Not X But Y - a warning from the past

I was revisiting Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking (2013) by philosopher Daniel C. Dennett - and was interested see that years before constructions like “Not X, but Y” became an indicator of AI writing, he was warning that they could also be a sign of a writer attempting a logical sleight of hand… ...

24 May 2026 · 4 min · 685 words · Terry
Chris O'Dowd and Anna Maxwell Martin in Constellations at the Vaudeville Theatre directed by Michael Longhurst. Photo Marc Brenner

Constellations - plays branching and switching - and fragmentary Tolkien

I’d heard great things about, but never got to see, Nick Payne’s two-hander play “Constellations” featuring a cosmologist, a bee-keeper, and branching scenes to show the many alternative ways their story could have gone. (The Guardian explains more in its review of the original production.) So I was excited to see it appear for streaming on National Theatre at Home, with Anna Maxwell Martin and Chris O’Dowd… ...

7 May 2024 · 2 min · 397 words · Terry

A Tom Stoppard riddle

As my mind wandered while assembling some flat-pack furniture, I was (perhaps inordinately) pleased with myself for coming up with a riddle about one of my favourite playwrights. ...

21 Apr 2021 · 1 min · 52 words · Terry

A Tom Stoppard riddle - with answer

As my mind wandered while assembling some flat-pack furniture, I was (perhaps inordinately) pleased with myself for coming up with a riddle about one of my favourite playwrights. ...

21 Apr 2021 · 1 min · 96 words · Terry