As it pertains to most technology, the older I get, the less likely I am to bargain. There has to be a very viable present need for me to accept the tradeoffs. It's an odd sentiment coming from a software architect, but the more I understand how it all works, the less I want it in my life.
I hear you. It's been interesting for me to find myself in a similar place of late. I still remember the feelings of anticipation as I awaited every new generation of iPhone. But lately I've felt that desire growing dull. Maybe it's that the innovations have grown more incremental and so it's somehow less exciting on an absolute scale.
But, there's something about the latest innovations which claim to be the "next big thing" in what is cast as the post-smartphone era that just don't resonate with me. I think at least part of the reason is that this latest wave of technologies, which are mostly connected to the metaverse or AI like the Apple Vision Pro or the various VR/AR goggles like it, are even more explicitly in direct opposition to real, in-person connection. We already know that it's not a pleasant experience to be on Zoom 24/7, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I find it hard to believe that a more immersive version of that is going to all the sudden make that all go away. Probably the exact opposite, actually.
Although that's a pretty grim outlook, I think that this somewhat myopic focus on technologies in the metaverse, AI, and other disembodied spaces creates an opportunity for tools which can help draw us together. Essentially technologies which like puzzles or a board games that have an intrinsic orientation toward being together in community rather than being immersed in our own little worlds.
I'll stop here before this comments becomes another post on its own. Thanks for the comment, Brian. I hope that folks like you and I who are feeling that the tradeoffs that we see out there are not worth it might help to create a future where alternatives exist which make the innovation bargain a better one for us and our humanity.
Some of it may come down to us fostering the benefits of in person communication and socialization to the next generation. I was recently telling my son about what it was like to grow up GenX, and it really resonated with his desire to "do something" with friends as opposed to being online with them.
That's not to say all technology is bad, but possibly we're reaching that point on your diagram where the default is more in the negative sectors than the positive. I look forward to more of your observations in future posts. 👍
I think you're right. Especially post-pandemic, we seem to have lost some knowledge about the value of being together in person rather than just connecting in an online space. It's not that the online spaces are bad, per se, but just that they are limited. Conversations like we're having now would probably have never happened pre-Internet. But, they can only carry so much weight.
She has this brilliant metaphor of the conversation dial that I think gets this exactly right. It helps us discern the strength of a particular communication medium and think through what we lose or gain in choosing one over the other.
The quasi-religious divide in my boarding school hinges on differing answers to these tradeoffs. It might be useful to catalog the things faculty hold sacred...as a prelude to answering the tradeoffs. In the Christian Bible, Jesus throws the moneylenders out of the temple. In aiming to add AI to my classwork, I'm starting to feel like one of those moneylenders. What foundations can we agree on *before* we talk about the bargain?
Josh, this is a very useful framework. I'm glad you're doing the heavy lifting on this sort of thinking today!
Thanks Andrew, appreciate your words of encouragement!
As it pertains to most technology, the older I get, the less likely I am to bargain. There has to be a very viable present need for me to accept the tradeoffs. It's an odd sentiment coming from a software architect, but the more I understand how it all works, the less I want it in my life.
I enjoy you writing about it all though. 😁
I hear you. It's been interesting for me to find myself in a similar place of late. I still remember the feelings of anticipation as I awaited every new generation of iPhone. But lately I've felt that desire growing dull. Maybe it's that the innovations have grown more incremental and so it's somehow less exciting on an absolute scale.
But, there's something about the latest innovations which claim to be the "next big thing" in what is cast as the post-smartphone era that just don't resonate with me. I think at least part of the reason is that this latest wave of technologies, which are mostly connected to the metaverse or AI like the Apple Vision Pro or the various VR/AR goggles like it, are even more explicitly in direct opposition to real, in-person connection. We already know that it's not a pleasant experience to be on Zoom 24/7, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. I find it hard to believe that a more immersive version of that is going to all the sudden make that all go away. Probably the exact opposite, actually.
Although that's a pretty grim outlook, I think that this somewhat myopic focus on technologies in the metaverse, AI, and other disembodied spaces creates an opportunity for tools which can help draw us together. Essentially technologies which like puzzles or a board games that have an intrinsic orientation toward being together in community rather than being immersed in our own little worlds.
I'll stop here before this comments becomes another post on its own. Thanks for the comment, Brian. I hope that folks like you and I who are feeling that the tradeoffs that we see out there are not worth it might help to create a future where alternatives exist which make the innovation bargain a better one for us and our humanity.
Some of it may come down to us fostering the benefits of in person communication and socialization to the next generation. I was recently telling my son about what it was like to grow up GenX, and it really resonated with his desire to "do something" with friends as opposed to being online with them.
That's not to say all technology is bad, but possibly we're reaching that point on your diagram where the default is more in the negative sectors than the positive. I look forward to more of your observations in future posts. 👍
I think you're right. Especially post-pandemic, we seem to have lost some knowledge about the value of being together in person rather than just connecting in an online space. It's not that the online spaces are bad, per se, but just that they are limited. Conversations like we're having now would probably have never happened pre-Internet. But, they can only carry so much weight.
This thread also reminds me of another great framework from Monica Guzman. I wrote about it about a year ago here: https://joshbrake.substack.com/p/how-curious-conversation-can-build
She has this brilliant metaphor of the conversation dial that I think gets this exactly right. It helps us discern the strength of a particular communication medium and think through what we lose or gain in choosing one over the other.
The quasi-religious divide in my boarding school hinges on differing answers to these tradeoffs. It might be useful to catalog the things faculty hold sacred...as a prelude to answering the tradeoffs. In the Christian Bible, Jesus throws the moneylenders out of the temple. In aiming to add AI to my classwork, I'm starting to feel like one of those moneylenders. What foundations can we agree on *before* we talk about the bargain?