{"id":7182,"date":"2009-02-13T15:40:44","date_gmt":"2009-02-13T15:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/"},"modified":"2009-02-13T15:40:44","modified_gmt":"2009-02-13T15:40:44","slug":"everything-inve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week I wrapped up Steven Johnson’s latest, The Invention of
\nAir<\/i><\/a>, a pop-sci biography of Joseph Priestley. The book was typical, enjoyable
\nJohnson: cleverly woven anecdotes, theoretical hints concerning networks and
\necologies of influence, and iterative trigger-phrases that pop just enough to
\nkeep the narrative lively and fast-moving. I soared through the first 160
\npages in-flight last Friday and then got back into the final chapters a couple
\nof days ago. And I liked the book very much, except that it slowed ever
\nso slightly near the end: the young, experimental Priestley was more provocative
\nthan the aging, dislocated Priestley. The latter, it turns out, suffered late in
\nthe religious and political aspects of his life because of the the same
\n"congenital openness" (190) (or "chronic intellectual openness" (142)) that
\nhelped him become so influential on enlightenment scientific inquiry, and this
\nsection of the book worked at a noticeably different pace than the one dealing
\nwith Priestley’s tinkering with plants.<\/p>\n

Johnson characterizes his own ecological approach to Priestley’s life with
\nthe phrase "long zoom": <\/p>\n

Ecosystem theory has changed our view of the planet in countless ways,
\n\tbut as an intellectual model it has one defining characteristic: it is a
\n\t"long zoom" science, one that jumps from scale to scale, and from discipline
\n\tto discipline, to explain its object of study: from the microbiology of
\n\tbacteria, to the cross-species flux of nutrient cycling, to the global
\n\tpatterns of weather systems, all the way out to the physics that explains
\n\thow solar energy collides with the Earth’s atmosphere. (45)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The "long zoom", thus, is both a description of Priestley’s intellectual
\nmanner and also Johnson’s method of developing the biography. "Long zoom"
\nis an idea Johnson incubated in an NYU seminar he taught on Cultural Ecosystems
\nand through an invited talk he gave to the
\nLong Now Foundation<\/a> in 2007 (according to footnotes in TIoA<\/i>). I
\ndoubt that The Invention of Air<\/i> does full justice to the concept as
\nJohnson thinks of it, but the project does, on the other hand, seem to enact the
\n"long zoom." In the passage above, the reference to scale-jumping exposes one of
\nthe rough edges of the concept. The "zoom" also comes off as predominantly
\nvertical, along the lines of the orders of magnitude, more than horizontal or
\nsome combination of the two (viz. networked); it is not, in other words, a "long
\npan" or "long track" (here I’m thinking of the extended camera metaphors–pan,
\ntrack, zoom–adopted smartly by Rosenwasser and Stephen when they talk about
\ninquiry, research, and modes of engaging with an object of study). I mean that
\nJohnson’s "long zoom," even though he does not say so explicitly in The
\nInvention of Air<\/i>, seems to work both horizontally, vertically, and extra<\/i>-dimensionally,
\nas suited to networked relations as to ordered magnitudes, and all the while
\nalert to the dangers in too recklessly skipping from one scale to another
\n(Latour).<\/p>\n

Priestley comes to light as a "roving" intellectual (205), one whose "hot
\nhand" series of scientific breakthroughs culminated as consequence of a 30-year
\n"long hunch" he’d been following (70). The "long zoom"–a kind of
\nscale-shifting, one-thing-leads-to-another approach–allows Johnson to pin down
\nPriestley’s knowledge-making wanderluck<\/i>. Yet, at another point,
\nPriestley’s success with hunches appears to be as much grounded in his "knack
\nfor ‘socializing’ with his own ideas" (74) as a credit to his roving, generalist
\nsensibility. Where Johnson writes of Priestley’s affinity for socializing with
\nhis own ideas, TIoA<\/i> comes remarkably close to delivering a product
\nplacement ad for DevonThink–almost to the point of making me thing I’d
\n
\nread about it before<\/a> (re: Johnson, not Priestley).<\/p>\n

There is much more to say about The Invention of Air<\/i>, but I’m out of
\ntime, viz. paradigms and anomalies (44), coffee and coffeehouses (54), hack vs.
\ntheoretician (62), ecosystems view of the world (82).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this week I wrapped up Steven Johnson’s latest, The Invention of Air, a pop-sci biography of Joseph Priestley. The book was typical, enjoyable Johnson: cleverly woven anecdotes, theoretical hints concerning networks and ecologies of influence, and iterative trigger-phrases that pop just enough to keep the narrative lively and fast-moving. I soared through the first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[167],"tags":[2157,2158,398,1093,1110,271,323,257,2155,2156,359,963,2159],"class_list":["post-7182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading_notes","tag-air","tag-biography","tag-ecology","tag-experiment","tag-hunch","tag-invention","tag-johnson","tag-networks","tag-pkm","tag-priestley","tag-scale","tag-science","tag-zoom"],"yoast_head":"\nEverything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Everything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Earlier this week I wrapped up Steven Johnson’s latest, The Invention of Air, a pop-sci biography of Joseph Priestley. The book was typical, enjoyable Johnson: cleverly woven anecdotes, theoretical hints concerning networks and ecologies of influence, and iterative trigger-phrases that pop just enough to keep the narrative lively and fast-moving. I soared through the first...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Earth Wide Moth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/derek.mueller\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/derek.mueller\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Derek Mueller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Derek Mueller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Derek Mueller\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b\"},\"headline\":\"Everything Inventive Is Good For You\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":678,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/img\\\/air.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"air\",\"biography\",\"ecology\",\"experiment\",\"hunch\",\"invention\",\"Johnson\",\"networks\",\"PKM\",\"Priestley\",\"scale\",\"science\",\"zoom\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reading Notes\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/\",\"name\":\"Everything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/img\\\/air.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/img\\\/air.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/img\\\/air.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/2009\\\/02\\\/13\\\/everything-inve\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Everything Inventive Is Good For You\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Earth Wide Moth\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b\",\"name\":\"Derek Mueller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480\",\"width\":1220,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Derek Mueller\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.derekmueller.net\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/derek.mueller\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/dereknmueller\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/dnmueller\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.earthwidemoth.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/dmueller\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth","og_description":"Earlier this week I wrapped up Steven Johnson’s latest, The Invention of Air, a pop-sci biography of Joseph Priestley. The book was typical, enjoyable Johnson: cleverly woven anecdotes, theoretical hints concerning networks and ecologies of influence, and iterative trigger-phrases that pop just enough to keep the narrative lively and fast-moving. I soared through the first...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/","og_site_name":"Earth Wide Moth","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/derek.mueller","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/derek.mueller","article_published_time":"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Derek Mueller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Derek Mueller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/"},"author":{"name":"Derek Mueller","@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b"},"headline":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You","datePublished":"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/"},"wordCount":678,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg","keywords":["air","biography","ecology","experiment","hunch","invention","Johnson","networks","PKM","Priestley","scale","science","zoom"],"articleSection":["Reading Notes"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/","url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/","name":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You - Earth Wide Moth","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg","datePublished":"2009-02-13T15:40:44+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/img\/air.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2009\/02\/13\/everything-inve\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Everything Inventive Is Good For You"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/","name":"Earth Wide Moth","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"http:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/66fc5e80a62f53057760790b1cfeb24b","name":"Derek Mueller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480","width":1220,"height":480,"caption":"Derek Mueller"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/cropped-bmartwork.png?fit=1220%2C480"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.derekmueller.net\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/derek.mueller","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dereknmueller\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/dnmueller"],"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/author\/dmueller\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7tdGk-1RQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7290,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/23\/good-ideas\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":0},"title":"Good Ideas","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"September 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I like much of Steven Johnson's stuff, and undoubtedly I will pick up a copy of his latest book project, Where Good Ideas Come From, though probably not until next summer. As I watched this TEDtalk, though, I'm dissatisfied with how little work on rhetorical invention surfaces here. Johnson's \"liquid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Invention"","block_context":{"text":"Invention","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/invention\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7035,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2006\/09\/07\/lefevre-inventi\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":1},"title":"LeFevre, Invention as a Social Act","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"September 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"LeFevre, Karen Burke. Invention as a Social Act. Studies in Writing and Rhetoric Ser. Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1987. Invention as a Social Act is a landmark book on rhetorical invention. Lefevre introduces \"a more adequate terminology\" for rhetorical invention, complicating commonplace associations between the \"generation of ideas\" and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Writing Technologies"","block_context":{"text":"Writing Technologies","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/writing_technol\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6365,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2005\/08\/04\/pass-it-onsendi\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":2},"title":"Pass It On-sendings","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"August 4, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"[Ray \"Sugar Dada\"] Johnson initiated a practice called 'on-sending' which involved sending an incomplete or unfinished artwork to another artist, critic, or even a stranger, who, in turn, helped to complete the work by making some additions and then sending it on to another participant in the network.\u00a0 These gift\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reading Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Reading Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/reading_notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7329,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2011\/02\/13\/tough-room\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":3},"title":"Tough Room","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"February 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week's This American Life on Tough Rooms has been lingering in the back of my mind since I heard it\u2014again, as a podcast to make time pass on the elliptical. The first segment on headline-invention meetings at The Onion struck me at the time as a fantastic clip for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Dry Ogre Chalking"","block_context":{"text":"Dry Ogre Chalking","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/dry_ogre_chalking\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7253,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/24\/unplanned-meand\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":4},"title":"Unplanned Meanderings","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"April 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Steven Johnson's \"The Glass Box And The Commonplace Book\" renews questions about what happens when e-readers unexpectedly suffocate text behind no-copy\/no-paste barriers. Safe-guarding text against circulation is not new, of course, but Johnson offers a timely reminder of the ways this glass box logic is noxious, lying dormant, going unnoticed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Networks"","block_context":{"text":"Networks","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/category\/networkacy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7093,"url":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/2007\/05\/16\/lyon-rhetoric-a\/","url_meta":{"origin":7182,"position":5},"title":"Lyon, "Rhetoric and Hermeneutics"","author":"Derek Mueller","date":"May 16, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Lyon, Arabella. \"Rhetoric and Hermeneutics.\" Perspectives on Rhetorical Invention. Eds. Janet Atwill and Janice Lauer. Knoxville, Tenn.: Univ. of Tennessee P, 2002. 36-52. Lyon works at the intersection of rhetoric and hermeneutics in an effort to make sense of the relationship between the two concepts. To weigh the terms and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"audience\"","block_context":{"text":"audience","link":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/tag\/audience\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.earthwidemoth.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}