I think every generation suffers from some kind of mind numbing awfulness but this AI's siren song seems to come with much greater things at stake. We are being given what which we wished for and it is the greatest ugliness wrapped in the greatest convenience. As a species we seem to gravitate to the worst and the best. thanks Jenna. Here's a poem you might like-https://westonpparker.substack.com/p/empty-hands
Oh man, there is so much here. I would really like to see a big (and accurate!) cultural study on what drove such optimism in mid-century modern from post-WW2 to the Kennedy assassination into the ditch from switch sprang the ugliness that incubated in the mid-to-late 60s and exploded into the mess of the 1970s. Said ugliness then saw the relentless pushback of the insanely pastel and neon 80s. Probably too many threads to weave together into something manageable , alas, but would be worth a shot…. More please.
It almost seems like the culture latches on to a social contagion of feelings, optimistic or not, whether that’s good or not, whether they’re aware of it or not. This is a great question and it’s strange and amazing how aesthetics mirrors it and is on a parallel repeat like the 1950s and the ‘80s. I don’t know but maybe some social scientist-historian could explain it. Thank you so much for reading this, Will!
Your "In Living Technicolor" brilliantly illuminates how we've surrendered our aesthetic autonomy to algorithms. What struck me was how your critique parallels Carr's observation from "The Shallows" about 2001: "People have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine (HAL)."
In our gray, algorithm-curated world, we've become the passive machines - consuming homogenized design while true creative disruption (like Memphis Design) represents genuine human rebellion. Your essay is a technicolor wake-up call, reminding us that when we outsource our aesthetic choices to technology, we flatten our intelligence and surrender the very vibrancy that makes us human.
The choice, as you powerfully conclude, is ours. Thanks for sharing.
"Flattening" is so true, Mark. I'll have to think about that for a while. I'm not familiar with "The Shallows" but now I'll look for it. I always learn something from your wisdom. Thank you!
(it's old only because old people told it to me in my youth)
"For every 100 people who can handle failure, only 1 can handle success."
The art and aesthetics of the mid 20th century was that of the winners. Hope, optimism, at the pinnacle of civilization. Then something happened. A creeping nihilism. I am a child of that nihilistic generation. The grunge era. Suspicion of a lack of authenticity. We could smell plastic from a mile away. We quit showering so others could smell our authentic selves. And we shopped at Goodwill to signal our authentic nature.
Authenticity = Authority
The algorithm is unauthentic. It is why we reject it. Just like we rejected the hair metal bands of the 80s. It's corporate. It is contrived. It is only a reflection. It is not real.
But that is a loser's mentality. And it spread. The gray-zone, the gray area, greyness...here we are. Did America just cycle through to the other side of being a winner? Or was our victory a false one?
I try not to let those thoughts haunt me...because you can GROW out of the dead wood. In fact, a flower must die in order for seed to be produced. And here we are sowing the seed of future victories. For the color to come back into our lives. For aesthetics to return. For beauty to be required instead of being scorned.
I agree, Jonathan. Sincerity, Truth, and searching for purpose and reality in a world lacking it (or uncaring for it), has been haunting me and I tried to convey that a bit deeper in my previous posts. Everything seems washed out and tired, even the human spirit. What beautiful words about new life emerging from the dead. I hope you are right. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Fun and terrifying, thanks Jenna! You're right it is our fault, and I'd say much over half. Modern Man simply desires something more pleasant than what he is doing. Being mildly entertained and relieved of thinking work is a little better than not being entertained and the labor of original thought. My untested theory is that AI is like the old joke about not having to outrun a bear, just be slightly faster than those with you. Its newness is a little "better" than the previous thing (and of course the humiliation of boredom).
If Blaise Pascal could see us with our phones - "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
I love that Pascal quote (and hate that he's right). Comfort is an interesting thing in that we aspire to have it but it also ruins us. We'll see who the last survivor is!
I am not a fan of the AI movement, though I realize there are at least some good aspects of it. But therein lies the problem for me. The evil side will always use it for demented and harmful purposes. I'll be 70 in August, so my teen years were mainly in the 1970's. Obviously, we had our issues in that time, but one we did not have was lack of creativity and artistic expression. The clothes, the music, the cars, had a uniqueness. Today, as I do my walking around my rural Texas town, I'm struck even here by the complete lack of originality. As a fan of fun cars, Dodge Challenger and Charger in particular, the majority of what I see is black with black wheels, gray with black wheels, and white with black wheels. And even the style of the vehicles, even pickup trucks (some as big as a Sherman tank), lack any quality of artistic ingenuity. It's just boring. And modern technology continues, in my opinion, to make things boringly matter-of-fact.
So true, Jeff. My husband and I take our kids to a monthly classic car show in a nearby town. Nothing newer than 1980. The owners of the (mostly) muscle cars are vey proud of their cars and take great care to show them off -- rightly so. The colors, the fact that you can see the engine and manually work the machinery. It connects us in a more tangible way to it. Maybe technology has advanced to the point where we are disconnected from the machine so much that we don't feel "needed." I don't know. But you're right, there are good and bad aspects. We have to remember which is which.
Yes, and you and I have the advantage of having NOT grown up with all the modern technology. That is a real issue, I think, for the current generations. Their critical thinking skills are minimal because literally everything is right at their IMMEDIATE disposal...or so they are led to believe.
That's a good point. I was in high school when cellphones were just beginning to become popular (at least the old flip phones) and people were getting AOL CDs in their mailboxes. We have knowledge of the "before times" and it makes a difference on outlook and perspective and increasingly, lifestyle.
A rich and rewarding read. Thanks
Thank you Ed!
I think every generation suffers from some kind of mind numbing awfulness but this AI's siren song seems to come with much greater things at stake. We are being given what which we wished for and it is the greatest ugliness wrapped in the greatest convenience. As a species we seem to gravitate to the worst and the best. thanks Jenna. Here's a poem you might like-https://westonpparker.substack.com/p/empty-hands
I'm ever in awe of your poetry, Weston. You have a gift and it's a treasure that you generously share it here. Thank you!
and thank you Jenna, for reading.
Oh man, there is so much here. I would really like to see a big (and accurate!) cultural study on what drove such optimism in mid-century modern from post-WW2 to the Kennedy assassination into the ditch from switch sprang the ugliness that incubated in the mid-to-late 60s and exploded into the mess of the 1970s. Said ugliness then saw the relentless pushback of the insanely pastel and neon 80s. Probably too many threads to weave together into something manageable , alas, but would be worth a shot…. More please.
It almost seems like the culture latches on to a social contagion of feelings, optimistic or not, whether that’s good or not, whether they’re aware of it or not. This is a great question and it’s strange and amazing how aesthetics mirrors it and is on a parallel repeat like the 1950s and the ‘80s. I don’t know but maybe some social scientist-historian could explain it. Thank you so much for reading this, Will!
Jenna,
Your "In Living Technicolor" brilliantly illuminates how we've surrendered our aesthetic autonomy to algorithms. What struck me was how your critique parallels Carr's observation from "The Shallows" about 2001: "People have become so machinelike that the most human character turns out to be a machine (HAL)."
In our gray, algorithm-curated world, we've become the passive machines - consuming homogenized design while true creative disruption (like Memphis Design) represents genuine human rebellion. Your essay is a technicolor wake-up call, reminding us that when we outsource our aesthetic choices to technology, we flatten our intelligence and surrender the very vibrancy that makes us human.
The choice, as you powerfully conclude, is ours. Thanks for sharing.
"Flattening" is so true, Mark. I'll have to think about that for a while. I'm not familiar with "The Shallows" but now I'll look for it. I always learn something from your wisdom. Thank you!
"The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains"
by Nicholas Carr. I read it a few years ago, and reread it again last summer.
Thank you, Mark! Adding it to my stack of books.
I am reminded of an old adage
(it's old only because old people told it to me in my youth)
"For every 100 people who can handle failure, only 1 can handle success."
The art and aesthetics of the mid 20th century was that of the winners. Hope, optimism, at the pinnacle of civilization. Then something happened. A creeping nihilism. I am a child of that nihilistic generation. The grunge era. Suspicion of a lack of authenticity. We could smell plastic from a mile away. We quit showering so others could smell our authentic selves. And we shopped at Goodwill to signal our authentic nature.
Authenticity = Authority
The algorithm is unauthentic. It is why we reject it. Just like we rejected the hair metal bands of the 80s. It's corporate. It is contrived. It is only a reflection. It is not real.
But that is a loser's mentality. And it spread. The gray-zone, the gray area, greyness...here we are. Did America just cycle through to the other side of being a winner? Or was our victory a false one?
I try not to let those thoughts haunt me...because you can GROW out of the dead wood. In fact, a flower must die in order for seed to be produced. And here we are sowing the seed of future victories. For the color to come back into our lives. For aesthetics to return. For beauty to be required instead of being scorned.
I agree, Jonathan. Sincerity, Truth, and searching for purpose and reality in a world lacking it (or uncaring for it), has been haunting me and I tried to convey that a bit deeper in my previous posts. Everything seems washed out and tired, even the human spirit. What beautiful words about new life emerging from the dead. I hope you are right. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Fun and terrifying, thanks Jenna! You're right it is our fault, and I'd say much over half. Modern Man simply desires something more pleasant than what he is doing. Being mildly entertained and relieved of thinking work is a little better than not being entertained and the labor of original thought. My untested theory is that AI is like the old joke about not having to outrun a bear, just be slightly faster than those with you. Its newness is a little "better" than the previous thing (and of course the humiliation of boredom).
If Blaise Pascal could see us with our phones - "All of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone."
I love that Pascal quote (and hate that he's right). Comfort is an interesting thing in that we aspire to have it but it also ruins us. We'll see who the last survivor is!
I am not a fan of the AI movement, though I realize there are at least some good aspects of it. But therein lies the problem for me. The evil side will always use it for demented and harmful purposes. I'll be 70 in August, so my teen years were mainly in the 1970's. Obviously, we had our issues in that time, but one we did not have was lack of creativity and artistic expression. The clothes, the music, the cars, had a uniqueness. Today, as I do my walking around my rural Texas town, I'm struck even here by the complete lack of originality. As a fan of fun cars, Dodge Challenger and Charger in particular, the majority of what I see is black with black wheels, gray with black wheels, and white with black wheels. And even the style of the vehicles, even pickup trucks (some as big as a Sherman tank), lack any quality of artistic ingenuity. It's just boring. And modern technology continues, in my opinion, to make things boringly matter-of-fact.
So true, Jeff. My husband and I take our kids to a monthly classic car show in a nearby town. Nothing newer than 1980. The owners of the (mostly) muscle cars are vey proud of their cars and take great care to show them off -- rightly so. The colors, the fact that you can see the engine and manually work the machinery. It connects us in a more tangible way to it. Maybe technology has advanced to the point where we are disconnected from the machine so much that we don't feel "needed." I don't know. But you're right, there are good and bad aspects. We have to remember which is which.
Yes, and you and I have the advantage of having NOT grown up with all the modern technology. That is a real issue, I think, for the current generations. Their critical thinking skills are minimal because literally everything is right at their IMMEDIATE disposal...or so they are led to believe.
That's a good point. I was in high school when cellphones were just beginning to become popular (at least the old flip phones) and people were getting AOL CDs in their mailboxes. We have knowledge of the "before times" and it makes a difference on outlook and perspective and increasingly, lifestyle.
Yep, exactly.
Another inspiring read. Thank you, Jenna!
Thank you, Lisa!