mcc
Thinking about how it *feels* like there's a kind of connection between native south american Quipu and irish Ogham but I can't, like, articulate exactly what the connection is or whether anything is actually important about it
Aug 23, 2024 at 4:33pmWeb
Show threadFi 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 23, 2024

@mcc

they're both ways to encode information along a linear substrate, so they kinda exist within the same conceptual space yeah....

Show threadmccAug 23, 2024
@munin I think to me it's the fact that it's designed around something else that was already in the environment (less so for quipu than ogham?)
Show threadFi 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 23, 2024

@mcc

I think it's more to do with neither culture having access to paper or paper-like flat surfaces?

Show threadmccAug 23, 2024
@munin Paper is actually a pretty difficult technology
Show threadFi 🏳️‍⚧️Aug 23, 2024

@mcc

definitely! having tried to make it before, coming up with something that's a decent writing surface is a fucking challenge. It's a -skill- and not an easy one to do well.

and if you're in early Ireland or Peru, there's just not any good material around to make it with, so you're kinda stuck with carving shit into sticks or turning string into an encoding method....

Show threadSpiky CaterpillarAug 24, 2024
@mcc add Morse to the list.
Show threadmccAug 25, 2024
@SpikyCaterpillar "Is time a material"
Show threadSpiky CaterpillarAug 25, 2024
@mcc it is the most linear materiall that we have access to