Treat books not only as vessels of propositions but as a durable information technology: a low‑latency, annotatable, portable medium that externalizes memory, stitches cross‑text conversations, and scaffolds reflective thought across generations. Unlike ephemeral algorithmic summaries, books create a persistent, linkable cognitive substrate that shapes how societies reason, preserve critique, and form moral vocabularies.
— Recognizing books as a foundational cognitive infrastructure reframes policy choices about education, libraries, cultural funding, archival standards, and how to integrate AI without hollowing the public's capacity for long‑form critical thought.
John Masko
2026.01.10
85% relevant
The article documents an instance where the book (Moby‑Dick) functions as a durable cognitive and civic substrate—a social technology that assembles diverse readers into a shared, long‑duration practice—directly echoing the existing idea that books are infrastructure for sustained public reasoning and memory (New Bedford marathon, volunteer readers, archival patina).
Kevin Dickinson
2026.01.06
100% relevant
Joel Miller’s reading of Augustine (the finger‑in‑the‑book anecdote) is the concrete exemplar used to argue that marking, annotating and collecting passages turns books into an idea‑machine that augments human cognition.
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