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The Daily Triptych081 / 365

22 MAR 2026

Day 81

The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do.

B. F. Skinner · Contingencies of Reinforcement
Silver jewellery including large triangular fibulae with geometric engraving, heavy necklaces, and bracelets, photographed against a neutral background.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

Amazigh Silver Jewellery

Amazigh (Berber) · Maghreb, North Africa · Silver

Women in rural North Africa wore their wealth as silver triangular brooches and heavy necklaces, made by silversmiths who often stood outside the community — sometimes Jewish craftsmen working in Berber styles.

Enter lesson 6 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Running an Open-Weight Model Locally

Hardware and local inference · llama.cpp, Ollama, MLX · Running 7B–70B parameter models on consumer hardware

Ollama gives you a one-line install and a chat interface. llama.cpp gives you control over every quantisation and sampling parameter. MLX gives you Metal acceleration on Apple silicon. All three run the same weights.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

Written before source checking was enforced · facts in this lesson are unverified

A tall carved wooden pole with stacked human figures along its length and an elaborate openwork projection at the top, painted with white and red pigment.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

An Asmat Bisj Pole

Asmat, south-western New Guinea · Mangrove wood, pigment · Memorial raised during bisj feast

The Asmat carve a single mangrove upside down, turning its root buttress into an openwork blade. The pole is raised for the dead, used once, then abandoned to rot in the forest.

Enter lesson 6 MIN

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