Jefferson Map

Thomas Jefferson On Newspapers

Michael Zuo | M.Y.Z. | 3rd May 2020

From Jefferson's letter to a newspaper editor, John Norvell, in 1807: “To your request of my opinion of the manner in which a newspaper should be conducted so as to be most useful ... An editor might begin a reformation in some such way as this: Divide his paper into 4 chapters, heading the 1st Truths, 2d Probabilities, 3d Possibilities, 4th Lies. The 1st chapter would be very short" (704 words)

The Map

Venkatesh Rao | Ribbonfarm | 5th May 2022

Hard to say whether this should be classified as science fiction, allegory, satire, or prophecy. But if you can imagine some combination of Jorge-Luis Borges, William Gibson, Ted Chiang, Italo Calvino and GPT-3, you have a sense of the company in which this fable belongs. It tells of the creation of the virtual world, and of how the virtual world comes to overlay and then absorb the physical world (2,050 words)

To Jefferson's favoured division
I'd offer one minor revision.
For five things a day
That will blow you away,
A 5th: the full Browser edition