Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 37, No. 162.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
                      Hosted by DH-Cologne
                       www.dhhumanist.org
                Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org




        Date: 2023-08-04 17:05:30+00:00
        From: maurizio lana <maurizio.lana@uniupo.it>
        Subject: Re: [Humanist] 37.159: limits to one's attention

hi David,
i agree with you that
1) any choice to read something is also in effect a choice NOT to read
other things
hence the growing relevance of
2) how to make good choices and this is where sometimes technical aids
including citation analysis or google ngrams can be helpful

what you say in the end
> reflection on human finitude helps me accept and come to terms with these
worries
is the same of coming to terms with the fact that the most beautiful
places are those we have not (yet?) visited, and that the most beautiful
rivers are those we have not (yet?) bathed in.
in the sense that doing research is not something accidental (something
we do some hours a day), but structural for our being e si iscrive nella
nostra relazione con il mondo e le dà forma and it is inscribed in our
relationship with the world and shapes it.
Maurizio

Il 04/08/23 08:39, Humanist ha scritto:
>                Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 37, No. 159.
>          Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
>                        Hosted by DH-Cologne
>                         www.dhhumanist.org
>                  Submit to:humanist@dhhumanist.org
>
>
>
>
>          Date: 2023-08-03 07:44:36+00:00
>          From: David Zeitlyn<david.zeitlyn@anthro.ox.ac.uk>
>          Subject: Re: [Humanist] 37.157: limits to one's attention
>
> Dear all
>
> There's another limit in play about how much you can read over a
> lifetime/or over a career. Depending on how you view skimming and how
> fast a reader you are  you can do a sum about how much you can read over
> a lifetime. The result will be an estimate but a finite one and this has
> to be considered within the practical infinity of all the stuff that has
> been, is and will be published. So any choice to read something is also
> in effect a choice NOT to read other things. The challenge is how to
> make good choices and this is where sometimes technical aids including
> citation analysis or google ngrams can be helpful. But even with these
> there is always the looming worry of the thing you’ve not read but
> really should have. I find reflection on human finitude helps me accept
> and come to terms with these worries!
>
> dam summer good wishes
>
> davidz

------------------------------------------------------------------------

é imperioso mantermos a esperança mesmo quando
a dureza ou aspereza da realidade sugira o contrário
Paulo Freire

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maurizio Lana
Università del Piemonte Orientale
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici
Piazza Roma 36 - 13100 Vercelli


_______________________________________________
Unsubscribe at: http://dhhumanist.org/Restricted
List posts to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
List info and archives at at: http://dhhumanist.org
Listmember interface at: http://dhhumanist.org/Restricted/
Subscribe at: http://dhhumanist.org/membership_form.php