One of the main tropes of science fiction has to be the self-aware robot or computer – one mobile, the other not, but both presented as self-aware and able to think as we do, although often better. Often, Frankenstein-style, the AI develops malevolence. That was a trope long before HAL; virtually all of Asimov’s robot … More Why AI won’t work. Probably.
National November Writing Month – the month when writers around the world join in a quick-fire effort to complete a story of 50,000 words in just 30 days – just finished. I’ve been marking it this month by re-posting some of the material I’ve published in past years to help writers get to that goal. … More Ways to wrap up your 50,000 word writing sprint
This week’s obscure English word is abarognosis. It’s a noun, a medical term, and means a loss of ability to sense weight. Your challenge: write a sentence or two in the comments using this word. Copyright © Matthew Wright 2018
I recently fielded a query from a group of US students congratulating me on my work in classical literature and requesting an interview in which they proposed to ask me about aspects of Greek tragedy. I had to decline. I write on many subjects, but classical-era Greek literature is not among them. The problem was … More I’m not Matthew Wright from the University of Exeter
One of the ways humans understand the world is by classifying it – finding categories into which everything slots. This style of thinking has always been around, but it became something of an art form during the Age of Reason, and is still with us today. As I pointed out in an earlier post, the … More Life, the universe, and why people abuse each other over how to classify it
This week’s obscure English word is swash. It’s really good multi-purpose word. As a noun, swash means the splashing sound of moving water such as an incoming wave; or to walk in a pretentious manner, usually carrying a sword – hence the phrase ‘swash-buckling’. It is also an engineering term: a ‘swash plate’ is the … More The obscure word of the week is swash
It’s National November Writing Month – the month when writers around the world join in a quick-fire effort to complete a story of 50,000 words in just 30 days. I’m marking it this month by re-posting some of the material I’ve published in past years to help writers get to that goal. ++++++++++++++++++++++ As far … More Writing and sweating through NaNoWriMo
