Words&Dirt

“There are only 8,160 frames in Karen’s film and yet they serve as the perfect counterpoint to that infinite stretch of hallways, rooms and stairs.  The house is empty, her piece is full.  The house is dark, her film glows.  A growl haunts that place, her place is blessed by Charlie Parker.  On Ash Tree Lane stands a house of darkness, cold, and emptiness.  In 16mm stands a house of light, love, and colour.

By following her heart, Karen made sense of what that place was not.  She also discovered what she needed more than anything else.  She stopped seeing Fowler, cut off questionable liaisons with other suitors, and while her mother talked of breaking up, selling the house, and settlements, Karen began to prepare herself of reconciliation.

Of course she had no idea what that would entail.

Or how far she would have to go.”

––House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski, pg. 368-9

“It can be a mistake to extrapolate too much from present trends, especially when the curve you’re looking at seems to accelerate ever upward.  In the long run, this time of eccentricity may be seen as a fluke––when a favored generation lived high off the earth’s remaining surplus until the consumer economy finally collapsed, leaving our grandchildren in the same state as our ancestors, harassed by immediate perils, fearful and intolerant, with no free time to spare from the incessant struggle to survive.

That may happen, but I am betting we’ll pull off a chain of miracles.  Barring something unforeseen, we may see a flowering of commerce, information, creativity, and ideas.  An age when even the most august expert will have to keep looking over his or her shoulder, as hordes of well-informed citizens catch every undotted ‘i’ or missing minus sign.  A time when bureaucrats and committees will lose much of their authority, because countless tasks will be augmented––or even taken over––by voluntary associations of passionate devotees.

The next one hundred years may come to be called the ‘century of amateurs.’

If so, it will happen because we made it possible for many hopeful new trends to continue.

Because we unleashed the full range of human potential into a transparent society.”

––The Transparent Society: Will Technology Force Us to Choose Between Privacy and Freedom?, by David Brin, pg. 51