I agree with the four or five points near the beginning. But you should beware of Chatbot's attempts at flattery. And indeed beware of AI altogether. Its designers say they're building God. But to me it looks more like Satan. You should use a very long spoon.
I have some of Kingsnorth’s Dark Mountain work. He seemed very depressed at the state of both man and nature. Has he found anything yet that provides hope?
I don't really think it's God or Satan they're building but just a very finely tuned and automated mimicry of style and substance that produces a pattern that turns out to be a pretty convincing appearance of a genuine imaginative construct. They can be surprisingly good, but I don't think they're anything other than yet another "extension of man" as McLuhan phrased it.
What delightful reading, Jonathan! Leonard Cohen’s life and oeuvre has fascinated me. Judy Collins’ muse early in her career. His final album, You Want It Darker, came to mind from a passage early in this essay. It sits in my DVD collection for refreshing my thoughts of him. Leonard’s religious experiences, blending Judaism, Christianity, and Zen Buddhism, showed the extent of his thinking and being. Count me delighted that you had this chance encounter with Leonard on the mountaintop.
Thank you, Gary. I think I like his last few albums the best, too, and his amazing phoenix-like recovery in those years. Gives me hope for the last third of my own life.
One of my favorites!
Thank you, Stan!
Absolutely love this post Jonathan! Love the song too - I'm going to find the post where you sing it - i did read that correctly did'nt I?
Thank you, Lis. Yes, I wrote it as a song and recorded it with guitar and harmonica. I'd like to know what you think of it if you listen to it. (https://jopomojo.substack.com/p/i-love-your-stupid-hair-f71)
Brilliant! I loved it. I was tapping my foot all the way though. Very reminiscent of Bob Dylan in sound, & definitely with the mouth organ.
Love the silly hair & fucked up cake lines too! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
I agree with the four or five points near the beginning. But you should beware of Chatbot's attempts at flattery. And indeed beware of AI altogether. Its designers say they're building God. But to me it looks more like Satan. You should use a very long spoon.
Read what R.S. Thomas and D.H.Lawrence and Paul Kingsnorth have to say about 'the machine'.
I have some of Kingsnorth’s Dark Mountain work. He seemed very depressed at the state of both man and nature. Has he found anything yet that provides hope?
Not really. Though oddly enough I find him very relaxing.
A surrender to the apocalypse, then.
Perhaps more like turning the other cheek?
I don't really think it's God or Satan they're building but just a very finely tuned and automated mimicry of style and substance that produces a pattern that turns out to be a pretty convincing appearance of a genuine imaginative construct. They can be surprisingly good, but I don't think they're anything other than yet another "extension of man" as McLuhan phrased it.
What delightful reading, Jonathan! Leonard Cohen’s life and oeuvre has fascinated me. Judy Collins’ muse early in her career. His final album, You Want It Darker, came to mind from a passage early in this essay. It sits in my DVD collection for refreshing my thoughts of him. Leonard’s religious experiences, blending Judaism, Christianity, and Zen Buddhism, showed the extent of his thinking and being. Count me delighted that you had this chance encounter with Leonard on the mountaintop.
Thank you, Gary. I think I like his last few albums the best, too, and his amazing phoenix-like recovery in those years. Gives me hope for the last third of my own life.
Loved all of this. Very, very enjoyable. I love Leonard Cohen also.
Thank you, Kathleen. I'm glad you liked it.
You're welcome, Jonathan