Human Stuff
the messiness of what it means to be human, with all of its messiness and complexities
sari and
Human Stuff
Wirth's Law threatens to make things even worse. As software rots, multinationals may become the only players capable of making websites.
But people like Bartosz Ciechanowski are forging paths to elegant futures. The source code for his mechanical watch demo is proof that honest software is viable. Each guide is erected as a giant wall of WebGL.... See more
But people like Bartosz Ciechanowski are forging paths to elegant futures. The source code for his mechanical watch demo is proof that honest software is viable. Each guide is erected as a giant wall of WebGL.... See more
People are happy enough rich, and people are happy enough poor. But it’s hard to imagine anyone happy without a feeling that their actions have some impact, however small. Even if you’re not going to be remembered by history, you want to be remembered by your barista. The prisoner, though largely robbed of power, is probably happier if he can vex... See more
Sasha Chapin • What the humans like is responsiveness - by Sasha Chapin What the humans like is responsiveness
It is a human trait to organize things into categories. Inventing categories creates an illusion that there is an overriding rationale in the way that the world works.
Andrea Zittel • Andrea Zittel, "These Things I Know for Sure"
yes, reminds me of Jonathan Tarleton’s writing on the labelmaker. ”The aura of the labelmaker is not exactly glowing. It has an air of corporate efficiency and bullshit jobs, the kind of setting where something misfiled incites a low-stakes crisis. The labelmaker, the name itself a fusion of both output and executor, evinces an attempt at control.”
This brutally honest account of homelessness in America was a tough read. I think about the fact that so many people live paycheck to paycheck and are stretched so thin. And I’m referring to the people you think are just fine. I can’t help but think there’s something big happening in America and I think it’s only going to get much worse. I’m generally an optimistic person, but I haven’t stopped thinking about how we had a chance when the pandemic hit and we blew it. We failed the test.
Oliver Burkeman on what people who’d like to keep making a living from creativity should do in the face of AI:
... See more"For me, it means two things. First: that AI tools belong in my workflow only to the extent that they help me achieve the overarching goals of human connection. This is the Amish approach to technology: first, clarify your values; then
It is not that computers can never induce feelings in their audience, but that in so doing they raise the bar for what will eventually be perceived as unexceptional, thoughtless, predetermined.
Elan Ullendorff • The New Turing Test
“The world of the future will be an even more demanding struggle against the limitations of our intelligence, not a comfortable hammock in which we can lie down to be waited upon by our robot slaves.”
― Norbert Wiener, The Human Use of Human Beings: Cybernetics and Society
Why We Want Robots at Work but Humans in Art
We hate other people when latency becomes intolerable. As soon as a task is about speed, other humans feel like an irritating inconvenience. The Uber driver’s small talk annoys us. We wish we were in a Waymo. The cashier’s tip screen feels like a micro-ransom when all we want is a bottle of water.... See more
We hate other people when latency becomes intolerable. As soon as a task is about speed, other humans feel like an irritating inconvenience. The Uber driver’s small talk annoys us. We wish we were in a Waymo. The cashier’s tip screen feels like a micro-ransom when all we want is a bottle of water.... See more
Why We Want Robots at Work but Humans in Art
YES! this articulates something I've been thinking but couldn't put into words. you could get the song/movie/etc hyper-personalized to you, but most people won't care. pop culture is a promise that you aren't listening/watching alone.