That for me is the poetics of encryption. Artists are already using generative AI as a tool to reimagine our relation to the perennial big ideas. Like: What is identity? What is spirituality? What is cultural heritage? How can the human resist the fast-moving disruption to our lives and to our long-standing imaginaries? These are the questions that... See more
I define “creative risk” as the wild ideas in our mind’s eye that we would love to pursue, but don’t because the cost (time, money, reputation...) is too much to bear. As a result, we play it safe in the form of making sequels in Hollywood, emulating successful campaigns in advertising, and “staying in our lane” or what we’re comfortable with in ou... See more
I didn’t pick a niche . I have often admired and envied people who have their one thing —whether it’s literature, urban planning, art history, sociology, mathematics, architecture, software—because I have never been able to commit like that. The usual advice is to “niche down” if you want to build an audience for your newsletter, but trying to pic
Knowing is not enough. Knowing too much can encourage us to procrastinate. There's a certain point when continuing to know at the expense of doing allows the mess to grow further
You can no longer make students do the reading or the writing. So what’s left? Only this: give them work they want to do. And help them want to do it. What, again, is education? The non-coercive rearranging of desire.
Within five years, it will make little sense for scholars of history to keep producing monographs in the traditional mold—nobody will... See more