In an era where the criticism against lists is increasingly growing, writing legend Umberto Eco comes to the rescue of lists.
The list is the origin of culture. It’s part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order — not always, but often. And how, as a human being, does one face infinity? How does one attempt to grasp the incomprehensible? Through lists, through catalogs, through collections in museums and through encyclopedias and dictionaries. There is an allure to enumerating how many women Don Giovanni slept with: It was 2,063, at least according to Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. We also have completely practical lists — the shopping list, the will, the menu — that are also cultural achievements in their own right.
The digital revolution killed the art of handwriting. Umberto Eco via frankylicio.us.
My parents’ handwriting was slightly slanted because they held the sheet at an angle, and their letters were, at least by today’s standards, minor works of art. At the time, some – probably those with poor hand- writing – said that fine writing was the art of fools. It’s obvious that fine handwriting does not necessarily mean fine intelligence. But it was pleasing to read notes or documents written as they should be.
On the About page of this blog I quote Paul Boutin and hint at a disbelief in blogs as a medium for individuals.
Although at a certain I have been a so-called blowhard blogger, my background is different and I originate from the CMS. A scene where you slap lots of content on a site, have extensive link lists, maybe even run regularly news, linking to blogs, and try to build a community, most of the time in some kind of forum.
To be entirely honest, I never really liked the blogs as a platform option.
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