light of the mind

Speaking of books, I paused in reading the Haidt book so I could make some headway with IJ. Still, I want to finish it, especially in light of recent news about mental health and social media and concerns about AI.

All right, so they’re noticing. But it frustrates me how short-sighted so much of this is. Maybe stop stuffing AI into everything or give people a more obvious opt-out?

Well, that’s what happens when a society devalues and defunds the arts and humanities in favor of exponential tech and profit.

Going back to the Haidt book, I’m aware of its issues and the rebuttals against it. And of course with each tech innovation brought to people from the radio onward, people have complained of dangers.

Is it the radio? Is the phone? Or is it more subtle problem of our willingness to let each innovation and convenience chip away at our humanity and our connections?

Oh wow, RIP to Tim Curry as well! Another talented performer who will be remembered for iconic roles.

The devs who took over managing the Bitcam app promised updates and they delivered!

The updates included a new UI and and editing function, while still maintaining the classic Mac look. Tried out the editing function today:

Will be hot again today but maybe I’ll get out before afternoon and take a few photos in the wild.

I’ve been studying the background for Thomas Pynchon’s books.

Now I have a more informed mindset and will pick up Gravity’s Rainbow again.

And I'm more open to trying out Infinite Jest again. 

Today’s sky during my morning walk.

My current read is The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt.

I can already see this is a polarizing book. Responses to it cut across the generational lines. I understand this book has controversial takes so Here is a rebuttal and here is another rebuttal and here is the main rebuttal.

I’ll see how I feel about it when/if I finish.

I can already detect the Boomer privilege about “back in my day,” a time in U.S. history that is long gone. Also, I think fewer injuries and trips to the ER is really a good thing.

However, I agree that the smartphone + app combination is having a negative impact, but on all age groups. I’ve always maintained that we had a healthier relationship with the internet during the Web 1.0 days of simple personal websites and long form blogs.

The mechanical process of having to boot up an giant Radio Shack type computer, dialing into a long distance number with a modem that didn’t always work, waiting 5-10 minutes for that hookup, waiting up to five minutes for a webpage to load, having to write and re-write your post a few times because you forgot to close an HTML tag… well, that meant whatever negative emotions someone felt dissipated through the sheer process of working for that online access.

Now it’s just tap an app and yell. Doesn’t seem like progress, more like hooking directly into the id and letting it run over the cerebral cortex.

Now I’m nostalgic for vintage computers.

I’m a lifelong tech hobbyist going back to the days of Pong.

I was lucky to get in early on the gadget and personal computing waves of the 1970s and 80s. I took classes in BASIC for programming, I played the classic video games and had access to cool tech toys like The Little Professor.

In high school, I was already typing term papers in a computer lab. Then in college, I had the opportunity to log into this thing called the Internet.

And here I have been for the past 35 years.

On the surface at least, I am so thankful I was alive to see this revolution in technology and communications.

But now, more recently as in the past 5-10 years, I have become less charmed about tech and less idealistic. Maybe computers should have never gone much beyond ENIAC or EDVAC stage of development. Wishful thinking, I know.  

Experiment with a Hipstamatic filter that came up with the random setting.

While it’s a bit much, I am kinda amazed at how the pictures from this app turn out.

A recent nonfiction read: How I Know White People are Crazy and Other Stories: Notes from a Frustrated Black Psychologist by Dr. Jonathan Lassiter.

Lassiter has valuable insights into what he describes as “the whiteness mindset,” how pervasive it is, and how destructive it can be.

Therefore I gave the book ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️.  A compelling read as I reflect on my 50+ life, personal and cultural.