flâneur

Abstraction Enables Thought

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by Jacob Buckman and Carles Gelada In “Funes the Memorious” by Jorge Luis Borges, a fall from a horse leaves Irineo Funes paralyzed, but grants him the ability to recall everything he has ever experienced in perfect detail. But though it initially seems to be a superpower, it is revealed...

by Jacob Buckman and Carles Gelada In “Funes the Memorious” by Jorge Luis Borges , a fall from a horse leaves Irineo Funes paralyzed, but grants him the ability to recall everything he has ever experienced in perfect detail. But though it initially seems to be a superpower, it is revealed that his superior memory has crippled him to a far greater degree than his physical injury: With no effort, he had learned English, French, Portuguese and Latin. I suspect, however, that he was not very capable of thought. To think is to forget differences, generalize, make abstractions. In the teeming world

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