From The End of the Modern World by Fr. Stephen Freemen:

Modernity is a rhetorical device. The modern world does not produce wonders or even Apple Phones. Those are the work of technology, something with roots in the ancient world (cf. the Antikythera Mechanism). Modernity is simply the place where the myth was invented — not technology.

And from a 2018 blog post comment (↬John Naughton):

Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit:

There must be in-groups whom the law protectes (sic) but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect.

There is nothing more or else to it, and there never has been, in any place or time.

Today’s LLMs are a litmus test of whether or not the writing job at hand is BS. Can you use the unadulterated LLM output without fear? Then yes.

Book summaries are not BS. Economy as a science is.

A few links, to be filed in the “What a time to be alive” folder:

• AI and Biology
• What’s become of The Times & Co.? (a question ripe for the “always has been” meme)
• Original Sources of the Claim that Haitians Eat Pets in Ohio Admit No First-Hand Knowledge
• I better go superviral for this… (he did!)

A few good links for the weekend:

• Is progress in medicine too slow? by Ruxandra Teslo
• Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era (ᔥJohn Naughton)
• For Every Winner a Loser by John Lanchester
• Cozytech by Venkatesh Rao, alas the best parts are behind a paywall (coziness costs)

I follow most blogs via RSS and imagine everyone doing the same. This makes me forget that this very blog is an actual website that may need tending, and every time I visit (which is rarely) a thought comes to mind: I should really do something about that font … typeface … those fonts.

But I don’t want to just copy someone else, which is what I did with the current version that uses Iowan Old Style. ⊕ ChatGPT was sadly lacking in font recognition skills. When I showed it a screenshot of this website it said the font was Georgia. When asked whether it might be Iowan after all, it had this to say: Upon closer inspection, the typeface in the image does indeed have characteristics that are more aligned with Iowan Old Style rather than Georgia. Which is some master-work backtracking and a sign of an expert BS-er.Not knowing much about typefaces, I asked someone who might.

Me: What is a high-quality publicly available serif typeface highly regarded by most if not all experts?

ChatGPT-4o: One of the most highly regarded publicly available serif typefaces is “Cormorant.” This typeface is available on Google Fonts and is praised for its elegance and versatility. Designed by Christian Thalmann, Cormorant is inspired by the classic Garamond typefaces but with modern refinements that make it suitable for both print and digital use.

Cormorant is highly regarded for its high contrast, sharp serifs, and a wide range of styles and weights, making it a versatile choice for various design needs. It’s well-crafted and respected among designers for its beauty and readability.

Me: Can it be used as a body typeface? If not, is there a typeface that I can use as body typeface?

ChatGPT-4o: While Cormorant is beautiful and highly regarded, it is generally better suited for display use (e.g., headlines, titles) rather than as a body typeface. This is because of its high contrast and intricate details, which can make it harder to read at smaller sizes, particularly in large blocks of text.

For a high-quality serif typeface suitable for body text, I recommend “EB Garamond.” This typeface is also publicly available on Google Fonts and is an excellent choice for body text due to its readability, classic design, and balanced proportions. EB Garamond is a revival of the original Garamond typeface from the 16th century, known for its timeless elegance and clarity, making it an ideal choice for both print and digital use.

EB Garamond is widely praised for its legibility, even at smaller sizes, making it an excellent option for body copy in various design projects.

Me: What is a good monospace typeface equivalent to EB Garamond?

ChatGPT-4o: A good monospace typeface equivalent to EB Garamond, in terms of quality and readability, would be “IBM Plex Mono.”

IBM Plex Mono is part of the IBM Plex typeface family, which was designed with clarity, neutrality, and versatility in mind. While it’s a monospace typeface, it maintains a sense of elegance and professionalism that aligns well with the qualities of EB Garamond. It has well-balanced proportions and is highly legible, making it suitable for coding, technical documents, or any design where a monospace font is needed.

IBM Plex Mono is also publicly available on Google Fonts, making it easily accessible for a variety of projects. Its modern design and attention to detail make it a strong choice for anyone looking for a high-quality monospace font.

Why ChatGPT would be hawking Google Fonts is a question beyond my pay grade, but hey, it’s free and easily implemented, so I might as well try.

David Perell’s podcast “How I Write” underwhelmed in the beginning, but a year in he got my attention. The episode with Ben Thompson of “Stratechery” was stellar — with a guest like Ben how could it not be — but I didn’t expect to like this episode on copywriting as much as I did.

📚 Forty books that comprise the Vague Tech Canon, per Patrick Collison:

• The Tinkerings of Robert Noyce
• Seeing Like a State†
• The Dream Machine
• The Sovereign Individual
• The Beginning of Infinity†
• Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman*
• Softwar
• Ashlee Vance’s Elon biography
• The Mythical Man-Month
• Mindstorms
• Masters of Doom
• Skunk Works
• Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
• Thinking in Systems‡
• Superintelligence
• The Whole Earth Catalog
• Zero to One
• The Hard Thing about Hard Things
• Founders at Work
• Showstopper
• Dealers of Lightning
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb
• PG’s essays
• The Rise and Fall of American Growth
• The Big Score
• Finite and Infinite Games*
• A Pattern Language*
• The Selfish Gene*
• The Lean Startup
• Marginal Revolution (if it has to be a book, Stubborn Attachments)
• Revolution in the Valley
• Uncanny Valley
• LessWrong
• Slate Star Codex(/ACT)
• The PayPal Wars
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar
• The Diamond Age
• What the Dormouse Said
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance*
• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt†
• Titan (on Rockefeller)
• The Power Broker*
• Gödel, Escher, Bach

Linked are those I wrote about, starred are the ones I’ve read, daggered are the ones already on my pile and double-daggered are the ones that got on it thanks to this list. There is a single ‡ entry — the list had too much navel gazing for my taste. (ᔥTyler Cowen)

For the past few months I have been trying out both Tot and Bebop for quick note-taking, and Tot has a clear edge: the Mac app. The biggest loser is Drafts, which has become way too bloated for my needs. So it goes…

I saw my first Humane AI pin in the wild today, on a dapperly dressed man walking through a not so dapper part of town. It looked fine and unconspicous, too bad it doesn’t actually work.

I disagree with Gruber. While the current calls against social media echo the comic-book/rap-music/video-game scares, there is hard(ish) data on their detrimental effects in some children and adolescents. Certainly enough to justify more scrutiny.