The Amaravati Marbles
Colonial Infophilia, Digital Afterlife, and AI
Infophilia, a Positive Psychology of Information | March 8, 2025 | Vol. 3, Issue 11
✨Welcome to Infophilia, a weekly letter exploring how our love of information and connections can help us all thrive, individually and collectively. 🤗
Cite as: Coleman, Anita S. (2025, March 8). The Amaravati Marbles: colonial infophilia, digital afterlife, and AI. Infophilia, a positive psychology of information, 3 (11).
It became an uncomfortable week when I began catching up on the news last Saturday—especially after my pleasant travel experience shared with a stranger, which I wrote about in The Delightful Art of Conversation. Rather than share either of the essays I’ve been working on—Electronic Reading Rooms / Freedom of Information Act Libraries or AI Consciousness: From Intelligence to Infophilia and Kindness—I’ve decided to publish another story on information flows. This time, it’s literally set in stone—limestone—yet remains anything but hardcoded and I’ve managed to sneak in kindness in AI. 😌
This piece is also a preview (abbreviated) from my upcoming book, Infophilia Unbound.
So, get a cup of tea or your favorite beverage, and settle in for an enchanting and enlightening exploration of information’s past, present, and future. ☕
The Amaravati Marbles: An Information Journey Across Time
Many scholars and visitors admire the magnificent limestone reliefs of Amaravati, dating from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, as more than just exquisite works of art. They are a living story of how human societies engage with information—from sacred narratives carved in stone to digital reconstructions in the age of AI.
The Amaravati collection includes:
Carved relief panels depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha
Buddhist emblems and symbols
Sculptures that were used to decorate the outside of the Great Shrine of Amaravati Stupa in present-day Andhra Pradesh, India
The Jātaka tales—the earliest accounts of the Buddha's past lives—familiar as comics, are classics often heard and performed by those who grew up in India; they are not only carved in the Amaravati marbles but also deeply embedded in cultural traditions.