Autoamputation Flow
But this self is never purely ours. It is a composite, a chimeric entity made from our past behaviors and the averaged tendencies of millions of others.
Venkatesh Rao • Autoamputation Flow
Chimeric: Relating to or resembling a chimera, which in mythology is a creature composed of parts from different animals. In contemporary usage, the term "chimeric" often describes entities or concepts that are composites or hybrids, integrating diverse elements or characteristics. In fields such as biology, a chimeric organism may contain cells or genetic material from different species, whereas in literature and philosophy, it can refer to ideas or identities formed from a blend of various influences and experiences.
chimeric (adjective): composed of diverse elements or parts; hybrid 🧬🐉
We are not looking at ourselves as we are, but at who we were, mediated by what everyone is .
Venkatesh Rao • Autoamputation Flow
As Marshall McLuhan once observed, “Every extension is also an amputation.” The wheel extends the foot, and in doing so, removes the necessity of walking. The book extends memory, and in doing so, weakens the habit of remembering. With AI, what is extended is the head — the seat of thought, language, judgment, and becoming. And what is amputated is... See more
Autoamputation Flow
But this is no clean severance. It is a flow — a continuous autoamputation in which we externalize part of our cognition into the machine, and are refilled not with what we were, but with what we are becoming. This is not the old paradigm of man and machine, tool and user. We are not simply delegating labor. We are gradually repatterning identity ,... See more