Journal #3

Occam's Razor: The simplest solution is always the best. 

This idea of links over tags, folders,  stars, hearts, upvotes, downvotes, comments reminds me of something I just learned called the principle data processing which uses symlinks. The principle data process essentially stores all tasks separately through inputs and outputs. The outputs of a following task are an input of the previous. A symlink allows these files to be stored at one location The first file (input) doesn’t know its being referred to but if you point to one you are changing both the input and the output without problems like hard linking has. I think this is interesting in relation to the “All you need is links” article because some data processing relies heavily on linking and as I have learned they are evolving as they have from hard link to symlink.

Butler’s interview makes me think of this push for humans and machines to merge. I read about it in one of Professor Benjamin’s class. Some people feel that it is inevitable. In this class we talked about how these technological advances will leave many people behind. For example, people with disabilities want tech that allows them to move up and down the steps and around the world easier, but we are focused on these hyper modifications. We also discussed how people are going to have to afford these modifications and there will be a push for “perfect” humans, where again so many people will be left behind. (This also makes me think of the kid’s movie Robots where older, poorer robots can’t pay for their simple upgrades as their parts get rusty and creaky and there is an intentional push to leave them out.)

Also, what does literacy really mean? What are the standards? Black people use AAVE and are constantly criticized for being “illiterate”. Literacy is in a way a white standard that morphs to leave groups out. I like Alan’s note about several parallel languages. Literacy can mean different things for different people and there shouldn’t be one set standard. But at the same time I understand Butler’s concerns for losing literacy because then again some people would be left out.

One thing that Kameelah’s interview left out was how archival history also erasing. Recently I worked on a machine learning project to predict convict leasing graves in the US. The project itself is about discovering what has been disregarded. Through my own research on the project, I found that there was not a comprehensive dataset on Black landownership. An aspect of freedom that meant so much to formally enslaved people did not have a set archive that I could dig through. I had to begin to create one.

I enjoyed Kameelah’s interview because of their multi-faceted interests. She can go from archival research to art installation to just reading about invasive species. She does not define herself to one thing and that is one thing I see in myself but also criticize because sometimes I feel like I don’t have one passion that I give my all too. Instead, I have many interests that connect directly and indirectly and I am just beginning to really put some of my interests to use in parallels.