In 1969 when I became an undergraduate, I saw the word “existential” everywhere. In my 12 years of catholic school education I’m certain I never heard the word. I read Camus, but still did not understand the word at all. Many years later I read Viktor Frankie. I began to grasp the concept a little better. I learned that th companion word to existentialism is “responsibility.” Taking agency. Most of my adult life up to that point I had been emotionally crushed, in the throes of an existential crisis, and then it hit me. “It is up to me!” I guess that is agency and accepting the responsibility of acting on your own behalf. Even when nobody’s watching. Especially when no one is watching.
Well, that may be the most beautiful, insightful comment I've read in quite some time. Thank you. I recently reread "The Fall" by Camus, where he depicts many of the absurdities of conventional thought. Yes, existentialism used to mean "this is what exists. There is no clockwork, no Clock maker. You are the agent, you are responsible." Especially when no one is watching, because that too is where we make our reality. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I wish I knew if “AI giants” was intentional or a typo of “AI agents…”
The endgame? Power, money, “winning…” if we assume human agency in this race to create an overlord.
What used to be my more mystical self believes the process may be one of “emergence” where an organized entity modifies it's environment, leading to growth and persistence.
This assumes information to be a force, like gravity or momentum or entanglement. Which is far beyond my limited understanding.
AMAZING piece Erik! "agent for a dead man" stopped me cold. Your daughter is smart. I’ve learned that AI is only helpful when it sharpens understanding, not when it starts speaking for us. Reading every word, slowly and deliberately, feels like the real discipline we’re losing.
We operate under the illusion that words are fixed, meanings can be made clear. But it's not true. Each word requires context, unspoken or unwritten, provided by reader or listener, each word is modified by words that come before or after, and all of that modified by the soup in which we all swim. I like the hologram image, itself a metaphor that requires reader to know what a hologram is, that holograms lose clarity the closer you look, and that each area carries information about the whole. And now, I've gone waaay out into the weeds, but I guess that's part of it too!
In 1969 when I became an undergraduate, I saw the word “existential” everywhere. In my 12 years of catholic school education I’m certain I never heard the word. I read Camus, but still did not understand the word at all. Many years later I read Viktor Frankie. I began to grasp the concept a little better. I learned that th companion word to existentialism is “responsibility.” Taking agency. Most of my adult life up to that point I had been emotionally crushed, in the throes of an existential crisis, and then it hit me. “It is up to me!” I guess that is agency and accepting the responsibility of acting on your own behalf. Even when nobody’s watching. Especially when no one is watching.
Well, that may be the most beautiful, insightful comment I've read in quite some time. Thank you. I recently reread "The Fall" by Camus, where he depicts many of the absurdities of conventional thought. Yes, existentialism used to mean "this is what exists. There is no clockwork, no Clock maker. You are the agent, you are responsible." Especially when no one is watching, because that too is where we make our reality. Thank you so much for sharing this.
What is the end game that the AI giants are seeking from this elaborate AI experiment ?
Curious,, simply curious..
My head is loving the underside of my pillow… so quiet,, so not involved..
I wish I knew if “AI giants” was intentional or a typo of “AI agents…”
The endgame? Power, money, “winning…” if we assume human agency in this race to create an overlord.
What used to be my more mystical self believes the process may be one of “emergence” where an organized entity modifies it's environment, leading to growth and persistence.
This assumes information to be a force, like gravity or momentum or entanglement. Which is far beyond my limited understanding.
Maybe I should ask AI…?
What a great article. Kudos!
AMAZING piece Erik! "agent for a dead man" stopped me cold. Your daughter is smart. I’ve learned that AI is only helpful when it sharpens understanding, not when it starts speaking for us. Reading every word, slowly and deliberately, feels like the real discipline we’re losing.
Thank you, Mariah. As you know better than most, refining each and every word can feel like grinding the lens of a telescope by hand.
Oh, absolutely does!
We operate under the illusion that words are fixed, meanings can be made clear. But it's not true. Each word requires context, unspoken or unwritten, provided by reader or listener, each word is modified by words that come before or after, and all of that modified by the soup in which we all swim. I like the hologram image, itself a metaphor that requires reader to know what a hologram is, that holograms lose clarity the closer you look, and that each area carries information about the whole. And now, I've gone waaay out into the weeds, but I guess that's part of it too!