Can't read the whole thing on AI poetry because of the paywall, but I'm not surprised by the outcome, only disappointed by the author's conclusions. Much of the best poetry is difficult because it's at the absolute limit of what language can convey. AI poetry appeals because it's an intellectual exercise that sounds nice. Poetry is beauty and terror and confusion, which coincidentally is what being human is.

i think you and i have the same internet

emilynhoward’s “much of the best poetry is difficult because it’s at the absolute limite of what language can convey” — thank you... thank you for this.

but whew, so glad to have read this.

maybe my excerpt made this unclear, but the author definitely is not agreeing with those statements about how poetry "ought to be", he's just echoing the reasons why people prefer AI poetry. there's like two paragraphs after that too, mostly about the "abyss stares back" effect where AI writing will have an influence on human writing... i for one feel like i've started using a lot more em dashes lately...

as an em dashes overuser i often worry whether someone will think my writing is ai...

> "it's bad on purpose to make you click, it's bad on purpose to make you click" i repeat as a mantra to avoid completely losing it.

you are so real for this

it is more important than ever to practice good epistemic hygiene... like all powerful mantras, i didn't originate it, it was given to me

disappointed to hear about the oliver sacks thing but can't say i'm surprised either. i never really read them for their legitimacy, i personally found them interesting from the point of view of how humans adapt and are shaped by inhibitions of sensory interpretation and memory recall. even if they are thought experiments at best, the man who mistook his wife for a hat was still a fun read

and a lot of his anecdotes do broadly line up with my personal experiences taking care of dementia patients. so hopefully as a pop-sci book it at least helps garner sympathy for those with memory difficulty

also i'm jealous of tao lin i would like several feral pigs please.

@suboptimalism Thanks for the clarification. In Western society currently, we are at what I believe are world-historical levels of under-appreciation of poetry. I cannot think of a society past or present that practices poetry but values it less than we currently do. So why not give it to the robots, just like automating tech support or something.

utterly diabolical

where you been, loca?

I was just thinking about reading that Dan Wang book (I've read his blog since 2020), so was surprised to see the mention at the end of the caro review. curious what you'll think of it

i don't know if i even need to read it now because i swear i've read like 8 lengthy reviews of it already, all from before it came out, seems like everyone and their mother got an advance copy. btw the way i found out about "wanghong architecture" is because he brought it up in an interview i read

I like his writing and think he's really inciteful about a bunch of stuff, but I don't really trust his Chinese pop-culture commentary. I feel like he's even more of a square than I am... I do suspect his book might have a lot in it that the reviews and interviews don't focus on though. I want to read more contemp. non-fiction in 2026, so might start with him

u have way too much time if u read all of these... 30 books mentioned twice, 4 books mentioned 3 times. "notes from underground" is a great pick tho.

perhaps i should clarify - i've read most but not all of these books, these are just themed reading lists i've been curating, if a book is a good fit for multiple lists then it appears multiple times. there are also many books i've read that i haven't been able to put into one of these lists yet...

i also have a list i'm still working on that will mention notes from underground yet again

Seeing both The Book of Disquiet and No Longer Human in the «literally me» category makes me think we might be the same person... these are quite the fine suggestions. Giggled at the mention of the Holy Bible, though it is not incorrect.

uh, well, the name of that list is in quotation marks because those are supposed to be books people commonly say that in reference to... i have a separate "literarily me" list on the homepage

more importantly, Yokosuka is the setting of Shenmue; you really should have walked around asking where you could find some sailors...