Conversation Agent - Valeria Maltoni

Experimenting with the Questions

The restoration of value begins with fixing the language. And continues with adjusting expectations. When you tell a new story, you can begin to weave into an alternative narrative. This in turn allows you to tap into a new set of beliefs. And the path that seemed unimaginable before opens up. Childhood, for example, is an idea born in the Renaissance. Before then, as soon as human beings could talk and understood direction they became full members of society. On average at 7 years of age. First came the word, than the idea. Once childhood took root, it became impossible... Read more →

How Language Informs Narrative and Influences Culture

“All subject are a form of discourse,” says Neil Postman. It makes sense. Because you need language and conversation to discuss biology, physics, chemistry, history, geography, astronomy, etc. Dialectic is valuable, whether you're arguing to win, or have a loftier goal: that to understand. Cicero first said that the purpose of education is to 'free the student from the tyranny of the present.' If you look up the root of the word, educāre (to express a principle of directing or guiding) is associated with educĕre, interpreted as ‘revealing’ or ‘exposing’ to the outside (ex being the prefix that says out,... Read more →

Technology's Impact on Narrative and Culture

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents will pull information for us on the basis of parameters we establish and control. They will deliver it to the social networks that exist inside our own data network. Web 3.0 is the true era of conversation, where the real dialogue begins.” I wrote those words here in 2007. Was I wrong! And late to the game; the hype started in 2004. Facebook was just at the beginning of what would become a long string of betrayals al the altar of the algorithm. Web 2.0 became disappointing quickly, offering the same 'exchange value' model in new... Read more →

Our Conflicted Relationship with Narrative

History the way it's taught is boring. Hard as hell to keep track of all those names and dated without context. My love was for the narrative that surrounded great works of literature. You could say I learned history through novels. There's so much you can learn when you put the two together. Narrative and culture relate in more than one way. How words relate to other words as our language evolves. The relationship between symbols and signs, things and words. These are just two examples. Knowledge is just a stage in human development, said Neil Postman. Because ideas travel... Read more →