On Sep 8, 2005, at 11:39 AM, Sue Thomas wrote:
> On the email list Simon Biggs wrote:
>
> "Frances Yates wrote a wonderful book titled The Art of Memory, which I
> would recommend to anybody interested in the history, culture and
> practice
> of mnemonics.
1. great book -- there's a novel aboout a Jesuit's use of the Memory
Palace in China . . .
Some people, I believe, have thought about using the old spatial art of
memory for VR etc.
> However, it was written before the impact of computing was
> felt upon our culture. I think now somebody needs to write a book
> titled The
> Art of Forgetting, in order that we can find elegant and effective
> ways of
> avoiding information overload."
I read somewhere that forgetting and not noticing is a survival
technique; otherwise the mind would get clogged up.
g
>
> This leads me to the idea of Life Caching. There's a good article
> about that
> here http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/LIFE_CACHING.htm
>
> See also Microsoft's MyLifeBits - a lifetime store of everything
> http://research.microsoft.com/barc/mediapresence/MyLifeBits.aspx - and
> their
> guineapig Gordon Bell who since 2001/2 "has captured a lifetime's
> worth of
> articles, books, cards, CDs, letters, memos, papers, photos, pictures,
> presentations, home movies, videotaped lectures, and voice recordings
> and
> stored them digitally. He is now paperless, and is beginning to capture
> phone calls, IM transcripts, television, and radio."
>
> For me, this creates a double anxiety - I get anxious about coping
> with all
> my data, and anxious about losing it. Yet I also know, from the
> experience
> of others, that if I *did* actually lose it, I would get over it.
> Ironically, in recent years I have been getting rid of more and more
> of my
> material belongings, clothes, books, furniture, music, and yet my life
> cache
> is ludicrously large. Maybe it's time for a CD bonfire.
>
> Sue
>
> Also posted (with image) to
> http://writing.typepad.com/digital_life/2005/09/life_caching_re.html
>
> **********
>
> * Visit the Writing and the Digital Life blog
> http://writing.typepad.com
> * To alter your subscription settings on this list, log on to
> Subscriber's Corner at
> http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/writing-and-the-digital-life.html
> * To unsubscribe from the list, email [log in to unmask] with a
> blank subject line and the following text in the body of the message:
> SIGNOFF WRITING-AND-THE-DIGITAL-LIFE
>
>
George P. Landow
Professor of English and the History of Art
Brown University
www.landow.com
**********
* Visit the Writing and the Digital Life blog http://writing.typepad.com
* To alter your subscription settings on this list, log on to Subscriber's Corner at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/writing-and-the-digital-life.html
* To unsubscribe from the list, email [log in to unmask] with a blank subject line and the following text in the body of the message: SIGNOFF WRITING-AND-THE-DIGITAL-LIFE
|