
Media for Thinking the Unthinkable (2013) - rfreytag
http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/
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kanobo
Bret Victor is the modern day equivalent of Alan Kay. Hopefully in a decade we
will see the fruits of his ideas everywhere in tomorrow's software and
machines.

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germinalphrase
Maybe. I find his talks fascinating and energizing (he’s clearly a sharper guy
than me), but Dynamicland feels like the ornithopter of ubiquitous computing.
It will be cool, clever and instructive - but why mess around with all that
paper and dots when AR will do that and more?

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kanobo
I didn't mean to suggest Bret's projects and his output will literally
manifest as-is in the future. I don't want paper dots or 80's style dynabooks
in my living room. My intention was to say that I hope his ideas are catalysts
for the next generation's innovators like Alan Kay's ideas were.

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megameter
My main criticism of Victor is that his software demos overshadow the
concepts. They're extremely flashy and don't recenter the main thesis.

And the concepts themselves are more like popularizations of the Engelbart-Kay
dialectic than an original perspective.

Despite that, I reference his talks fairly often, so I guess this is a case of
"Thanks, I hate it."

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willemlabu
There is a well-hidden note in the footer that is well worth a read.

[http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/note.ht...](http://worrydream.com/MediaForThinkingTheUnthinkable/note.html)

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katzgrau
I've been thinking about this exact same problem. I also think that
unthinkable for one person is not necessarily unthinkable for another -
because people tend to create their own mental models, however robust or
limited, to help them understand things. Sometimes the reason I have a
difficult time learning something is simply because I haven't found the right
mental model.

Oh, and human language is a subpar medium to transfer thoughts and ideas.

The effects of finding new mental models can be profound. It spurs advances in
science but probably also has the potential to reposition our thinking when it
comes to more abstract concepts like existence, god, etc. I think we can
become an overall wiser species by searching for the mental models that fit us
best.

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john4534243
I really did not understand what the DynamicLand is about. I get that vaguely
it is a place to think physically and share ideas. But how will it be
implemented concretely ? For example lets say i want to learn about
aerodynamics or electromagnetism. The only possible way i could think is to do
the math and think about the equation mostly in solitude. How would
DynamicLand change the learning ?

