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The Daily Triptych087 / 365

28 MAR 2026

Day 87

Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

William Bruce Cameron · Informal Sociology
An elaborate calligraphic monogram in gold and coloured pigments, with three vertical strokes rising on the left and an ornate horizontal oval extending to the right, densely filled with interlaced letters and vegetal decoration.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

The Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent

Ottoman · Early Modern · Imperial monogram and seal

Suleiman the Magnificent signed nothing. Instead, his name and titles were drawn as an intricate cipher at the top of every decree, part signature, part seal, part emblem of state authority.

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II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Vector Search

Systems and judgement · HNSW (Hierarchical Navigable Small World) · Recall versus speed

A dense vector has no index in the usual sense. To find the nearest neighbours you could measure every distance, but that scales badly. The systems that make search feasible all trade recall for speed.

Enter lesson 7 MIN
A large reddish-brown bull painted on pale limestone, its body in profile, horns facing forward. The rock surface is uneven, and the animal's shoulder follows a natural bulge in the stone.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

The Painted Caves of Lascaux

Upper Palaeolithic · c. 17,000–22,000 years ago · Mineral pigment on limestone

Hundreds of animals drawn on limestone walls deep underground, using the rock's own bulges to give them volume. The site is now sealed to protect what daylight began to destroy.

Enter lesson 7 MIN