Fantastic stuff. Agree with everything - including the coming of the new luddite moment. Went to see a local guy I like - Andy Bender - last night and the opender Adam Ditt - had some fantastic anti AI and anti social media songs. I welcome this revolution.
AI will be great at convergent thinking, but I doubt it will be good at the divergent thinking that is the basis for creativity and innovation. That requires bringing together disparate ideas, facts, or things that don't seem to go together or have any relationship to one another and creating something new that would make no sense to the logical mind. It's what musicians, fiction writers, poets, visual artists, other creators, and inventors do as the essence of their work. As you say, AI is likely to produce things that are logical and derivative. Let AI do that kind of work and free us up to get in the creative flow state and produce the new and different. Which is the really fun part anyway.
My attention span for movies has decreased substantially - I used to devour them. Now I find that my mind craves "agency" regardless of how much I need to chill. When everything is easier and instantly accessible, the struggle is gone, the grit is gone. So it's like cheating on a test instead of reading the book and absorbing it and synthesizing it. I worry about this all the time.
Prior to Covid, I used to read 1-2 books a week. During the lockdown period, I managed to read one entire book. Since then, I just don't have the ability to read. I fall asleep. I don't have the attention span any longer. Why is that? I blame my smartphone. I learned to doom scroll during the pandemic. Recently, I was up to 40 hours a week on social media via my phone, mostly on reddit. I was recently banned from reddit and my phone time dropped dramatically, thankfully. I need to get back to reading and continue using my phone and technology less. Maybe I'll try your method of mind clearing, John. I can see that working for me.
I enjoyed hearing about your process, John. Have you read How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell? I read it six years ago when it was published and plan to revisit it this summer.
It's a terrific read and the title that doesn't do it justice. Odell draws on historical, cultural, philosophical, and artistic references to build an argument for resisting the demands of capitalism, avoiding the traps of persuasive design (especially in our social media apps), and reengaging with the world around us in all of its wonderful sounds, sights, and smells.
AMEN!! And not only is it stealing our creativity and ability to think, it's also alienating us from real human connection and robbing us of every social skill.
Great essay ! Some of your views on creativity are similar to ones found in “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin and “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield—- both great reads.
Fantastic stuff. Agree with everything - including the coming of the new luddite moment. Went to see a local guy I like - Andy Bender - last night and the opender Adam Ditt - had some fantastic anti AI and anti social media songs. I welcome this revolution.
AI will be great at convergent thinking, but I doubt it will be good at the divergent thinking that is the basis for creativity and innovation. That requires bringing together disparate ideas, facts, or things that don't seem to go together or have any relationship to one another and creating something new that would make no sense to the logical mind. It's what musicians, fiction writers, poets, visual artists, other creators, and inventors do as the essence of their work. As you say, AI is likely to produce things that are logical and derivative. Let AI do that kind of work and free us up to get in the creative flow state and produce the new and different. Which is the really fun part anyway.
My attention span for movies has decreased substantially - I used to devour them. Now I find that my mind craves "agency" regardless of how much I need to chill. When everything is easier and instantly accessible, the struggle is gone, the grit is gone. So it's like cheating on a test instead of reading the book and absorbing it and synthesizing it. I worry about this all the time.
Prior to Covid, I used to read 1-2 books a week. During the lockdown period, I managed to read one entire book. Since then, I just don't have the ability to read. I fall asleep. I don't have the attention span any longer. Why is that? I blame my smartphone. I learned to doom scroll during the pandemic. Recently, I was up to 40 hours a week on social media via my phone, mostly on reddit. I was recently banned from reddit and my phone time dropped dramatically, thankfully. I need to get back to reading and continue using my phone and technology less. Maybe I'll try your method of mind clearing, John. I can see that working for me.
I enjoyed hearing about your process, John. Have you read How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell? I read it six years ago when it was published and plan to revisit it this summer.
It's a terrific read and the title that doesn't do it justice. Odell draws on historical, cultural, philosophical, and artistic references to build an argument for resisting the demands of capitalism, avoiding the traps of persuasive design (especially in our social media apps), and reengaging with the world around us in all of its wonderful sounds, sights, and smells.
Yes! A very thought-provoking read.
AMEN!! And not only is it stealing our creativity and ability to think, it's also alienating us from real human connection and robbing us of every social skill.
Great essay ! Some of your views on creativity are similar to ones found in “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin and “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield—- both great reads.