The Hofmann Wobble: Wikipedia and the problem of historical memory

In this personal essay, Ben Lerner recounts a 2006 cross-country drive through Utah where he encountered a massive migration of black crickets crossing the highway, an experience that starkly contrasted with an audiobook about metaphorical language playing in his car. The encounter became a meditation on the disconnect between abstract language and the raw, sensate reality of the natural world, raising questions about how we represent and remember experiences.