The Shrinking of Time and "Doing Things Properly" — A Mini Rant, of Sorts

So, every now and then I go off, and rant about "doing things properly," and my perceived importance of doing things properly.

Mostly this is a result of my frustrations and arising impatience because I find myself in the middle of creating a post (or article) and it takes so damn long to write everything out properly, and have good grammar, and proper spelling, and if you're referencing something to make sure that it's actually correct, and then making everything look pretty, and put decent images in there and format them so they're not huge and take 600 years to load... and it takes all this time to navigate appropriately.

And then I enter this sort of mild frustration loop because I don't have all this time to give to it, and I realize that I'm getting a lot less done than I actually wanted to.

And then I find myself contemplating AI and how people can use AI to write their posts for them, and just do a little bit of human editing to get ready to publish. Yes, that saves a bunch of time but to what end are we doing this?

I mean... think about it, we already don't have enough time to deal with the stuff that comes across our desk as things are now, and now we're using artificial intelligence to create even more stuff we don't have time to read?!?!?

Not only is the fact that this potential "noise" that will be created by machine technology starting to get on my nerves because I wouldn't have time to read it... but what is happening to the actual "Art of Doing Things Yourself?"

So then I have to back up a little bit and think about whether or not we're going to end up in a future where being able to actually have some sort of "personal watermark" on what we write — or otherwise create — that states "this was created by a human being" will add value that can't be given to that which was created by AI?

Of course I can already hear those in the peanut gallery saying "yeah, but you can probably spoof that," and then I go back into my loop of frustration over the fact that everybody basically wants to "cheat" and take shortcuts in some way. What use is that? What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by cheating? And why this "selective" cheating... because I'm pretty sure you don't intend to "cheat" by completing your life in a shorter time!

Anyway, the whole automation and AI assistance to help us get more created in less time for a lower cost invariably ends up reminding me of science fiction author Frederick Pohl's classic story The Midas Plague, written in 1954, and depicting a far distant future in which automation has made everything so cheap and so plentiful that it has become your duty to consume and have as much as you possibly can, across all aspects of life

Paradoxically, in this world the ultimate in luxury is getting to live a small and simple life in which you don't have to consume and be part of constant excessive opulence. In fact, it makes you a "dangerous subversive" if you're not consuming 24/7/365.

Maybe Pohl actually had a decent grip on the potential future we are headed towards!

Yes, sometimes I get a little cynical...

Anyway, I apologize for my little "outburst" here, prompted by the fact that I started feeling like I was having to race through things I enjoy doing, in service of actually getting them done.

Try as I might, I still have a long way to go, to reach "the simple life!"

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of the week!

How about you? Do you ever grow frustrated by the TIME is takes to navigate modern life? Meanwhile, automation seems to steal the AUTHENTICITY of doing things? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.04.11 00:51 PDT
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