Persistent Paleontology - Revision history

Caseorganic at 13:10, 25 August 2026

2026-08-25T13:10:28Z

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	===Definition===		===Definition===
	Persistent paleontology ~~is a way of describing~~ the ~~system of All~~ electronically mediated subjects act ~~in ways that are increasingly paleontological~~. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The ~~E-mail~~ inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		Persistent paleontology describes the condition in which electronically mediated subjects increasingly act as excavators of their own accumulated records. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The email inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	~~"Those~~ who ~~interact~~ with ~~a number~~ is a persistent paleontologist~~. Everyone is now a paleontologist,~~ always going out to ~~E-mail~~, searching, digging up what ~~one needs~~ at the moment, and finding what got buried before."<ref>~~Forever~~ Paleontology. Metaphortean~~. Published~~ 17 ~~Sept. 2011. Accessed 22 April 2011~~. http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/</ref>~~{{citation needed}}~~		Everyone who interacts with an archive of their own past is now a persistent paleontologist: always going out to email, searching, digging up what is needed at the moment, and finding what got buried before.<ref>"Forbidden Paleontology." Metaphortean, 17 September 2009. http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/</ref>

			===The Sedimentary Metaphor===
			The term's force comes from the specific geological analogy. A sediment is not organised; it is deposited. Layers accumulate in the order they arrived, without regard to their importance, and the record of a significant event and the record of a trivial one are laid down by the same process at the same rate. Retrieval is therefore always excavation: you must know roughly where to dig, and you must move a great deal of material that does not interest you to reach the material that does.

			This distinguishes the digital archive sharply from earlier personal records. A filing cabinet, a photo album or a shelf of diaries is curated at the point of storage — someone decided what went in, and that decision is itself a form of indexing. Systems that store by default remove that step. Nothing is chosen, so nothing is indexed by choice, and the burden of selection is deferred to the moment of retrieval, where it is much harder.

			===Why Digging Is the Normal Interaction===
			Several properties of contemporary systems make excavation, rather than browsing, the default:

			* '''Reverse chronology.''' Feeds and inboxes are ordered by recency, which means importance and position are unrelated, and anything older than a few days is functionally inaccessible without search.
			* '''Storage cheaper than deletion.''' The effort of deciding what to discard exceeds the cost of keeping it, so nothing is discarded.
			* '''Volume outpacing memory.''' The number of items a person generates has grown much faster than their ability to recall having generated them, so people search their own archives for facts about themselves.
			* '''Search as the only index.''' Where the sole retrieval mechanism is a query box, you can only find what you can already name — which is a poor tool for the very common case of looking for something you have forgotten the name of.

			===Effects===
			The practical consequence is a distinctive kind of labour: continuous, low-grade, unrewarded archival work performed by every user on their own behalf. It produces its own anxieties — the sense that something important is in there somewhere, the reluctance to declare an inbox finished, the dread attached to a folder rather than to its contents. It also produces a new relationship to one's own past, in which old material surfaces without being sought, delivered by systems designed to resurface it.

	===Related Reading===		===Related Reading===
	*[[Hyperlinked Memories]]		* [[Hyperlinked Memories]]
			* [[Information Multiplicity: American Fiction in the Age of Media Saturation]]
			* [[The Poetics of Space]]
			* [[Frictional Interface]]

	==References==		===References===
	<references />		<references/>

	[[Category:~~Book Pages~~]]		[[Category:Cyborg Anthropology]]
	[[Category:~~Finished]]~~		[[Category:Information Society]]
	~~[[Category:Illustrated V2~~]]

Caseorganic at 23:49, 7 August 2012

2012-08-07T23:49:59Z

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	[[Category:Book Pages]]		[[Category:Book Pages]]
	[[Category:Finished]]		[[Category:Finished]]
			[[Category:Illustrated V2]]

Caseorganic at 01:20, 31 July 2011

2011-07-31T01:20:04Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:20, 31 July 2011
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	Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	"Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to E-mail, searching, digging up what one needs at the moment, and finding what got buried before."<ref>Forever Paleontology. Metaphortean. Published 17 Sept. 2011. Accessed 22 April 2011. http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/</ref>		"Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to E-mail, searching, digging up what one needs at the moment, and finding what got buried before."<ref>Forever Paleontology. Metaphortean. Published 17 Sept. 2011. Accessed 22 April 2011. http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/</ref>{{citation needed}}

	===Related Reading===		===Related Reading===

Caseorganic at 01:19, 31 July 2011

2011-07-31T01:19:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:19, 31 July 2011
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	Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to E-mail, searching, digging up what one needs at the moment, and finding what got buried before.<ref>[http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ ~~Forever Paleontology]~~</ref>		"Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to E-mail, searching, digging up what one needs at the moment, and finding what got buried before."<ref>Forever Paleontology. Metaphortean. Published 17 Sept. 2011. Accessed 22 April 2011. http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/</ref>

	===Related Reading===		===Related Reading===

Caseorganic at 01:18, 31 July 2011

2011-07-31T01:18:25Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:18, 31 July 2011
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	Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to ~~email~~, searching, digging up what ~~you need. Finding~~ what got buried before.		Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to E-mail, searching, digging up what one needs at the moment, and finding what got buried before.<ref>[http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]</ref>

	~~For more, see~~ [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]

	===Related Reading===		===Related Reading===
	*[[Hyperlinked Memories]]		*[[Hyperlinked Memories]]

			==References==
			<references />

	[[Category:Book Pages]]		[[Category:Book Pages]]
	[[Category:~~Marked for Editing~~]]		[[Category:Finished]]

Caseorganic at 00:40, 27 June 2011

2011-06-27T00:40:29Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 00:40, 27 June 2011
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	===Definition===		===Definition===
	All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		Persistent paleontology is a way of describing the system of All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.		Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.

	For more, see [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]		For more, see [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]

Caseorganic at 19:50, 6 June 2011

2011-06-06T19:50:40Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:50, 6 June 2011
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			===Definition===
	All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.		All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

	~~See: [http://metaphortean~~.~~wordpress~~.~~com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]~~		Those who interact with a number is a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paleontologist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.

	~~Everyone has a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paloonlogist, always going out to email, searching~~, ~~digging up what you need~~. ~~Finding what got buried before~~.		For more, see [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]

			===Related Reading===
			*[[Hyperlinked Memories]]

	[[Category:Book Pages]]		[[Category:Book Pages]]
	[[Category:~~Unfinished~~]]		[[Category:Marked for Editing]]

Caseorganic at 19:18, 24 January 2011

2011-01-24T19:18:56Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:18, 24 January 2011
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	Everyone has a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paloonlogist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.		Everyone has a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paloonlogist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.

			[[Category:Book Pages]]
			[[Category:Unfinished]]

Caseorganic at 01:45, 27 November 2010

2010-11-27T01:45:31Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 01:45, 27 November 2010
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	See: [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]		See: [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]

			Everyone has a persistent paleontologist. Everyone is now a paloonlogist, always going out to email, searching, digging up what you need. Finding what got buried before.

Caseorganic: Created page with 'All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expa…'

2010-05-16T05:10:29Z

Created page with 'All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expa…'

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All electronically mediated subjects act in ways that are increasingly paleontological. Facebook is a system with layers of geological history. The E-mail inbox is a rapidly expanding site of excavation which one must continually query. The newness of everything buries one's ability to reach it without digging.

See: [http://metaphortean.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/forbidden-palentology/ Forever Paleontology]