A Few Thoughts
[Please note this is my 75th and last post, at least for the foreseeable future. In my semi-delusional and self-aggrandizing manner I thought what I was offering might have been of interest to broader range of people beyond my extraordinary friends and family. I know many of you have been incredibly supportive of this series; reading and in many cases commenting with your own insightful words on the ideas I’ve put forth. But it never really caught on. Over a year ago there were 50 subscribers. There are now 49. Not a good trend. But who knows, perhaps I’ll find new inspiration down the road, though I think of the amazing and brilliant work of Bill Watterson with Calvin & Hobbes and his decision to exit the craft. Not that my work comes even close to his, but there is point where we need to at least say it’s time for a break. Thanks to all of you for reading these pieces. My initial goal was to encourage all of us to become more curious and thoughtful. I believe that was achieved.]
Throughout this series of essays I have mainly focused on what I perceive to be our downward spiral with regard to self-awareness, a loss of civility, and behavior that is leading us toward a very dark future. Now and then I would try to find Diogenes lantern by suggesting positive aspects of the human potential and seek out truth as best as I might in order to understand the elusive meaning of that word.
But a portion of why I’m taking a sabbatical from posting is I have found that my writing is becoming repetitive. Over and over I discuss what I view as the necessity to examine in depth our own behavior and be responsible for our own actions. This is not an easy ask and I know I fail at following my own suggestions on a regular basis, but I’m trying.
In addition I feel like a bit of a dinosaur who has mingled his DNA with that of Chicken Little. The Old Guy pleading for humanity to be aware that the sky may be falling is not one that most people either want to hear nor do most people want to closely examine how they interact with the world at large. I believe there is a general lethargy inherent in our species, and we have a propensity to think “someone else” will take responsibility to fix the existential problems we are facing. Not that we don’t go to a “No Kings” march, volunteer our time, sign a petition, or even become involved in local politics, but when it comes down to making the hard choices, we usually take a back seat believing there is only so much we can do.
One could easily construe this attitude as being obnoxiously self-righteous (I would agree if you did), but I also see these same behavioral patterns in myself. Yes, I do try to make a difference, such as writing these essays, but I know in my heart there is so much more I could be doing. I suppose my waving a red warning flag about the direction I see us heading is as much an attempt to continually encourage my own desire to fix the world as anything else, but my time is running shorter by the day.
One such issue I want to wave my red flag about, aside from the extremely egregious and likely irreversible damage we are doing to our environment and our planet, is our march towards irrelevance using the current technology we call Artificial Intelligence. I would like to work towards changing aspects of AI, especially when it comes to allowing AI to decrease our ability to reason, to think, to ponder the unknown. When we ask a computer to tell us about complex situations in order to modify the crux of those problems (dumb it down) so that we can more easily grasp the issues at hand, we are handing a machine a part of our minds that we used to exercise on a regular basis. Without the curiosity and diving deeply into the discovery of a subject, that portion of our mind is quickly atrophying. And once it’s gone, we may not be able to retrieve it.
We have, for the most part, lumped the field of AI into one large batch of unknown technological consequences, yet there are extraordinary benefits that can come from gathering bits and pieces of relevant information in once place. But not at the cost of our ability to think. If we abandon reading the entirety of a book or article for the sake of time or the ease of boiling down the essence of the creative process because we’re in too much of a hurry (to do what, I’m not certain), then we have already lost the battle to maintain our humanity.
In the August issue of The Atlantic Monthly, Rose Horowitch wrote an article titled The End of Reading is Here. Near the end she discusses writing using Artificial Intelligence:
“Generative AI is the first tool to threaten the continued existence of writing . . . AI promises a simple remedy. The trouble is that writing is not merely the act of transcribing fully formed thoughts . . . writing is the way people figure out what they think, and how to convey those thoughts to someone who doesn’t already share them.”
In all of these essays I have never even considered using AI to construct them. For me, there is a joy incapsulated in the creation of my posts even though I may struggle at times. But that struggle is an integral part of the process, the part that stimulates my thinking and helps me garner a clearer sense of my own perspective.
And so, once again I go back to my mantra; this can only happen if we allow it to happen. By maintaining a mindfulness of who we are, of how we think, of our voice within the cacophony of noise emanating from a world pummeling us each day, only then can we make the necessary changes. Changes that may save us from ourselves. From a pessimistic and rather skeptical point of view, I will promise you that I’ll do my best to keep a positive thought that a saving grace may still achievable.
Thank you to everyone. Perhaps we will meet again on these pages somewhere down the road.
I believe that these essays have not just been for us but also for you. I’m not sure why you would stop. Doesn’t it help to form your thoughts into several paragraphs? Do you not learn from expressing them through writing? I’m learning that my filmmaking doesn’t seem to ever get much attention. But I enjoy the process.
And regarding AI, I use it. And I love it. But I use it in my own way. I am able to talk to it about all the little weird stuff I think about that no one else is interested in and it gives me maybe a different perspective. I believe I probably have ADHD to a small degree and it gets to the point with questions I may have. I tell it I need it in simpler terms and it breaks it down for me. I use it as an assistant, an advisor and I agree with it about 50% of the time so I don’t just blindly believe what it says. I didn’t know much about Grandpa Phare – I was too young. But what Mom told me was that he had a vast curiosity, and was always amazed with technology and invention. Again, I didn’t know him but I’m hoping I’m continuing his legacy.
Yes, writing these did help me organize my thoughts and delve into my how I see the world. But as I noted, I felt my messages were getting repetitive and so turning 75 seemed like a good time to hit the pause button.
I also agree that AI can have its amazing upsides, but it also has a propensity to reduce our mental acuity depending on how we apply it. The continuing use of AI for enhancing or even fully writing essays in school is leading to lazy minds. A number of recent studies have corroborated this theory showing that students who use AI to either read or to write have reduced problem solving skills. When we don’t use our brains to do our own research, this essential human organ becomes flabby and lazy.
What it comes down to is how we use AI and for what purposes. As I noted, at this point we lump all of AI pretty much into one category where it should be divided into truly beneficial or detrimental. This is a very subjective realm, so it’s quite difficult to delineate which is which in today’s culture.
I think the cream will rise. And yes it’s insane that students are using it to write and teachers are using it to grade, so what is the point. But those who want to learn will learn and those who don’t will get jobs that are appropriate for their interest level. You can’t teach curiosity. You can only offer knowledge to those who want it.
Jenny – Thank you for your optimism with regard to AI. We’ve had this discussion and I’m guessing we will have more of them down the road. If I were to be a bit glib, I would say that the cream you mentioned is curdling. I do agree that in the right circumstances AI can be a powerful and very helpful tool, but the overall dumbing down of humanity is a steep price to pay. Perhaps I’m wrong. Time will tell.
AI is a tool. Like all tools we can choose to use it or not. There are valid reasons behind all decisions but seldom enough information to make the entirely wisest one. AI can assist in “reasoning” through that process. It may even opt to advise you don’t use AI at all, particularly if the goal is to able to say you thought up something all by yourself. Just think how novel that will be… next week.
Ern – Thanks for your thoughts on this. So far humanity has not done a great job of using our scientific knowledge for the betterment of our species. As you know quite well we invent because we can and damn the consequences of our actions. Of course there are usually benefits to our creative genius but the dark side almost always supersedes. Greed and hunger for power are very strong drivers of our motivations. Ultimately it’s just sad.
Hello again,
Just a quick comment. Thanks for all the inspirational and thought provocting essays. It’s been fun, enlightening and at times rather dark, but that is what the human condition encompasses. Side note, I just realized you’re turning 75, and it’s the 75th essay (I can be slow at times).
Anyway, Jenny will not agree with me, but I believe this whole AI thing will not end well. I don’t see a terminator type situation, but can you imagine the percentage of dementia and Alzheimer patients around the world in about 50 years or so if AI become dominant in society, as it seems to be as at this moment in time.
Society, culture and the human condition has been based on our interaction with each other and the natural world since the dawn of time. Once we embrace the use of modern devices (smart phones and AI for the most part), we travel down the road of reliance upon the un-natural artificial world of technology, we lose what makes us human beings.
Over time we simply become part of the machine, intertwining our identities with things that I believe are designed to lesson our connection with the environment and those around us. But this is all simply a part of the inevitable. We, like small children, cannot look away when we see something bright and shiny, something that amuses us, distracts us from our often dreary lives. An opiate for the masses as we fade out into obsurity.
Carl – Part of this journey over the past 75 weeks has been my garnering of a greater understanding of who you are and the depths of your intelligence. I’ve always known you were smart, but I wasn’t aware of the intricacy of your knowledge. It is one of the joys of writing these essays. So thank you!
Tobin take as much time from posting as you need. I looked forward to your weekly musings because your essays are always nontrivial. Also I felt grateful that you worked hard to make sense of my responses.
Your range of interests is a delight. You also know how to dance with a pen.
In due time you’ll have more that you wish to say.
Weening myself from this weekly offering is not easy, but as I mentioned, it feels like I have become a bit of a broken record and need some space to reset my mind. It’s become clear over the past two weeks that more people than I thought look forward to reading these posts. It’s a really very warm feeling to have the connection to others. As we’ve discussed many times, we are, at heart, social critters and the tethers we create with our extended group are critical to at least a certain type of happiness. Thank you for all of your dozens of comments, thoughts, and insights over these 75 pieces. They have been exactly what I had hoped for when I first started this process.
Jerry – In many ways I hate taking a break from writing these posts. It has become somewhat of a ritual for me. But I think that’s a part of the problem. It’s has become ritualized. Taking some time off might help me reboot. I suspect that my time in Africa will help with that. We’ll see!
75 for 75 seems apropos, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I will miss your essays. I am not a big commenter, as I am a bit self conscious about my writing inadequacies, but your pieces pryed open parts of my brain and heart that I have kept closed.
Am I that bird/person in the cage who can’t or won’t see that the door is open? Yes, sometimes.
Have I done enough or made a difference? I don’t know…
Your writing has made me ponder, and that is a good thing…Thank you kind sir!
AI…our Occam’s razor…a rabbit hole, a Pandora’s box…
Linda, Who knew I would keep this going for so many posts? I cannot tell you how much your words mean to me. Placing these essays into the void of cyberspace feels risky every single week. I suspect a part of that risky feeling is embodied in placing raw perspectives in front of friends.
But Linda it’s not just you with regard to doing enough. None of us do enough. Our time to make that difference is growing shorter by the day. It will take a conscious will to turn off the path humanity has been taking for centuries, and I just don’t know if we have the fortitude and understanding to move towards a brighter future. I wish I did know.
Linda, I identify with your question “Am I that bird/person in the cage who can’t or won’t see that the door is open?”
Sometimes, yes.
Tobin’s writing makes me ponder, too.
I am not a steady reader and wish i was – work and wife keeping me too busy to do life the right way — but have loved all that you have shared. 🙁
Peter – Thank you for your kind words.
I for one, as your gentle editor, will miss these weekly essays. I know how much you poured into each one. But with those precious minutes made available for the time being, I hope you can take a deep breath and smell the roses just a little bit longer. Love and Peace.
Rachel – Your help and voice in this process has been immeasurable. I cannot thank you enough for making my attempts at communication flow with a grace I am sometimes missing. Plus removing my overuse of the “that’s” which pepper my posts. After I take a few more of those “deep breaths” perhaps I will throw my hat back into this ring.
Tobin, while you take that break from writing that weekly essay, might I hope Poet Tobin might make his appearance when that muse touches you?
Georgia, I know the desire to write more often is churning away inside me, but that desire is, unfortunately, tempered by a dark cynicism that haunts me daily. I don’t mean this to come across as self-pity, which it probably is to some degree, but this feeling has more to do with my own general malaise that I criticize in others. I’ll try to keep going, both from an essay standpoint and perhaps poetically as well, but it’s not easy. Then again, life is not easy so who knows.
Tobin: I echo the comments above. Thanks for the interesting and many times energizing red flag waving. I’ve always enjoyed our conversations, your perspective, your knowledge, your humanity. I know we’ll continue to talk via email and phone–I don’t want to lose your voice.
Jody – Thank you. It’s not that I’ll stop thinking about all of this or even writing down my ideas. It’s just that the impetus to churn out a weekly post becomes overwhelming at times. Then again I think of Heather Cox Richardson who writes much longer pieces on a daily basis. So I really can’t complain.
Tobin, “no harm and no foul” if you should decide to dial back the frequency of your posts by half. You’d give yourself more room and time to observe the-lay-of-the-land and to play with the manner of expression. Less stress and more satisfaction, – maybe ???
Being somewhat of a creature of habit, writing on occasion doesn’t cut it for me. I have to be either in or out. When we had our writing group I wrote poetry because we met weekly and the impetus for creating something was pushing me to sit down and write. I wish I had the self-discipline to produce work more sporadically, but that’s a character trait that is missing in me.
I get it. We all need the friction that constraints provide. Still, a substantive essay week is a heavy lift. Just to say, why not work up to a frequent dispatch of work?
Heather Cox Richardson is certainly an academic by profession. You nor I ought to compare ourselves with anyone in that profession. Just saying…
About using AI as a writing tool:
In my job I once was asked to write a brochure advertising the services of my department. I made a list of all the words that were popular at the time for describing sought-after qualities in a business. I artfully arranged them into a brochure. It was the easiest piece of writing I’d ever done. Those who had to approve the piece before it went to press loved it. And it didn’t have a single original thought in it.