Nothing in a Nutshell

AI Doomerism is getting tiring and other thoughts #2

Rohan Routroy -

  1. Work as a proxy for meaning is failing

Han argues that we go from being obedience subjects to achievement subjects. We’re no longer workers, we’re “entrepreneurs of ourselves” – commodities (i.e. human capital) that also can be transacted upon using the mechanisms of the free-market. Therefore we give ourselves a “market value” which fluctuates based upon productivity, performance, success and achievement.

Having Money, Status or Power as a primary goal in itself with a view of time as a finite resource is the perfect recipe for addiction to the hedonic treadmill. But, just like the treadmill - it takes us nowhere. There is movement, but it doesn't move our essence.

Are you a Post-Achievement Professional?
Is the playbook for success rigged? The Post-Achievement Professional breaks free from the hamster wheel to find fulfillment and meaning.
RadReadsKhe Hy

This paragraph broke me.

  1. Tired of AI Doomerism #1

Do you design for optimality or optionality? Nature designs for resilience rather than perfection, and tends to provide many different solutions to the same question, not just one. 

If all of life was geared towards efficiency, fine dining would be an alien concept. In the typical day of a water elite (coasts of America, Singapore, Amsterdam), a person coasts from highly efficient routines to highly expensive ones (both with time and money), because wealth provides options. Thinking of AI as an efficiency only tool is going against our nature.

The lesson AI must learn from nature
What’s the difference between a café and a restaurant? It’s not as simple as it seems. Yes, the food at a restaurant will be fancier and more substantial. But there is a social distinction too: a restaurant places you under an obligation; a café does not. When you enter a café you order something out
The SpectatorRory Sutherland
  1. Tired of AI Doomerism #2
What Kant Can Teach Us About the Limits of AI
A key aspect of how we think separates us from even the most advanced AI
TimeWilliam Egginton

From a Kantian perspective, this fear derives from the misconception that there is no fundamental difference between humans and machines, that just like a machine, a human being’s intelligence amounts to following a series of instructions, just one so complex that it creates the illusion of autonomy. 

  1. Effective Egoism is as cringe as the term suggests

What I haven’t done is address head on the nature of our need for meaning—and how Effective Egoism is the only moral code that genuinely meets that need.

That's where he lost me. Any belief which becomes 'the only moral code' is an early sign of future failure. It's inspired by Ayn Rand - of course, it is. Well time for me to finally read the book, which has been staring at me from my living room bookshelf for over a year now - Ayn Rand and The Culture of Greed. Findings will be shared next week.

Why the New Atheists Had to Fail
Reflections on Justin Brierley’s Book *The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God*
Earthly IdealismDon Watkins
  1. Taste is dead and Nerds killed it

Nerds overturned Culture. Is there any structure that doesn't get corrupted by the incumbents who rise to the top. I am thinking Cricket and BCCI as another example. Who will overturn the Nerds? I don't see any viable contenders, yet.

Nerd culture is murdering intellectuals
Nerdom is great. . . but at what cost?
The Intrinsic PerspectiveErik Hoel

The death of Pitchfork this week is an example. Zito nails it in a tweet.

6) Har kisi ko mukamal jahan nahin milta...

I know people with great careers, who jet-set across the world having experiences and seeing their friends, but struggle to start a family. 

It's like Erik is talking to me with that line. Thanks Erik.

Choose two of the three: career, family, community
The rule of threes
The Intrinsic PerspectiveErik Hoel

7) Scientism needs to be curbed

This painting also happens to be the header image for my blog - as it truly signifies the hubris we have around rationality.

Science and Poetry
Commonplace Newsletter #112
The CommonplaceThomas J Bevan
  1. Mandarin did not have a term for Religion till the 19th century 🤯
Source
  1. Certainty is a cope as explained by a Schizophrenic Philosopher

I was quite uncomfortable reading this - not sure why. But I kept going because part of trying to pierce through my algortihmic media bubble is to read things which make me uncomfortable and that lead this gem of a line from the essay

'For me, living relatively free from debilitating anxiety is incompatible with relentless pursuit of truth'

From Vexing Uncertainty to Intellectual Humility
I am a 55-year-old husband, father, friend, and professional philosopher. In 1992, as a graduate student at Cambridge University, a porter found me amongst the
OUP Academicdicksonsc.edu
  1. Linklater My GOAT

I don't agree with this list, BUT hey, lists are supposed to be borrowed perspectives, not forced prescriptions. My idol Linklater gets 20% of the entire spot, which is huge, and I love that. Added Y Tu Mama Tambien to my watchlist for the week - so thank you.

A joke but also not - the corporate and violent hijack of love is complete

Thank you and see you next week.