Another year. Another 50 posts.
With Generative Artificial Intelligence now fully embedded in our lives and on it’s way to become a verb, some actions are swinging the other way. Perhaps things are moving too fast and we’re overloaded. This had led to shifts towards a better balance with “Work Life Boundaries“. Last summer some kids created a printed newsletter for distribution. Though I’m sure they used high tech to create the publication, the output was old school. All these stories left me “Longing for an Old Connection” as I’ve been seriously contemplating a landline.
We’ve all become so dependent on apps and services. Companies are expert at roping us in with “The Seduction of Subscription Services.” This makes it hard to break away from anything! It’s curious to ponder the myriad ways in which technology works contrary to our uses. For example, technology affords us the ability to write as much as we want and send it across the world in seconds at virtually no cost. Yet, we choose to economize words for these transient communications.
Equally puzzling was how having access to so much information in our pocket left a poor, defenseless skunk trapped in my neighbor’s window well. For days! As though nobody could imagine the potential of solving this very real, malodorous problem with a simple google search. Luckily I caught wind of the situation before the animal expired. I used my phone to look up services, make phone calls, and send information.
Remembering how to focus on the moment more and my phone less definitely helped me playing in the pit orchestra for the Nutcracker. A squeaky ballet shoe left us “Reacting in Real Time” to a dynamic situation. In October I had a transcendent experience playing Beethoven 6. Finally, on the one year anniversary of my aunt’s passing, I had to rely on memories and feelings simply because we didn’t have a digital trail of our relationship.
It wouldn’t be a true Deletist milestone posting without a couple tips on dealing with stuff. Getting ready for renovations, I took time to thin stuff out. This alleviated pressure to purge, while reducing stuff. Also a post on the differences of “Tidying vs. Cleaning.”
The technombie series took a dark turn envisioning a future time when AI can morph itself to penetrate our deepest, darkest places, though I remain hopeful we’ll continue achieve a better balance.