Category Archives: complexity

Writing

Posted on July 26, 2011 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

I spent most of today writing up my Nussbaum/Sloterdijk/Ulmer/SF Zero article, turning handwritten rough draft into (sloppily) typed rough draft. A fun process. Essentially, I critique Nussbaum’s connection between critical thinking and empathy, and argue instead for a post-pedagogical, non-critical, … Continue reading →

Posted in complexity, deconstruction, derrida, mark-c-taylor, nussbaum | Comments Off on Writing

Clinton on Johnson is Really about Rhetoric

Posted on April 16, 2009 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

Stephen Johnson has a neat post today on Bill Clinton’s reaction to The Invention of Air. I haven’t had a chance to read this one yet, but I am looking forward to it this summer. Anyways, in his praise for … Continue reading →

Posted in books, complexity, obama, politics, rhetoric, stevenjohnson | Comments Off on Clinton on Johnson is Really about Rhetoric

Not the Negation of Science

Posted on June 30, 2008 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

My love affair with Kevin Kelly continues; his recent post on the non-death of theory is definitely worth a read. Kelly responds to Chris Anderson’s recent article on The Death of Theory, in which Anderson argues that massive, computational approaches … Continue reading →

Posted in complexity, kelly, network, technolgoy, theory-in-practice, web2.0 | Comments Off on Not the Negation of Science

Embracing Error

Posted on June 2, 2008 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

I found Tim Barker’s “Error, the Unforeseen, and the Emergent The Error and Interactive Media Art” on work/space. In Barker, I hear what Lanham would refer to as a strong defense for rhetoric: one that recognizes probability not as a … Continue reading →

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Sometimes the “Rhetoric of Change” Really Means Change

Posted on March 1, 2008 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

I wanted to share Norm Scheiber’s article “The Audacity of Data” on Obama’s economic theory. It seems that Obama strays from traditional political philosophy in favor of something which Scheiber labels as “non-ideological” but which I might refer to as … Continue reading →

Posted in bordieu, complexity, obama, politics, rhetoric, theory, theory-in-practice | Comments Off on Sometimes the “Rhetoric of Change” Really Means Change

Complexity Theory and Authorship as Plurality

Posted on November 9, 2007 by insignificantwrangler@gmail.com

There was a discussion on a listserv today regarding why the individual author has become a myth. I cranked out a short response and figured I’d share. The original poster referred to the Emersonian (right?) “nothing is original” mantra. While … Continue reading →

Posted in complexity, derrida, theory | Comments Off on Complexity Theory and Authorship as Plurality