CONCEPT
Lines and Meshworks (Ingold)
Two models of connection: the network (nodes linked by lines) versus the meshwork (lines that grow, intertwine, and produce intersections through their movement) — distinguishing living from computed creativity.
Ingold distinguishes sharply between network and meshwork. A network is nodes connected by lines — the internet, org charts, social media platforms. Nodes are primary, existing first; connections are secondary, established after. Lines are conduits carrying information between pre-existing points. Intelligence lives at the nodes. A meshwork is lines that grow along their own paths, continually responding to and intertwining with others — a forest floor of roots, hyphae, trails, and water channels. Lines are primary; intersections are produced by the movement of lines, not vice versa. There are no pre-existing nodes. Only lines growing, moving, encountering each other. This distinction describes two fundamentally different structures of creative work and illuminates what changes when AI enters the process.
In The You On AI Field Guide
In the network model, creativity happens at nodes — individual minds processing information and producing outputs. Connections are channels: emails, Slack messages, repositories. The network distributes information; nodes process it. Intelligence is located in individuals. In the