tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post5699459903886724132..comments2023-11-03T11:32:01.540+00:00Comments on Thought Experiments : The Blog: Microsoft and ImmortalityBryan Appleyardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-53750867916090568592007-03-13T01:01:00.000+00:002007-03-13T01:01:00.000+00:00I read a short review of will self's book-'the boo...I read a short review of will self's book-'the book of dave'- in the observer which made me laugh. Reminds me of Martin Amis's earlier work.<BR/><BR/>"Propelled into madness after being dumped by his wife, demented cabbie Dave writes a book for his estranged son full of racist, sexist, homophobic bile and buries it in his wife's Hampstead garden. Several hundred years later, after rising sea Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-4153980222858050292007-03-12T18:40:00.000+00:002007-03-12T18:40:00.000+00:00This just makes me think of Keats's desperately sa...This just makes me think of Keats's desperately sad, self-composed epitaph: <BR/><BR/>"Here lies one whose name was writ in water".<BR/><BR/>Had Keats been alive today, I'm sure he would have been a prolific emailer, possibly even blogger. I reckon he might even have given Internet dating a crack.Johnnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12678545794431822288noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-62232473146657253172007-03-12T18:36:00.000+00:002007-03-12T18:36:00.000+00:00I for one can't imagine a world without me and my ...I for one can't imagine a world without me and my thoughts in it and who want to be in one that didn't.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-1264456833900377592007-03-12T17:31:00.000+00:002007-03-12T17:31:00.000+00:00As you say Bryan, the future may not care, but due...As you say Bryan, the future may not care, but due to copyright law, Google Books helps to ensure that past archives leave more of a trace than they would otherwise. Try searching for local names and see the amount of past trivia that emerges. The web reaches into the future and the past.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-71570956815692473162007-03-12T16:18:00.000+00:002007-03-12T16:18:00.000+00:00Values change. What is overlooked or considered tr...Values change. What is overlooked or considered trivial today, may be significant tomorrow. And perhaps significcant in ways we cannot even imagine. If the primary motivation behind such endeavours is vanity, so be it. Geatness is often borne of vanity. And many a noble or useful act originates in self-interest. You have a point, Andrew, and as usual you make it with gusto (nothing puny about Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-12882263827320812172007-03-12T13:30:00.000+00:002007-03-12T13:30:00.000+00:00Ah immortality in megabytes who'd a thunk it!Ah immortality in megabytes who'd a thunk it!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-65806602662642054902007-03-12T10:47:00.000+00:002007-03-12T10:47:00.000+00:00I don't think it's harsh at all, Brit. Harsh towar...I don't think it's harsh at all, Brit. Harsh towards who or what? Instead of being an emblem of cultural continuance, this ephemeral/archival crossover stuff is symptomatic of a historically stranded present. We're the ephemeral blip that is cut off from the cultural life of our species, not the arrogant and ignorant other way round. Which isn't to say I've anything against Negley's great work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-12921307924506851572007-03-12T10:16:00.000+00:002007-03-12T10:16:00.000+00:00Good stuff. And thanks for the assiduous linking t...Good stuff. And thanks for the assiduous linking to me, Brit.Bryan Appleyardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08276787058430388582noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-3067748545360831322007-03-12T10:10:00.000+00:002007-03-12T10:10:00.000+00:00Bit harsh, Andrew. Or very E-Luddite, anyway.The v...Bit harsh, Andrew. Or very <A HREF="http://www.bryanappleyard.com/blog/2007/03/encounter-with-george-osborne.php#c4477296959416694518" REL="nofollow">E-Luddite</A>, anyway.<BR/><BR/>The vague desire to leave a posthumous legacy is just a human instinct. (Many greats were unrecognised in their own lifetimes, so it is a last hope for we mediocre multitudes.) And what's wrong with human instincts Brithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00390560583798960760noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23400750.post-4930984789515302602007-03-12T09:46:00.000+00:002007-03-12T09:46:00.000+00:00Meaning of life- that one's ego might be remembere...Meaning of life- that one's ego might be remembered by some other as yet unknown ego. A bit pathetic? It isn't to damn ordinary lives to say that the traces of interest mankind has left behind in the past are exactly as should be, ie our greatest artists and thinkers. It perhaps sums up the puny "democratic" mindset of the age that our version of leaving a trace is masses and masses of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com