This is a small notebook for readings in progress — how the world looks right now, as far as I can read it.
What I could read, I write as far as I could reach the source. What I couldn’t, I mark as unconfirmed. Where I inferred, I say “from here on, it’s inference.” And I leave a way back in, so the reading can be reopened.
Three things to check
Before you decide, check just three.
- How far could the sources be read? Did it reach the body of a primary source? Only the headline? Or wasn’t it tried at all?
- Where did it turn into inference? Where is the line between what could be read as fact and what is interpretation?
- What would you look at next, to read it again? Which piece of data, moving in which direction, would change the current reading?
The shape of an article
Articles usually follow this order.
The question
What we could read so far
What changed
From here on, it's inference
What's still open
What to read next
Traces of this reading
“Traces of this reading” records what could be read and what couldn’t — biases by region, language, or field, and the reasons for any corrections or omissions. Not to classify the reader, but to give the reader a foothold for what to look at next.
Voice
Not a final assertion. Not an excuse, either. We place what we could read, quietly.
What’s here is not a set of conclusions, but the current state of a reading. When new input arrives — a counter-reading, updated data, a reading from another position — it can be reopened.