and El libro de los seres imaginarios, and Cuentos breves y extraordinarios? The poetry is also very, very worth it. And there is a recording of Borges reading a selection of his own poems. (Of which do not miss, for example, "El Golem").

svrtknst 2mo ago

I refer to Exactitude quite often, but more often to highlight that the code isn't the documentation, to use the same analogy. When we make a map, it is a purposeful abstraction. It disregards some things and exaggerates others. The map cannot explain everything – to do so it would need to be exactly the same size as the land beneath it. When you make a map, document code, present or listen to an argument etc. you need to focus on what's important for this specific purpose. Otherwise your map will be useless. Either from being incomplete, of from being too complete.

kragen 1mo ago
This is the major theme of Funes, el memorioso as well. Borges may have been correct; Jill Price describes her near-Funes-level memory as a curse. It's somewhat of a disability for her. Like the fictional Funes, she lives with her parents. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbQvmf0YOQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAbQvmf0YOQ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Price https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Price

mdp2021 2mo ago

Have you read El Aleph and Ficciones? Have you read Libro del cielo y del infierno, and El libro de los seres imaginarios, and Cuentos breves y extraordinarios? The poetry is also very, very worth it. And there is a recording of Borges reading a selection of his own poems. (Of which do not miss, for example, "El Golem").