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sometimes when I say "I've been thinking about this for a long time", the reality of it is closer to "i've held on to this idea-lattice for a long time, and the ways in which it has degraded in my mind have revealed things to me"
I just realized this ("info architecture is hard") also partially explains why it's so much easier to criticize than to make something better. There are a lot of other variables, of course – but until you write a novel, it's hard to understand what a feat even a mediocre novel is
I think maybe the core challenge for me when it comes to information architecture is to create things that are memorable. and to make something memorable it has to be remarkable in some way. it has to trigger some thought, some memory, some emotion. Otherwise it fades
Another corollary: A person trying to solve an interesting info architecture challenge will likely have visible “imperfections” in their thinking Unsolicited criticism of their thinking without consideration of their intent is a *disservice* that can actually throw them off
a person trying to do productive, creative thinking in public ideaspace then will, past a certain point, have to architect filters for processing unproductive feedback I’ve seen good people give up on playing- which is everyone’s loss- bc it’s just not fun to have to do this
alternatively you have to make sure your thinking is perfect before you can play, which is not fun either or you have to make alts, which is actually an extremely underrated and undervalued solution to this general problem
thank you @GretchenAMcC https://t.co/WTx1TqTJ9y https://t.co/0Jw2ymG6xK
the necessity of figuring out how to say more with less https://t.co/gWoJaup0TA
"It's not enough to learn a lot; one also has to manage what one learns." – Marvin Minsky https://t.co/9bxApzYbWm
thread https://t.co/dpIUtMVEiS
Fran Lebowitz, 1994: Words are easy, books are not https://t.co/Vg3kvSI8aE
Annie Dillard, 1989: "every book has an intrinsic impossibility... the problem is structural; it is insoluble..." https://t.co/QkEkhgEbyV https://t.co/6YypL8mqhi
"every book is a failure" – George Orwell, 1949 https://t.co/Vbp0zipuSj https://t.co/6qPGJLDnvC
great resource on dealing with any kind of living architecture: https://t.co/xl1c8VSBKK https://t.co/Guav2a1304
the better your information architecture, the easier thinking becomes https://t.co/ZczNGUsXtI
(recursion: these tweets demonstrate the principle they describe! by giving myself good phrases that are well-placed to interface with others – good architecture – I have a self-organising (ish) system of ideas. new ideas integrate with old ones, enriching both, compoundingly!)