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The Persistence of Memory.

December 2nd, 2009 Jessica Hagy Posted in television |


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18 Responses to “The Persistence of Memory.”

  1. lilpocketninja Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    It took me a while to get this one. Nice.

  2. Ben E. Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    Wait, what? Genes hold less information than brains?

  3. Simon Dufour Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    There should be an arrow pointing out of the diagram with “Internet” on it.

  4. Marc C. Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    @Simon - I was going to suggest the same exact thing.

  5. Tom Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    I still don’t get it.

  6. VA Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    @Ben E: I think it is referring to the effectiveness of the different mechanisms that disseminate information

  7. jmnf Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    good to have you back.

  8. Mike Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 5:52 pm

    I like reading out of books better than screen reading.

  9. katie Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 8:56 pm

    hooray for books!

  10. Another anniversary of my 29th birthday « Christa Allan Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 10:14 pm

    [...] The Persistence of Memory [...]

  11. David Koontz Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 11:10 pm

    genes -> brains -> books -> wikipedia

    Support Wikimedia Foundation

    http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Support_Wikipedia2/en?utm_source=2009_Notice17&utm_medium=sitenotice&utm_campaign=fundraiser2009&referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FMilky_Way&target=Support_Wikipedia2

  12. Spammer Says:
    December 2nd, 2009 at 11:30 pm

    David please refrain from spamming your social club’s fundraising activities on the comment sections of respectable blogs.

    Clearly if by this metric,
    genes>brains>books,
    the key factor is authority, thus it would be
    genes>wikipedia>brains>books

    since genes gain their information content by trial and error in a stochastic way,
    wikipedia gains it’s information from a number of different brains in a stochastic way and is thus incoherent,
    A single brain aggregates information somewhat coherently,
    and a Book is one of the most coherent forms of information output a single brain can achieve.

  13. Laura Says:
    December 3rd, 2009 at 10:20 am

    Love this one Jessica! I will use it in class teaching about knowledge management, and will add EPSS (electronic performance support systems - i.e. online help / internet search, pda search) to the far right, because unlike in a single book, you one FIND the information needed so much faster. p.s. great site. I often come here looking for pithy illustrations of key concepts and have posted a link to thisisindexed from my (otherwise lame) blog.

  14. pakin Says:
    December 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 am

    Coincidentally, just last night I watched the “Persistence of Memory” episode of Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage#Episode_11:_.22The_Persistence_of_Memory.22). Today’s Indexed pretty much sums up that particular show.

  15. augmentedfourth Says:
    December 5th, 2009 at 9:12 pm

    I think I basically get it, but I’m still not quite sure what the “People” axis is supposed to mean…

  16. fireflight Says:
    December 12th, 2009 at 3:02 am

    I’m pretty sure the “People” axis represents the number of people effected by the “Information” axis, i.e. a set of genes effects one person (or a few, depending how you look at it); having (and using) brains can effect more people; books (literature) can effect many more.
    Just think of the effects that the writings of Newton or Shakespeare (cue collective groan from English lit students) have had on society, compared to their long-dead brains and long-forgotten genes.
    The jury is still out on the effects of the internet.

  17. Sienna Says:
    December 21st, 2009 at 11:52 am

    love it :)

  18. Bill Morish Says:
    March 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    Wonderful to finally see someone who can do a proper blogpost without spelling errors or lousy grammar.

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