Thanks for tuning in. As you can see I'm a super small channel, but that doesn't mean that I'll fizzle out into oblivion anytime soon. If you're into the same stuff I am than please consider subscribing and joining the conversation. There will be more commentry, experiments with AI, Transhumanism and deep dives into rad subjects that cover existentialism, philospohy, cyberpunk culture and quantum theory... Stay cool and I hope you decide to stick around! Cheers!
Tech won´t save us, besides being a great podcast, is also so true. We need to invest less on refined materials and the tech they produce. Investment should be made in more natural and efficient urban systems. None of that seems possible in this imagined futures.
This is a very interesting point. It does definitely bode the question "what would we have if we invested all of this money, time and energy into these natural systems!?"... Just out of curiosity what sort of old systems or natural tech would you see being the most important, and interesting?.. Steam? Kinetic? Or your standard planet based renewables?
Wow! Thank you for being a creator. This is so thoughtful and incisive. You have made me reflect on my own participation in consumption. To me, this was a call to action and creation.
I think committing to a regular writing practice is becoming my focus. Notably, I’ve found myself emphasizing the act of writing versus focusing on being “good” at writing. Thanks for helping me get there 😊
Great video. I am of many mixed minds about this and will post several, partly separable (but probably not entirely sensible) rants as distinct comments. RANT 1: I think the Creator/Consumer dichotomy is an oversimplification in a variety of ways. But perhaps most fundamentally, I think all humans are condemned to creativity whether they like it or not, and indeed engage in it often, if not constantly. It's baked into our hypernarrativity. Whether it's crafting a social media persona, or engaging in an monologue (imagined as a dialogue) with some deity, or replaying past events and having shower arguments, or plotting out our future, or negotiating our social standing in interaction -- humans are obsessed with telling stories about ourselves and each other as we try to make meaning in the world. At this most fundamental level, we are all creators in the form of storytellers -- even at our most gluttonously consumptive, we tell ourselves a story about why we deserve it, or why we should be ashamed of it. What you mainly seem to be getting at with your worries about "balance" is, I think, an apt set of concerns that come into sharp focus when we *monetize* creativity and *capitalize* on consumption and then systematically weaken the guardrails and red tape that could have limited excess and exploitation. (Capitalism, for the fail.) From this (admittedly sketchy) perspective, the "new" class divide is not so much between creators and consumers, but rather between different kinds of creators. The crux is not to become a creator (as if we were not -- how could we not be?) but rather to be *selective* in what raw materials we grab hold of, and to assert *autonomy* in self-creation, rather than sleepwalking.
Yes! These are great points and "hopeful ones" as well. I just wonder whether or not the "monetised" aspect that you mention will leave too much of a void when it's taken away. And that the NEED to tell stories and create will be replaced by things that are by and large the equivalent of sugar when it comes to creative project pursuits.. like gaming or interactive story submerging. This "RANT" - which is wonderful btw - reminds me of when I would hear my parents discuss their theories surrounding the latest episode of Dallas. This is a very good observation. Thank you again, your comments are a credit to the channel, I mean that 🙂
@@thecivitasuniverse I'm not sure how hopeful I intended these points to be, to be honest: I have a hard time distinguishing the problematic, refined "sugar" version of storytelling from the wholesome, adaptive version. I just know that humans are compelled to do it. I appreciate the channel, and the reply, and the kind words about my comments on the channel. I'm going to try to stick with you for a while, maybe goad some more folks into replying. (JOIN US)
RANT 2: I am not sure that the balance we ought to seek to maintain is between creativity and consumption. Rather, I wonder if what is critically missing is new forms of destruction to balance new forms of creation. In some ways destruction can seem the inevitable consequence of creation, especially when discussing innovation. When a new technological innovation simplifies some workflow or makes it more efficient, the old processes that previously filled this niche are bound to "go the way of the dinosaur" -- and I'll let this idiom serve as proof that we can often swap the capitalist lens for a Darwinian one. But digitization and the drive to collect data are the heart of our "bright future" of innovation, and these have been pursued in an all-encompassing mode. They have been built to leave nothing behind, to bring every aspect of the past along with them. Where the past was not already digital, there are special efforts to digitize it and bring it under the same umbrella. It has taken special effort for societies to repel this advance, as for example in the GDPR's "Right to be Forgotten." (I am reminded of a set of lesser-known short stories by Frank Herbert, concerning the critical function of a "Bureau of Sabotage.") Forgetting, Erasure, Destruction -- these are anathema to utopian visions of technocratic centralization. Yet they are arguably required for the most critical forms of creativity and change, where and old process -- or identity -- is truly replaced with a new one. To be maximally creative is to create from nothing, to kick out preconceived foundations and start fresh. (It is no accident that themes of nihilism and anarchy crop up in the cyperbunk genre.) I have no interest in becoming a social media influencer on the current model, and this in large part because I do not want to have everything I do be remembered in an unbroken record. For the same reason, I comment on your channel only in anonymity. And I feel free to be more creative under this guise than I would under other names, because I can experiment without worrying whether what I say today is aligned with what I said yesterday. The unending accretion of stuff-that-got-a-click (or a laugh, or a gold star) is not the form of creativity I want to practice.
Hear, hear... My fear though is that our children are being educated to exist and thrive within a 1980s workplace, with little to no consideration towards what we, as a society, will value in the not too distant future. I agree that the destruction point has to occur in order for change to truly thrive but that destruction might be a process that takes an entire generation, and that's something I am desperate to protect my children from. ❤️ Rant 2. Now on to 3! 😃
RANT 3: I guess I should try to actually say something about The Woven City (which I knew nothing about before your video). In general my take is that the long-term outcomes of The Woven City ("big step forward" vs "dangerous test-lab for a new class system") will largely depend on what the rest of the world does. If TWC is an elaborate incubator whose products go right back into the "INFINITE GROWTH, FOREVER" mindset championed by companies you love like Global Tetrahedron, then TWC is no more dangerous than the bulk of globalized society these days (i.e., it will contribute to killing us all eventually and probably sooner rather than later). If the rest of us get our act together, maybe The Woven City's outputs will be put to good use. Just about the only thing I would predict myself is that it's probably going to spawn at least one really weird cult. I'm betting it'll be the Weavers who spawn it.
Yes!! Scientific Cults are already starting to take shape the "AWLIAS" simulation theorists are edging on to this, I feel. Also, I used to work in lead gen, and I was at one stage selling vending machines to companies where the sales pitch literally pitched to the respective boards of those companies: "give them everything they need, with a free vending machine, so that they never need to leave work". If Toyota cracks this, then it'll become mainstream, and you won't get the job unless you make work your home. That's how the blue chips solve the working from home epidemic. They make "home", "work", so working from home becomes "working from work", even if you're logging in while eating breakfast from your kitchen.
Thanks for tuning in. As you can see I'm a super small channel, but that doesn't mean that I'll fizzle out into oblivion anytime soon. If you're into the same stuff I am than please consider subscribing and joining the conversation. There will be more commentry, experiments with AI, Transhumanism and deep dives into rad subjects that cover existentialism, philospohy, cyberpunk culture and quantum theory... Stay cool and I hope you decide to stick around! Cheers!
Tech won´t save us, besides being a great podcast, is also so true. We need to invest less on refined materials and the tech they produce. Investment should be made in more natural and efficient urban systems. None of that seems possible in this imagined futures.
This is a very interesting point. It does definitely bode the question "what would we have if we invested all of this money, time and energy into these natural systems!?"... Just out of curiosity what sort of old systems or natural tech would you see being the most important, and interesting?.. Steam? Kinetic? Or your standard planet based renewables?
Wow! Thank you for being a creator. This is so thoughtful and incisive. You have made me reflect on my own participation in consumption. To me, this was a call to action and creation.
Awesome!! You are most welcome. What sort of hobbies or interests do you have that could become this pursuit!?
I think committing to a regular writing practice is becoming my focus. Notably, I’ve found myself emphasizing the act of writing versus focusing on being “good” at writing. Thanks for helping me get there 😊
@NewtieNewt YOU, are more than welcome!!! 🤗
Great video. I am of many mixed minds about this and will post several, partly separable (but probably not entirely sensible) rants as distinct comments.
RANT 1: I think the Creator/Consumer dichotomy is an oversimplification in a variety of ways. But perhaps most fundamentally, I think all humans are condemned to creativity whether they like it or not, and indeed engage in it often, if not constantly. It's baked into our hypernarrativity. Whether it's crafting a social media persona, or engaging in an monologue (imagined as a dialogue) with some deity, or replaying past events and having shower arguments, or plotting out our future, or negotiating our social standing in interaction -- humans are obsessed with telling stories about ourselves and each other as we try to make meaning in the world. At this most fundamental level, we are all creators in the form of storytellers -- even at our most gluttonously consumptive, we tell ourselves a story about why we deserve it, or why we should be ashamed of it.
What you mainly seem to be getting at with your worries about "balance" is, I think, an apt set of concerns that come into sharp focus when we *monetize* creativity and *capitalize* on consumption and then systematically weaken the guardrails and red tape that could have limited excess and exploitation. (Capitalism, for the fail.)
From this (admittedly sketchy) perspective, the "new" class divide is not so much between creators and consumers, but rather between different kinds of creators. The crux is not to become a creator (as if we were not -- how could we not be?) but rather to be *selective* in what raw materials we grab hold of, and to assert *autonomy* in self-creation, rather than sleepwalking.
Yes! These are great points and "hopeful ones" as well. I just wonder whether or not the "monetised" aspect that you mention will leave too much of a void when it's taken away. And that the NEED to tell stories and create will be replaced by things that are by and large the equivalent of sugar when it comes to creative project pursuits.. like gaming or interactive story submerging. This "RANT" - which is wonderful btw - reminds me of when I would hear my parents discuss their theories surrounding the latest episode of Dallas. This is a very good observation. Thank you again, your comments are a credit to the channel, I mean that 🙂
@@thecivitasuniverse I'm not sure how hopeful I intended these points to be, to be honest: I have a hard time distinguishing the problematic, refined "sugar" version of storytelling from the wholesome, adaptive version. I just know that humans are compelled to do it.
I appreciate the channel, and the reply, and the kind words about my comments on the channel. I'm going to try to stick with you for a while, maybe goad some more folks into replying. (JOIN US)
@@EN-TO-AA It would be flipping cool tyo find more "vocal minds" like yours that's for sure!!
RANT 2: I am not sure that the balance we ought to seek to maintain is between creativity and consumption. Rather, I wonder if what is critically missing is new forms of destruction to balance new forms of creation. In some ways destruction can seem the inevitable consequence of creation, especially when discussing innovation. When a new technological innovation simplifies some workflow or makes it more efficient, the old processes that previously filled this niche are bound to "go the way of the dinosaur" -- and I'll let this idiom serve as proof that we can often swap the capitalist lens for a Darwinian one.
But digitization and the drive to collect data are the heart of our "bright future" of innovation, and these have been pursued in an all-encompassing mode. They have been built to leave nothing behind, to bring every aspect of the past along with them. Where the past was not already digital, there are special efforts to digitize it and bring it under the same umbrella. It has taken special effort for societies to repel this advance, as for example in the GDPR's "Right to be Forgotten." (I am reminded of a set of lesser-known short stories by Frank Herbert, concerning the critical function of a "Bureau of Sabotage.")
Forgetting, Erasure, Destruction -- these are anathema to utopian visions of technocratic centralization. Yet they are arguably required for the most critical forms of creativity and change, where and old process -- or identity -- is truly replaced with a new one. To be maximally creative is to create from nothing, to kick out preconceived foundations and start fresh. (It is no accident that themes of nihilism and anarchy crop up in the cyperbunk genre.) I have no interest in becoming a social media influencer on the current model, and this in large part because I do not want to have everything I do be remembered in an unbroken record. For the same reason, I comment on your channel only in anonymity. And I feel free to be more creative under this guise than I would under other names, because I can experiment without worrying whether what I say today is aligned with what I said yesterday. The unending accretion of stuff-that-got-a-click (or a laugh, or a gold star) is not the form of creativity I want to practice.
Hear, hear... My fear though is that our children are being educated to exist and thrive within a 1980s workplace, with little to no consideration towards what we, as a society, will value in the not too distant future. I agree that the destruction point has to occur in order for change to truly thrive but that destruction might be a process that takes an entire generation, and that's something I am desperate to protect my children from. ❤️ Rant 2. Now on to 3! 😃
RANT 3: I guess I should try to actually say something about The Woven City (which I knew nothing about before your video). In general my take is that the long-term outcomes of The Woven City ("big step forward" vs "dangerous test-lab for a new class system") will largely depend on what the rest of the world does. If TWC is an elaborate incubator whose products go right back into the "INFINITE GROWTH, FOREVER" mindset championed by companies you love like Global Tetrahedron, then TWC is no more dangerous than the bulk of globalized society these days (i.e., it will contribute to killing us all eventually and probably sooner rather than later). If the rest of us get our act together, maybe The Woven City's outputs will be put to good use.
Just about the only thing I would predict myself is that it's probably going to spawn at least one really weird cult. I'm betting it'll be the Weavers who spawn it.
Yes!! Scientific Cults are already starting to take shape the "AWLIAS" simulation theorists are edging on to this, I feel.
Also, I used to work in lead gen, and I was at one stage selling vending machines to companies where the sales pitch literally pitched to the respective boards of those companies: "give them everything they need, with a free vending machine, so that they never need to leave work".
If Toyota cracks this, then it'll become mainstream, and you won't get the job unless you make work your home.
That's how the blue chips solve the working from home epidemic. They make "home", "work", so working from home becomes "working from work", even if you're logging in while eating breakfast from your kitchen.