Comments on: The Role of the Book http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/the-role-of-the-book/ falling indelibly into the past Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:34:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: BT http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/the-role-of-the-book/#comment-2322 BT Fri, 27 Sep 2002 21:23:54 +0000 http://www.new.plannedobsolescence.net/?p=969#comment-2322 <p>Incredibly oddly, I just finished <i>The Diamond Age</i> not long ago myself.  I think you’re spot on about the Primer as the most immediately I-Want-One-appealing item of future tech I’ve seen in a long time.  Plus, on the whole it’s a very interesting and thought-provoking play with the long term of post-Imperialist international politics; more so than <i>Snow Crash</i> which I liked but which felt a little too willfully teenage to me at times. </p> <p> One aspect of the Primer and the story which seems to embody skepticism about the limits of AI as well as a somewhat conservative argument about parenting—Nell’s Primer’s efficacy is the product of the single human intelligence she is interacting with as she reads the book.  Basically, there’s not only a magic text but an “interpreter” who is doing the pedagogical work; and the most important thing about the interpreter (beyond the fact of her love for Nell) is her consistency—the girls who have either multiple-’ractor interpreters or robot interpreters don’t become the quasi-superhero that Nell is raised into being.  Basically, it’s having a consistent, loving parent that matters, it seems. </p> <p> Sorry to tear the discussion back away from Great Books… </p> Incredibly oddly, I just finished The Diamond Age not long ago myself.  I think you’re spot on about the Primer as the most immediately I-Want-One-appealing item of future tech I’ve seen in a long time.  Plus, on the whole it’s a very interesting and thought-provoking play with the long term of post-Imperialist international politics; more so than Snow Crash which I liked but which felt a little too willfully teenage to me at times.

One aspect of the Primer and the story which seems to embody skepticism about the limits of AI as well as a somewhat conservative argument about parenting—Nell’s Primer’s efficacy is the product of the single human intelligence she is interacting with as she reads the book.  Basically, there’s not only a magic text but an “interpreter” who is doing the pedagogical work; and the most important thing about the interpreter (beyond the fact of her love for Nell) is her consistency—the girls who have either multiple-’ractor interpreters or robot interpreters don’t become the quasi-superhero that Nell is raised into being.  Basically, it’s having a consistent, loving parent that matters, it seems.

Sorry to tear the discussion back away from Great Books…

]]> By: KF http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/the-role-of-the-book/#comment-2321 KF Tue, 24 Sep 2002 06:02:21 +0000 http://www.new.plannedobsolescence.net/?p=969#comment-2321 <p>You know, I was thinking Austen, but wondering if all those romantic novels in which True Love and Financial Security happen to coincide would only further confuse the issue for Lily.  And that Austen not only adheres to but also absolutely believes in the marriage plot makes me a bit leery of handing her over to a (no longer quite so) young woman who’s expecting the solution to all her problems to come in the form of a husband.  So I dunno. </p> You know, I was thinking Austen, but wondering if all those romantic novels in which True Love and Financial Security happen to coincide would only further confuse the issue for Lily.  And that Austen not only adheres to but also absolutely believes in the marriage plot makes me a bit leery of handing her over to a (no longer quite so) young woman who’s expecting the solution to all her problems to come in the form of a husband.  So I dunno.

]]> By: Steve http://www.plannedobsolescence.net/the-role-of-the-book/#comment-2320 Steve Mon, 23 Sep 2002 17:16:17 +0000 http://www.new.plannedobsolescence.net/?p=969#comment-2320 <p>It seems to me that Jane Austen might have been a bit of a help to Lily.  Of course, that’s somewhat self-evident.  (It’s like saying, “If only she’d been reading Henry James...") </p> <p> And in connecting the Wharton and Austen I’m reminded of your list of characters who drive you nuts.  I’d like to put in a good word for Lily (and maybe Selden too).  I’m one of those who like the both of them - I understand why others might be a wee bit consternated with the two, but hell, there’s always space in my book for overly wrought romance that never was or is.  !! </p> <p> It’s like reading those doomed poets out there - while of course the melancholia is too much, having it be too much seems to be part of the essential point of it.  Even if it’s bound to drive you batty before too long. </p> It seems to me that Jane Austen might have been a bit of a help to Lily.  Of course, that’s somewhat self-evident.  (It’s like saying, “If only she’d been reading Henry James…”)

And in connecting the Wharton and Austen I’m reminded of your list of characters who drive you nuts.  I’d like to put in a good word for Lily (and maybe Selden too).  I’m one of those who like the both of them - I understand why others might be a wee bit consternated with the two, but hell, there’s always space in my book for overly wrought romance that never was or is.  !!

It’s like reading those doomed poets out there - while of course the melancholia is too much, having it be too much seems to be part of the essential point of it.  Even if it’s bound to drive you batty before too long.

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