This issue of Prometeo 168 is particularly rich and dense: as usual, fitting all the features into the table of contents was a tough challenge. Before highlighting a few articles, I’d like to focus on three authors in particular: Corrado Fizzarotti, Alessia Dorigoni, and Ludovica Taurisano—not to mention Giacomo Berchi and Matteo Moca, long-time contributors to our journal.
Why them? Because they represent a new generation of researchers, scholars, and thinkers. While their youth differs by age, they are united by a shared commitment to both follow and innovate upon the paths laid before them, each leaving their own distinct mark on the field.
We did not seek them out. It was they who recognized our journal—often defined by its seniority and a certain ‘mature’ tone, sometimes even marked by a vehement ‘old-school’ sensibility—as a fitting editorial platform. We could not be more pleased with this.
I recall once, at a meeting I can no longer place, making an impassioned prediction: that it would be a renewed interest from younger generations that would show us we were on the right track. Our path is not straightforward, nor is it easy. Finding a dynamic balance between specialization and popularization is a complicated task—navigating broad and often jagged cultural perspectives while ensuring they coalesce into a harmonious blend.
This issue opens with a strong statement from Alfonso M. Iacono, who critiques the rise of oversimplification. We stand with him. Too often, simplification has been wielded as a political tool, used to undermine knowledge, or worse, as a means of crass manipulation.
Iacono avoids simplicity, offering instead a compelling fluency that is also evident in Alberto Diaspro’s work: his scientific narrative illuminates how technological evolution shapes our worldview and perceptions. This is a crucial, even fascinating, exploration.
Arguably the most transformative force shaking our world today is artificial intelligence. This issue revisits the theme with a Crossover feature in which four experts explain the performance and growing pervasiveness of neural networks across a wide range of applications—up to the point where AI can even generate a detective story.
This is not the only “product of ingenuity” created by AI: in another report, Andrea Barenghi charts the journey of how leading auction houses have overvalued “artistic” products generated by artificial intelligence, potentially sidelining a figure that has been revered since the Renaissance—the author. The traditional, undisputed role of the author is now at risk of disintegration.
Fortunately, Sabina Alcorn’s magnificent and deeply authorial contribution is a beacon in this issue—a series of drawings that explore the dialectic between realism and abstractionism, particularly in the botanical realm.
I truly don’t have enough space to do justice to all the features in this issue. However, I must mention a few others: a politically charged, sulfurous view of Rome’s gladiators; a five-part Crossover on cults and saints; a memoir for Nanni Bignami; a critical reading of the issues surrounding private occupation of public space; a delightful quasi-anthropological examination of photostory culture; and the latest book by Senator Elena Cattaneo (a book closely connected to us).
I am running out of space, but I would like to dedicate my final few lines to a proposal: I invite our readers and subscribers to imagine Prometeo presentations in their cities. The ones we’ve held so far have shown ample interest, curiosity, and engagement with our journal.
If anyone has ideas, please feel free to reach out to me at: direttore@prometeoliberato.com.
In the meantime, I wish everyone a joyful holiday season.
Gabriella Piroli