January 4, 2023
Ted Chiang. What a guy. An older guy, but still young. Long hair with streaks of grey. He has an aura of a non-chalant, wise, (young) grandpa that makes his stories even better. A computer-scientist by degree(?) and an alum at Brown. Technology, personhood and the intersection of it all. With it being the questions we have to face in light of what’s changing in the world.
Okay, the spiel above was kind of disingenuous. I just hear about this man so much and I had to see what the hype was about. I was back from my semester of university, with a new playlist in hand and was ready to transcend.
The “happenings” of college make reading an activity with a lot more friction than it once had. To get myself back into it, I started with some TChiang. I’ve read the Tower of Babylon before, technically, but this was the first time at this level of focus. Safe to say it was different this time, as with most things as of late. Anyways, I wasn’t disappointed. I typed some things while I was reading. Was a fun experience. It's a solid memory now in my mind. I’m not going to edit the ramblings too much. They aren’t very coherent. Kind of funny to see what runs through my mind while I read though. Also a new post!
A side note is that I think reading with a nice playlist, in a decent environment is a recipe for pseudo-enlightenment. ‘Twas a beautiful experience, and once again to my laptop I return, but this time to my Google Docs.
So now for my ramblings….
It’s gorgeous :) There’s a need to anthropomorphize here. So you know what, she’s gorgeous….
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All these pretty words, I get to add to my list. “Words and terms.” After reading this pretty story as I listen to this pretty music and am left with this pretty text that I’ll post on my(very questionably) pretty-ish site, while I play with language and see how many times I can write “pretty” before I stop. Pretty, pretty, pretty.
The following isn’t meant to be informative, this is just what came to mind as I was reading.
Reminds me of that meme on instagram with Dr.Cox (on Instagram) explaining what clouds would look like to people from a planet without clouds.
How do people write like this? It’s also a shame I'm not always in the mental state or lucky enough to actually enjoy writing like this. Too tired, too busy, too inattentive.
Using technology to interface with man or in this case “the heptapods.”
Information theory and condensing this knowledge, because ours isn’t semasiographic. Our text is just a visual representation of what we speak.
The mundanities of growing up that feel so specific, unique and special to you, but are just another story written for someone new. The apprehensive kiddo is preparing to go on a trip with her parents. Or letting too much information out at the dinner table when you’re telling your mom about a party that you went to. Canon.
Learning about this alien, it’s this retelling of a kid learning about themselves through the lens of an observant, prostyletizing mom. I spelt prostyletizing right without auto-correct on the first try, let’s go.
This notion of fermat’s theorem being mathematically the same across disciplines, but its meaning changes. Variational principles.
On a grander note, this society is facing novelty, an emergency? You have the capacity to bring in this really talented linguist. I question whether our present reality could even do the same. There is this convergence of ideals and it extends to the people we respect.
Homogeneity could be our downfall. Better cultivating talents and people that work on things that are outside of the terminal.
It’s something I grapple with. You’re going through pain, but something about (trying) to be stoic, is not being present with it. You’re reconciling how this event will help you grow, but you can’t be present in it. But it’s the choice you make. Humanhood gets left behind because of it. In exchange, you get a strong spirit, in the absence of the body it lives in. Will I achieve a minimum, or a maximum? (lmao) These abstractions of understanding: love, language, the physical universe, this odd species, etc. Also Gary is the dad right??
The pretty + unknown words I get to add to my list.
And then it came to him: a seal cylinder. When rolled upon a tablet of soft clay, the carved cylinder left an imprint that formed a picture. Two figures might appear at opposite ends of the tablet, though they stood side by side on the surface of the cylinder. All the world was as such a cylinder. Men imagined heaven and earth as being at the ends of a tablet, with sky and stars stretched between; yet the world was wrapped around in some fantastic way so that heaven and earth touched.
Crying.
It’s the start of winter break and I haven’t done much. Luckily, I think that’s allowed at this time of year.
Fixing my sleep schedule is a cause I’m not even passionate about. Listening to music and staring at the ceiling can only be done past midnight. It’s my favourite activity.
Textbook problems are always there to do, but I’ll do that tomorrow…tomorrow never comes.
What I have done is catch up with some friends, catch up with myself and read some of Ted Chiang’s stuff.
Some people write and you read it. It’s instrumental. The whole internet has converged on this and I don’t want to feel left out, for the most part...
Some things I read because I’m bored, and others I read because they were brought to me as a gift. As thanks I read whatever it is that I was gifted.
Only a few times will it feel transcendental.
I’ve gotten way more sappy over the past year, way more sappy in the past few months and it’s managed to only intensify over the holidays.
Could she get even sappier?
You best believe it, he writes prose that moves.