Contemplation

There’s a phrase that’s now become ubiquitous on various parts of the internet, and it goes like this:

The purpose of a system is what it does.

At first glance it’s a meaningless non sequitur, a sort of self-referencing zen koan seeking to make something simple seem profound. Obviously systems work as they’re designed, right? It’s tempting to discount it out of hand and move on. And yet, there’s a lot of linguistic trickery going on here that I want to unpack, and it carries far deeper implications than mere language.

About two months ago while browsing X, one of the people I follow posted a video recorded in 1985. It struck me in a way things of that era often do, and I sought a word that would adequately describe the feeling. I was only 8 when this video was recorded, but I still feel it down to my bones. I need a word that's a mix of melancholy, nostalgia, wistfulness, and poignancy, because it's all of those and more.

AI has reached an inflection point that I feel should be concerning to anyone who works in a white-collar job. The capabilities of natural language and creative-based AI engines were often ridiculed over the past few decades, but recent advances have changed the picture substantially. The reason I say this isn’t really what most would assume. The problem in a nutshell, is that while current AIs are not perfect, the sobering realization is that they don’t have to be!

What I find interesting about this whole controversy with Gina Carano is that nothing she stated was inaccurate. Tribalism and othering are one of the hugest flaws in Human design that I can even imagine. It kept us safe in the beginning because we would band together in the face of adversity and increase our survival, but on a global scale, all it means is that we aren’t really happy unless we have an enemy.

How often I think about all the things I want to do. The tasks I want to complete, one by one. The games I want to finish. The software I want to install on my web server and VM host. The Anime I want to catch up on. My Cayman, sitting neglected in the garage in need of having its bumper cover restored, among other bits and bobs. Even the time I want to set aside for meditation is just another thing on the list to fit into a day where there simply isn’t enough time.