Immediate Living

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Consider the difference between the person who has been toiling in the hot sun and is desperately thirsty and the wine connoisseur who wants to sample a new pinot noir from California. Both have a desire to drink something liquid, but the resemblance ends there. There desire of the first person is rooted in the raw structure of the body, which needs and craves water. No reflection or education is needed to have such a desire. In order to appreciate the difference between a pinot noir and a cabernet sauvignon, However, it may be necessary to have a cultivated taste, with an imaginative grasp of the vocabulary used to describe the subtle “notes” of the wines. The person who simply wants to get drunk every night as well as the person who prides himself on his refined and elegant taste in wine… are focused solely on the satisfaction of the desires the person happens to have and are thus in one sense “immediate.”

A person may know a great deal about ethical theory without having much in the way of ethical character. It is possible, then, for a person to be well-developed intellectually but existentially not developed at all, and therefore still immediate.

C. Steven Evans, Kierkegaard: An Introduction

The Best Moments

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Contrary to what we usually believe.. the best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — although such experiences can also be enjoyable — the best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Struggling to overcome challenges, and then overcoming them, are what people find to be the most enjoyable times in their lives. People typically feel strong, alert, in effortless control, unselfconscious, and at the peak of their abilities. Find rewards in the events of each moment . . . to enjoy and find meaning in the ongoing stream of experience, in the process of living itself.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

A Dozen articles about how Businesses are using AI

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Imperative Thinking

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While imperative people may not have their list of regulations typed on a legal document to be signed, they have a mental agenda that they apply in a wide variety of circumstances. They know how others should behave, speak, and feel, and nothing else matters to them but meeting that standard. In the meantime, the relationship is lost.

(They are) in essence stating, “I’ll accept you only after you meet my conditions.” And since each of us responds negatively to this kind of emotional blackmail, we become angry or tense. There is a hidden message of conditional acceptance. It’s as if (they are) saying, ‘I don’t think you can be trusted to make good decisions; you’ll probably foul things up… If you’ll fit my mold and be what I think you should be, we’ll get along okay; but if you don’t, I’ll have to hound you until you shape up.”

Les Carter, Imperative People: Those Who Must Be in Control

Deep Reading

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Research in cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated that deep reading — slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity — is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely conducive to the deep reading experience. A book’s lack of hyperlinks, for example, frees the reader from making decisions — Should I click on this link or not? — allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative. 

That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, allusion and metaphor: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that would be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictional characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy.

Unlike the ability to understand and produce spoken language, which under normal circumstances will unfold according to a program dictated by our genes, the ability to read must be painstakingly acquired by each individual. The “reading circuits” we construct are recruited from structures in the brain that evolved for other purposes—and these circuits can be feeble or they can be robust, depending on how often and how vigorously we use them. 

This is not reading as many young people are coming to know it. Their reading is pragmatic and instrumental: the difference between what literary critic Frank Kermode calls “carnal reading” and “spiritual reading.” If we allow our offspring to believe that carnal reading is all there is—if we don’t open the door to spiritual reading, through an early insistence on discipline and practice—we will have cheated them of an enjoyable, even ecstatic experience they would not otherwise encounter. And we will have deprived them of an elevating and enlightening experience that will enlarge them as people.  

Observing young people’s attachment to digital devices, some progressive educators and permissive parents talk about needing to “meet kids where they are,” molding instruction around their onscreen habits. This is mistaken. We need, rather, to show them someplace they’ve never been, a place only deep reading can take them. 

Annie Murphy Paul writing in the Brilliant Report

22 Articles about Amazing Things AI can do now

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New Score Uses AI to Rate Brands’ Inclusivity in Advertising - Wall Street Journal 

OpenAI’s advanced voice mode shatters language barriers. It’s uncanny, incredible, and poised to change how we interact with AI. - Bloomberg   

Google Lens now lets you search with video – The Verge  

This Google AI Tool Can Turn Your Research Into a 'Podcast' – Life Hacker

Warner Bros. Discovery to Use Google AI Tech for Captions Programming – Hollywood Reporter 

How Perplexity AI is Transforming Data Science and Analytics https://tinyurl.com/4sez9uxj - Analytics Insight   

Google Funds New AI-Assisted Satellites to Detect Wildfires Faster – AI Business

Podcast: AI and Voice Replication – Illusion of More

Amazon is allowing Audible narrators to clone themselves with AI - The Verge

No laughing matter - how AI is helping comedians write jokes – BBC

What can we learn from millions of high school yearbook photos? – NPR  

Google Meet’s automatic AI note-taking is here - The Verge

What accelerates brain ageing? This AI ‘brain clock’ points to answers – Nature

These New AI Bots Will Do Just About Anything for You - Wall Street Journal

Google’s new Pixel 9 can search your screenshots with AI – Washington Post

An Anthropic scientist broke his hand on a bike and it forced him to write all his code with AI for two months. He is never going back. - Erik Schluntz

AI is surprisingly good at predicting narcissism based on LinkedIn profiles – PsyPost 

A.L.S. Stole His Voice. A.I. Retrieved It. – New York Times

Drones could soon be working together in swarms to put out flames before they become wildfires – BBC

Salesforce unveils autonomous agents for sales teams - CIO

AI Definitions: Foundation models

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Foundation models – At the core of many generative AI tools today, data scientists are using foundation models as a new approach to develop machine learning models. In contrast to traditional ML models, which typically perform specific tasks, FMs are adaptable and able to perform a wide range of tasks with accuracy. These large deep-learning neural networks are trained on massive datasets. Foundation models are also known as Large X Models or LXMs. A video explanation.

More AI definitions here

What Your Childhood Memories Tell you about Yourself

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A counselor once told me that our memories work like a cheerleader's megaphone—only in reverse. The opening is wide, but there is not enough room for very many memories to crawl through the tube to come out at the other end and stick in our heads. So, we unconsciously pick the memories we hang onto. This is why he suggested I try to recall my earliest memory tied to a strong emotion. It would tell me something about myself. The stories from our past that we hang onto are our way of reminding ourselves who we are.

At five or so, I walked with my grandfather to a playground near his home. The road was tarred but not paved. I was looking at the rough surface when I spotted a $5 bill. I remember gleefully looking up at my grandfather and proudly showing it to him. He offered an approving nod.

My counselor guessed that choosing to keep this memory might speak of my closeness to my grandparents and my optimism. The road may be rough, but if you keep your eyes open, you'll discover wonderful surprises—and there is joy in sharing them.

The very fact I choose to remember talking to my counselor about this story, out of the many hours that we chatted, could say as much about me as remembering that story does itself.

What's your youngest memory tied to a strong emotion? What does it tell you about yourself?

Stephen Goforth

The Ethical Task

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Self-actualization is not merely a good to be desired, but rather a task, something human persons have been assigned to do and which they will be held responsible for achieving or failing to achieve.

Of course, not everyone is aware of this ethical task. (Kierkegaard) says that a great many people drift through life, “managing with custom and tradition” in their respective cities. Such people live their lives in a way similar to the way children who have not been taught table manners might get by at a fancy party: “Watch the other polite children and behave as they do.” Someone who lives life this way lacks… “authenticity” or “originality.” Such a person “would never do anything first and would never have any opinion unless he first knew that other had it.”

C. Steven Evans, Kierkegaard: An Introduction

Looking Down

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A small but detailed 2015 study of young adults found that participants were using their phones five hours a day, at 85 separate times. Most of these interactions were for less than 30 seconds, but they add up. Just as revealing: The users weren’t fully aware of how addicted they were. They thought they picked up their phones half as much as they actually did. Whether they were aware of it or not, a new technology had seized control of around one-third of these young adults’ waking hours.

Just look around you—at the people crouched over their phones as they walk the streets, or drive their cars, or walk their dogs, or play with their children. Observe yourself in line for coffee, or in a quick work break, or driving, or even just going to the bathroom. Visit an airport and see the sea of craned necks and dead eyes. We have gone from looking up and around to constantly looking down.

Andrew Sullivan, I used to Be a Human Being