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.<\/p>\n
Before highlighting a few articles, I\u2019d like to focus on three authors in particular: Corrado Fizzarotti, Alessia Dorigoni, and Ludovica Taurisano\u2014not to mention Giacomo Berchi and Matteo Moca, long-time contributors to our journal.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
We did not seek them out. It was they who recognized our journal\u2014often defined by its seniority and a certain \u2018mature\u2019 tone, sometimes even marked by a vehement \u2018old-school\u2019 sensibility\u2014as a fitting editorial platform. We could not be more pleased with this. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Our path is not straightforward, nor is it easy. Finding a dynamic balance between specialization and popularization is a complicated task\u2014navigating broad and often jagged cultural perspectives while ensuring they coalesce into a harmonious blend.<\/p>\n
This issue opens with a strong statement from Alfonso M. Iacono, who critiques the rise of oversimplification. We stand with him. <\/p>\n
Too often, simplification has been wielded as a political tool, used to undermine knowledge, or worse, as a means of crass manipulation.<\/p>\n
Iacono avoids simplicity, offering instead a compelling fluency that is also evident in Alberto Diaspro\u2019s work: his scientific narrative illuminates how technological evolution shapes our worldview and perceptions.<\/p>\n
This is a crucial, even fascinating, exploration.<\/p>\n
Arguably the most transformative force shaking our world today is artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
his 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\u2014up to the point where AI can even generate a detective story.<\/p>\n
This is not the only \u201cproduct of ingenuity\u201d created by AI: in another report, Andrea Barenghi charts the journey of how leading auction houses have overvalued \u201cartistic\u201d products generated by artificial intelligence, potentially sidelining a figure that has been revered since the Renaissance\u2014the author. The traditional, undisputed role of the author is now at risk of disintegration.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, Sabina Alcorn\u2019s magnificent and deeply authorial contribution is a beacon in this issue\u2014a series of drawings that explore the dialectic between realism and abstractionism, particularly in the botanical realm.<\/p>\n
I truly don\u2019t have enough space to do justice to all the features in this issue.<\/p>\n
However, I must mention a few others: a politically charged, sulfurous view of Rome\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The ones we\u2019ve held so far have shown ample interest, curiosity, and engagement with our journal.<\/p>\n