You can buy an app that foretells the future – your future – what you would write in your diary the next day, if you kept one. Many people call it a fraud or a hoax. Like a fortune cookie, its predictions are vague. Like a Greek oracle, its words can be misunderstood, or are meant to be misunderstood. Nonetheless, millions of people have bought the app and look ahead each day. Sometimes the screen is blank; always it is cryptic. I touch the icon with dread, afraid of what I will read, … [Read more...]
“The Skeleton of the Possible” / Memorable Fancies #1610
26 August, 2016 by Leave a Comment
[“The skeleton of the possible / in a heap and covered with / stones...” – J.H. Prynne] I remember the possible, how bright it seemed, how – probable, even, with enough time and effort. But the possible had its chance, dimmed, didn’t happen. There it was, abandoned and forgotten. Just bones. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Intelligent Machines?” / Memorable Fancies #704
22 July, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Can there be intelligent machines? I’ll believe it when I see one that’s jealous of some other machine. [Click ‘Random Post’ above – be astonished] … [Read more...]
“Forgetting the Future” / Memorable Fancies #1166
9 April, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I can forget the past – in fact, I’ve forgotten most of my own past, and the world’s too. But can I scheme, now, to forget something I plan to do tomorrow? Could there be a potion, a medication, an app for this? Then with a pure heart and righteous mind I could say – I did not do that thing, the act that I’m accused of. When did you say it was? Where? I must have been taking a bath, then, or posting something to my blog. Test me if you doubt: serum-needled or wire-bedecked, pulse and breath … [Read more...]
“A Tourist of Your Own Life – II” / Memorable Fancies #842
27 September, 2014 by Leave a Comment
An upgrade to the WebV app “Tour Yourself” included the ability to see your future fate, any date you wished. Only the most hardened or daring, of course, cared to see their future selves. Most of the people who chose to visit their future were of the “nothing could be worse than what’s happening to me now” persuasion. They were mistaken, on that particular point. <END> THE PITCH If you liked this post, please tell your friends and share a comment here or on … [Read more...]
“Tomorrow’s Diary” / A Memorable Fancy #205
8 January, 2013 by Leave a Comment
You can buy an app that foretells the future – your future – what you would write in your diary the next day, if you kept one. Many have called it a fraud or a hoax: like a fortune cookie, its predictions are vague. Like a Greek oracle, they can be misunderstood, or are perhaps intended to be misunderstood. Nonetheless, millions of people have bought the app and look ahead every day. Sometimes the screen is blank; always it is cryptic. I click the icon with dread, afraid of what I might … [Read more...]
Memorable Fancies 