(A reader asked me to bring an episode “where there’s not as much about computers”, I got so many thought let’s try!)
Blogging Meta-commentary, or “why” and “what for” I keep posting here
I used to have a very low opinion on the idea of “public figures” expressing anything in “public space”, unless they are well-proven authorities in some respected fields (scientists, experts, writers or philosophers). Public personas publishing piss-poor pieces - that’s a world of low-grade politicians, influencers, celebrities - I thought. Being quite disgusted by the concept of self-perpetuating cycle of news generated or related to people who don’t bring anything of value to my life, I limited my exposure to mainstream media, although never fully cut a guilty pleasure of late-night radio, which sometimes – paradoxically – lets me focus better.
And when the tide of social media showed up, my attitude remained, quite early leading to a decision I don’t want to participate in likes, re-shares, and any shenanigans of this sort. Even before it became obvious that it’s destructive for other reasons, like forming bad habits, shortening focus-span, growing emotional dependency on social-media success, etc.
But now the world has become
One big amusement park
I’d rather stay in the dark
For a while
As much as such sentiments (and nice melody of the song) are close to my heart, the time has come that metaphorical staying in darkness doesn’t feel good anymore for me. The internet of my youth, where passionate people used it to share info on their niche hobbies, or discussed obscure topics1 - is slowly buried under petabytes of auto-generated feces. AI videos. AI songs. Crypto bros, AI bros, AI forums for agentic AIs run by Crypto- and AI-bros.
Of course lots of nice places don’t disappear immediately, but the ratio of enshitified Internet to Good Old Internet is rapidly worsening, and I don’t like it. Probably my little contribution won’t change much, but it’s a matter of principle, I want to somehow contribute to building the world shaped in a way more fitting my particular taste.
Influence on the world
My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?
- David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas
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So here’s the first reason, one “why” I started writing down my thoughts. They’re nothing groundbreaking, and nothing exotic either. Outcome of mixing some nerdotypical hobbies, specific aesthetics preferences, random excitement over things which may excite you too, or might left you unexcited whatsoever. But they will leave a trace as something intentionally processed, filtered, and approved - by my Self - to be shared with wider audience. Infinitely less significant than efforts of great people of human history, but equal in intentionality.2
And here’s second “why” - even more egocentric - and even more clichéd - taking care of my toolset, exercising concise and unambiguous expression, without shortcuts of AI proof-reading/proof-redoing. Dealing with my limitations, sacrificing my energy and attention - to serve future situations when it’s needed in more practical circumstances, and to prolong overall mental health-span3. Your silent presence, my friends4 , is naturally letting me find additional motivation to continue this endeavor.
Overall, dear readers, apart from bunch of links and of random seeds of thoughts, what can you gain? Worst case scenario, you’ll be left with negative example on your own way of success! (Thanks Marta!)
Building my top 100 of everything
Following up on the topic, here’s 4 more entries to list of favourite creators:
Dr. Bret C. Devereaux (acoup.blog)
I’m jealous how productive a person could be, writing not only for work, but sharing his passion also after hours! The articles are usually long and detailed, and vary from ancient and medieval war/politics, to fantasy, political philosophy and even gaming! Still finishing most recent article about insurgencies and protests.
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Nerdwriter (yt)
Great video-essays about art and adjacent topics. e.g. Nagel Women, Kintsugi, Hopkins’ greatness!
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Jacob Geller
Deep dives into topics intersecting gaming and cultural phenomena, including my winter all-time hit Fear of Cold, episode about Golem as the Jewish Superhero, or one titled Head Transplants and the Non-Existence of the Soul
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Violence, death, cannibalism
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My friend Pascal recommended me to read a dystopian novel “Tender Is the Flesh”. Hoping to finally find some time for it, as last weeks were too active to allow me longer reads. It has mixed reviews, but I’ll trust his taste, especially because I feel I am predominantly consuming natively english writings, therefore it is an occasion to break the rule & break away from thought bubble. Moreover, any book highly praised by friends is opening doors for deeper discussions, even so slightly. I believe that habitually creating such ad-hoc, short-lived, micro-book-clubs is good for our souls.
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Serendipitously this exact theme (flesh-eating) was already on the menu, as this month I rewatched an outstanding TV series - Hannibal - together with my lady, for whom it was a first time. Apart from getting thrilled with visuals and great acting, my hidden agenda was to introduce new paths for consideration why to turn vegan. The series worked for me on many levels - but the important one in this context is provoking the question “if we allow behaviour X, what are the consequences and prognosis for our psyche and, long-term, for our community?“. In a similar manner as Camus criticized capital punishment, noting that it “besmirches our society,” and is against humanity’s basic organisational values, as humans - he believes - oppose death. Now if only he had taken one step more, he might have realized that any unnecessary violence has similar nature, and gravely undermines our prospects for future peaceful cohabitation of our speck of dust.
Love in the times of capitalism
Ah, and we recently had another peak of sales for cut flowers! The Speck of Dust, our Earth, was famously photographed on Valentine’s Day, 35 years ago. So, urbi et orbi Whoever/whatever you love, and however you define your love, I hope our feelings be always stronger than necessary sacrifices, not calling for sacrifices too often, but always ready for them. Mandatory Buttersafe comix.
Footnotes
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Long live Elektroda.pl! Long live dpreview! Long live all crazy corners of old-fashioned interwebs and their RSS channels! ↩
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Sub specie aeternitatis neither will keep much more value than value of the clause describing the act itself - There was a person at time t0 who did this and that in place p0. That’s how I justify building my system of ethics in indifferent world. Remind me to expand on this someday. ↩
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somehow related https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/16/1/94 - I’m wondering how much would it change the pace of Terry’s brain degradation if he stopped writing or never started writing.. ↩
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(imaginary, real, small integer or double integer - doesn’t matter) ↩