I miss scarcity


This is not a complaint. Or, if it is a complaint, it's half-aimed at me. Mostly this is a reflection.

In the old days, I got to know music really well -- in great detail, sonically, musically, reading all the credits, the liner notes, etc. A friend would have an album I didn't, so I'd go to his house to listen. We'd talk about the music. We'd talk about how album sides hung together or didn't. We were thrilled by double albums.

Now, a torrent of information is everywhere. I listen alone, often to a single song, often not listening to anything over and over again.

You will tell me, "That's your choice." I'd half agree. It's like agreeing that "It's my choice not to live off the electrical grid." 

As I read and teach about AI, I am learning that our tools often prioritize speed and information glut. It seems, initially, like a cornucopia but it becomes a wash of "content." I must admit, I'm losing my talent for managing all this content, and I'm losing my love for it. And it's making me into a different person, somewhat, and I am not so sure I want to be that person. End of reflection.

Wizard Conjuring Cosmic Chaos Art Print featuring the drawing Let There be Content by Benjamin Schwartz

hilde45

Omg, Skynet has become self-aware!!!  I vote for more music and fewer movies...

" just about every recording is at your finger tip" -- absolutely and I've benefited enormously. But something is different. Not trying to weigh it all out, just giving some air to the losing side.

I think there might be a bit of nostalgia/rose-colored glasses involved here.  I for one could never imagine going back to just listening to the CDs I own.  No way — that ship has sailed, and whatever fond memories I have of staring at album art, etc. have been greatly eclipsed by all the worlds of awesome new music I get to discover and listen to every week.  Not even close. 

@kevemaher 

The Three Laws. A great glimpse into the future from before the technology existed. Like all things, so greatly oversimplified as not to be useful in the real world. 

Blade Runner good to... although AI went from trying to pass Turing Test... to blowing by it in a flash. It's now far in the rear view mirror. 

 

@wswright20 

Yeah... right. The idea of Skynet in distant future of our children's children got pulled forward to nearly now in an instant around three years ago. Right now estimates vary about SGI... but vary from this year to maybe two or three years. 

 

Two aspirin for me please. Nuclear weapons + SGI AI + idiots in charge... now there is a recipe for extinction if I have ever heard one.