alexi gunner
@idlegaze
cultural strategist
writes idle gaze; a newsletter exploring the undercurrents of the modern zeitgeist.
cultural futurist @ RADAR
alexi gunner
idlegaze.substack.com
Rebecca Solnit - “underneath the task of writing a particular piece is the general one of making a self who can make the work you are meant to make.” https://t.co/hfVXl0yIp2- An interesting takeaway from the creative directors at MSCHF. They believe culture isn't progressing but rather spiraling and concentrating on itself. They call it the "spicy present." Their work applies an absurd intensification on the present moment to reflect back our time.
- Last night at dinner talking about subculture stuff and I bring up my standard boring/reductive Q about “how punk skate hip hop etc had monoculture to rebel against, so what now?,” and a brilliant friend answered straight up, “AI will be mainstream monoculture-esque, and is at its core boring and average and uncreative, and that is what people will... See more
People assume that generative AI will lead to a tsunami of garbage content. I think the opposite problem is more interesting: what if you were drowning in amazing content? What if you’re so inspired and overwhelmed by awe that it’s stressful and addicting and life disorienting?
From Ezra Klein:
AI might be able to churn out content faster than we can, but we still need a human mind to sift through and figure out what’s good. In other words, A.I. is going to turn more of us into editors. But editing is a peculiar skill. It’s hard to test for, or teach, or even describe. But it’s the crucial step in the creative process that
... See more
Why do American cities feel less "alive" than their European counterparts? It's because of something called the "missing middle". A century ago, American cities looked completely different... (thread) 🧵 https://t.co/zwNWejfx4LMaybe Slow-Fi makes its so we are more intentional, more grounded, more tethered, more invested, more attentive, more open, more inquistive and more exploratory with how we use, manage and operate our "Financial Wealth" artifacts (with the other artifacts being Tradeable, Measurable, Rankable, Nameable and Polymorphic) - and that it makes us much m
... See more“The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.”
—Terry Pratchett
- People who live in large cities have larger egos because at night they can't see the stars
The antidote to envy is one's own work. Always one's own work. Not the thinking about it. Not the assessing of it. But the doing of it… [T]he work itself. It drives the spooks away.
-Bonnie Friedman