fewer computer / blog

bicycles for the mind

the screen is not a bicycle for the mind. a screen is no good at transforming human thought, even if it might increase the quantity and speed of human output. A good mind-augmenting technology is one that helps us think better thoughts than we would without it.

your mind doesn't "go" anywhere. your train of thought is not a train, not a tool, not technology. it's a process, and not one that can be quickened. it's primordial soup, forest floor, strange loop. there's no direction it's headed for a bicycle to be useful. the best you can do is give it some happy conditions and watch it go.

things that help you think better thoughts:

the point of a mind isn't to get stuff done. that's what the hands and legs and hammers and bicycles are for. a bicycle won't help you dance, and a screen won't help you think.