A day or two after the new year began, I wrote and published my reflections on the past year and a set of aspirations for the new year. One of those aspirations was to write more, short and long form. It is 26 weeks into the year and I have exceeded my aspirations for writing and publishing. I have published micro posts daily, and each week, at least one long form essay. The total count of long form posts for the past six months is 28. What did I write about? The following is a list of my posts by category with brief description/summaries.

Personal Reflection

Many things have arisen that have given me cause for personal reflection. Writing is how I work out strong and confused emotions. Writing is how I am learning to understand myself and my relationship to the world around me.

Reflections for 2022, Aspirations for 2023: The post that got the ball rolling.

Never Put Off Till Tomorrow: About the death of my uncle before I could visit.

About The Handmaid’s Tale: My complex feelings about The Handmaid’s Tale.

My True Potential: About being a house husband and homemaker.

Smaller is Beautiful: About an argument with my wife which led to an epiphany.

About My 50th High School Reunion: My complicated feelings around my 50th reunion. Don’t we all have them?

It’s a simple thing, but: When my local theater decided it’s easier to post a link to a website than change the movies on the marquee weekly.

AI

With the appearance of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, a lot of attention has been drawn to artificial intelligence, what I call, alternative intelligence. I wrote many times about ChatGPT, and reworked a talk I gave on AI in 2009 into a five-part post.

Nick Cave Vs. ChatGPT: The claim that ChatGPT can’t make art because it doesn’t feel or have the experience of aspiration and disappointment. I argue that whether it feels or has experience is irrelevant. All it needs to be able to do is make us feel.

What Is ChatGPT For?: Here I speculate that ChatGPT signals the emergence of a higher complexity intelligence built in part on human intelligence.

Another Post About AI: I make and address each of the following statements:

  • AI is here to stay.
  • AI is the continued evolution of intelligence on the planet.
  • AI is already good at, and will get even better at, getting us to engage with it.
  • There will certainly be good that comes of AI.
  • There will certainly be bad that comes of AI.
  • We don’t control the evolution of AI, and never will.
  • We can be happy, creative, and productive, in spite of AI.

Can AI Make Art?: In which I argue that great art can and will be made with AI.

And, my five part series on A(alternative)I(intelligence)

What Intelligent Life Is Made Of: Part 1

What Intelligent Life Is Made Of: Part 2

What Intelligent Life Is Made Of: Part 3

What Intelligent Life Is Made Of: Part 4

What Intelligent Life Is Made Of: Postscript

Books, Reading

I have read a number of books this year that have had a substantial impact on my thinking. These are the posts that are directly about, or inspired by, books I read.

“Make the work, something will come of it.”: About gift economies. Inspired by:

  • Sacred Economics, Charles Eisenstein
  • The Gift, Lewis Hyde
  • Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • Buddhist Economics, E. F. Schumacher (an essay from the book, Small Is Beautiful)

Wo/man, The Two Legged Paradox: A look at the “survival of the fittest” and its efficacy as an organizing principle for society.

  • The Log from the Sea of Cortez, John Steinbeck

Spirit-Of-Gift: A further look at the gift economies.

  • The Gift, Lewis Hyde

Finding The Mother Community: On the atomization of society and how a strong and resilient society can be built.

  • Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, Suzanne Simard

How Much Does Happiness Cost?: On the surprisingly little money it takes for people to be happy. It ain’t all about the money.

  • Reclaiming the Sacred, Jeff Golden

And then I read.: About capitalism and its discontents.

  • Reclaiming the Sacred, Jeff Golden
  • Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • Sacred Economics, Charles Eisenstein
  • The Gift, Lewis Hyde

Review of Reclaiming the Sacred, by Jeff Golden: A review of the book.

Fiction

I write fiction from time to time. Short stories so far, though I am currently working on something that might turn out to be novella length. Look for more in this space in the coming months.

The Photograph: A short story I wrote when asked to be part of a story writing and reading event. Each participant was given a photograph, two authors for each photograph, and asked to write a short story that could be read in 5 minutes.

Something Is Afoot: A post about trends I am perceiving. Is there some big thing happening right now? I think so, but what it is, isn’t clear.

Spirituality, Humanism

A Humanist Concept of Sacred: This post was derived from a talk I gave at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. I decided to revisit it when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and because of the deeply divided nation I live in. I believe that it is important to have a concept of the sacred, of setting things apart from violation. The question is, where does the sacred emanate from if there is no God, which is the position I take.

Democracy and Patriarchy

“Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light”: About a patriarchy loosing its grip on power and the violent backlash that has resulted.

Individual vs. The Whole

In Praise of the Choir: We live in a society that idolizes the child prodigy and worships the exceptional individual. We are told from the time we are small children that we can be anything we want to be, and that we, too, are exceptional. This piece is about the choir, the power and beauty of it, and how it’s enough to be a member of it, even honorable.

I am excited to see what the next six months of writing will tackle. I feel I am hitting my stride. I have really accomplished something. Thanks for reading.