What exactly am I trying to do here
Being some thoughts on what I hope to accomplish with this here blog thing
I was at shabbat dinner on Friday night and someone said something nice about this newsletter. The host asked, “oh, what’s the newsletter about” and I realized I didn’t really have a good answer. “Books, mainly” I said, “sometimes other things”.
The more I reflected on it, the more I realized that isn’t exactly right. I tell people this is about books because you’re supposed to have a clear brand and focus area for a project such as this, but the fact is, what I’m trying to do here, what I’m reaching for, is something a bit more abstract and far more personal.
Here’s my basic thesis — we live in a time of monumental change and we’re not even remotely ready.
Change is coming that is so profound we haven’t even begun to understand what it means for us and our children. We’re at the beginning a revolution in the use of artificial intelligence that will fundamentally change the way we work, play and parent. The skills we value will change, the work we do will change, how we interact with each other will change. How? I’m not sure. And I’m suspicious of anyone that is. Yet…
Here’s what I know (1) — being human will matter more and more. In order to separate yourself from the chatbots you’ll need to lean further into your own weird humanity, your irrationality and eccentricity. Any AI can write the first draft of the memo, the code base, the research finding, what will matter is what you can bring to the table after that. The subject matter expert becomes less valuable (just ask GPT if you want a lesson in linear algebra) and the odd ball who sees the abstract emotional connections will be more valuable.
That’s part of why I’m writing here, to share my humanity, my stories and interests, to separate myself further from the machine.
Here’s what I know (2) — the trusted voice will matter more and more. The internet is about to get even weirder and more uncanny. Some of your favorite twitter accounts may already be bots, but soon enough (if not now!), you won’t be able to tell the difference. Trusting something online, be it video, audio, or text, will be absurd unless you can trust the person or entity you’re getting it from. And reading, and understanding everything online is already a fools game. This is why you’re leaning into the group chat and away from Facebook. No one can take the noise; no one has the time. This helps explain the rise of Substack and the death of Buzzfeed news.
That’s part of why I’m writing here, to be a trusted source for a specifically odd and entirely me part of the internet, a curated place that exists because of the particularities of my own mind.
Here’s what I know (3) — you don’t know what you can’t explain. If I have one thing going for me in this world it isn’t my intellect, or my creativity, both of which are middling at best, it’s my curiosity. My endless excitement about the world around me. I think (selfishly) that this is a trait that will grow in importance as the world gets weirder and weirder. But curiosity without understand is nothing. And here I hope to share what I’ve learned, to try to understand it by writing about it, and to deepen my own knowledge in the process.
That’s part of why I’m writing here, to explain what I think, to be wrong, to be corrected, to learn.
Yes this substack talks a lot of about books, because books are a big part of who I am. But there will be much, much more. More on parenting, on aging, on New York City, on sport, on music, on whatever the hell I feel like. It’s going to get even more random and eccentric, let the bots try to follow.
Hope you continue to check it out. If you think this is worth while, maybe leave a comment, or share it with a friend. Looking forward to sharing so much more.