Catalina: my office mate showed up!! me: !!! Catalina: she gave me pills me: I also got more pills me: I feel very close to you right now Catalina: yes me too Catalina: she also showed up wearing massive amounts of makeup me: I see. What does that signify? Catalina: kinda scary but i got pills Catalina: nothing, just that shes crazy me: Very well. Catalina: i have always tried to hide my craziness because i think i can get away with more, but she just doesn't give a fuck Catalina: i kind of admire that Catalina: she just got in me: she's a hero Catalina: maybe it would be easier not to give a fuck if i were a trust fund baby like she is. All she has to do is hold a job Catalina: any job me: what's the point of having a trust fund if you have to hold a job, too? Catalina: i dont know, her parents are crazy Catalina: i guess they want her to do something me: that's very admirable, I guess me: when my uncle dies of lung cancer, I'll be a gentleman by way of inherited oil residuals me: only $500 a month, really me: but I still count that as being a gentleman me: I'll start smoking a pipe, for instance Catalina: nice Catalina: crack pipe? Catalina: you already do that? Catalina: you already do that Catalina: no question mark Catalina: ugh Catalina: old people are so annoying sometimes me: no they're not Catalina: ok me: on the other hand Catalina: yes you know old people best me: I haven't dealt with any old people in a long time Catalina: your roommate is old Catalina: i deal with olds on a daily basis Catalina: and the old i was referring to now is carl, hes always grumpy me: what are you guys always fighting about? me: big things or little inconsequential things? Catalina: we're not fighting Catalina: he just calls to complain about shit Catalina: nothing that has to do with me Catalina: its annoying me: I see Catalina: he has a bad day every day and i can't ever get mad at him for anything because hes always having a bad day Catalina: i mean i do but he'll say shit like "you know i've had a difficult day why would you bring this up now?" Catalina: but EVERY day of his life is a difficult day me: cute Catalina: sorry, i had to vent me: what's so difficult about them? Catalina: his brain Catalina: he is difficult Catalina: he makes everything difficult for himself Catalina: are you working on something now? me: maybe you should advise him not to do that me: yeah, writing up this conversation I had with Charles Johnson regarding certain aspects of the internet and cognitive development of those who grew up with it, other related issues, for Vanity Fair Catalina: whats different about their cognitive development? me: well, it's similar to what happened in classical Greece with the advent of literacy me: which had an impact on the minds of those who adapted it, allowing for enhanced critical thinking and the development of abstract systems, which didn't seem to exist in pre-literate oral cultures Catalina: how do you see this now? examples please me: sorry, was talking to landlord, back now me: examples me: we have Homer, for instance, and other oral products of Greek culture, and we see that they are all narrative-based and make no reference to ethics Catalina: no i mean with the internet me: ah me: my theory is that me: the rise of the internet is having a similar positive effect me: it exists as a sort of record of our cultural products me: and makes it easier, for instance, to fact check, to find contradictions in the work of those who might otherwise not be detected as being full of shit me: the ability to search through a great portion of our cultural products, for instance me: actually, I'll just send you the epilogue to my book, which explains this all Catalina: ok me: suffice to say that Greek sophists operating withing an orality-based exchange could get away with quite a bit of nonsense that became less easy to get away with when things started getting written down me: and I think we see a similar dynamic with pre-internet written products vs. post-internet written products, with the latter allowing for far better detection of falsities Catalina: yeah, although i still think most people dont care Catalina: crack baby thing Catalina: was false Catalina: most people i know still believe that shit Catalina: maybe i just know a bunch of idiots me: yeah, but people who rely on certain aspects of the internet for knowledge are now used to being able to verify or falsify any assertion in a matter of seconds me: in a manner that would have been impossible 15 years ago me: this isn't to say that just having access to the internet makes someone more intellectually rigorous, but rather than it makes it possible for those who are generally reasonable to access information in a way that their predecessors could not Catalina: agreed me: meanwhile me: the new abundance of oral-visual information me: may result in a large "underclass" of people who might have been reading more decades ago but will today consume this non-text info to the detriment of their critical thinking abilities me: resulting in a sort of "new orality" which will have negative effects on the citizenry as a whole, insomuch as that oral-minded people are more easily manipulated me: the chapter I sent you is the unedited version, has a few typos and some of the more expository portions needed to be rewritten, but it should give you a sense of the theory anyhow me: fuck, I've got to make some serious revisions to this epilogue me: I think I was nodding off when I wrote it Catalina: hey im back on Catalina: internet was out for a while me: hey hey hey me: anywho me: I'll send you a different version of that chapter I sent you earlier when I'm done tweaking it me: I was half-conscious while writing it, I seem to recall, and many parts are unclear Catalina: ok me: what are you doing now, if anything? Catalina: im actually doing work Catalina: called and scheduled some patients Catalina: now i have to enter some MRI information in a database me: carry on then Catalina: thanks Catalina: im leaving now Catalina: later me: adios