Buterin's tweet seems to be talking about non-fiction books as opposed to literature. If that's the case, he's not wrong. The best selling non-fiction books are just TED talks or articles that have been put into book form to create another revenue stream. My guess is he's never actually read a novel, or poetry, besides something he had to in high school. Even then he would've read the spark notes as he sees books as vectors of data and information as opposed to what they really are, consciousness altering technology, which you correctly point out. Unfortunately, many people who actually like novels, or at least claim to, also make this mistake, saying you should read an author to "learn about a place" or something along those lines. I wonder if Buterin would be more receptive to literature if it was pitched to him as about consciousness, as opposed to learning or transmitting information. Thanks for the thought provoking essay.
Buterin's tweet seems to be talking about non-fiction books as opposed to literature. If that's the case, he's not wrong. The best selling non-fiction books are just TED talks or articles that have been put into book form to create another revenue stream. My guess is he's never actually read a novel, or poetry, besides something he had to in high school. Even then he would've read the spark notes as he sees books as vectors of data and information as opposed to what they really are, consciousness altering technology, which you correctly point out. Unfortunately, many people who actually like novels, or at least claim to, also make this mistake, saying you should read an author to "learn about a place" or something along those lines. I wonder if Buterin would be more receptive to literature if it was pitched to him as about consciousness, as opposed to learning or transmitting information. Thanks for the thought provoking essay.