After all, who can resist an Elton John reference? Well, I'm in the midst of book revisions (and there was much rejoicing). I'm thinking back--and perhaps modifying--a notion I had a few years ago: minimal rhetoric. I'm thinking "tiny" rather than "minimal." Maybe both. My attraction to "tiny" is from the line in A Thousand Plateaus that has stuck... Continue Reading →
fake news and the distribution of critical thinking
Wired published an article a few days back based on this research from the journal Cognition. As the Wired article's title suggests, if you want to be resistant to fake news then "don't be lazy." Basically this particular study indicates that people who exhibit critical thinking skills are more resistant to fake news than those who do not, regardless of... Continue Reading →
why we can’t have nice things
It's that old saying but one that might cut in two directions. Yes, "we" can't have nice things because "you" are always ruining them with your irresponsible behavior, lack of class, etc. But possibly we also can't have nice things because we're always getting crap shoved in front of us. Or both. Facebook is case... Continue Reading →
informally proposing a “materials rhetoric”
In the briefest terms, my idea here is conceiving of a materials rhetoric that is roughly analogous to materials science. I'll return to that in a moment but first a few detours. Since the 80s at least, rhetoric as concerned itself with "materialism" and far more recently with "new materialism." Materialism has generally been another... Continue Reading →
the future of the English major, or “Hey Mister, where do you want these deck chairs?”
The Association of Departments of English (ADE) released a report today on the changing English major. As those who tuned into the last episode (or the last 1000 episodes) of this program will remember, there has been a steady decline in English majors (going back to the early 90s when measured as a share of... Continue Reading →
the most stupid superintelligence possible
I’m reading Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence as a kind of light reading tangentially related to my scholarly interests. If you’re unfamiliar, it’s basically a warning about the dangers of artificial intelligences spinning out of control. There are plenty of respectable folks out there who have echoed these worries—Hawking, Gates, Musk, etc. And Bostrom himself is certainly... Continue Reading →
ambient cybernetics of the noise floor
Sometimes you come across a term commonly used in other professions and it just strikes you as thought-provoking... or at least that happens to me, and it happened recently with "noise floor." Maybe that's a term you've heard many times before (if you're an engineer or work with sound or maybe as an audiophile). If... Continue Reading →
the ends of digital rhetoric
Two personal data points: a meandering FB thread about the future of the Computers and Writing conference; another conference conversation over the implications of asserting that "these days" everything is digital rhetoric. It's a related observation, taken one step further, that leads Casey Boyle, Steph Ceraso, and James J. Brown Jr. to conclude in a... Continue Reading →
Ep 101: Siri’s Voice
This is my first attempt at this, so I'd love your feedback. And here's a link I mention in the podcast: Dennis Klatt's History of Speech Synthesis.
