One of the core aims of this project is to engage in the practice of open thinking. One of the constant challenges is doing so in conditions that actively impede thought and reflection. Swept up in reactivity and immediacy, weighed down by banality and stupidity. Much of this note is based on some ideas about AI from about two years ago that I have yet to find the space to finish working through.
Watching - and experiencing - big tech march forward with close to zero concern for the societal costs, I keep recalling this talk that Neil Postman gave to Apple employees in 1993. He considers the development of computers in the context of his arguments, emphasising the costs and unexpected consequences that always come with technological developments.
Lost in a dance of reactivity. Recalling some modified adages from previous notes: If a country shows you who they are, believe them. and Combine Occam’s Razor with ‘if it looks like a duck…’ to make: If it looks brutally stupid and/or stupidly brutal, then that is most likely what it is. To which can be added: Fool me first term, shame on you.
Jean Baudrillard, America : - Eric Hobsbawm, ‘Barbarism: A User’s Guide’: - Milan Kundera, The Art of the Novel : - Jorge Luis Borges, ‘The Wall and the Books’:
Eternally returning to Friedrich Nietzsche.
To restate: In Japanese, there is an expression ame to muchi ( 飴と鞭 ), which translates as ‘candy and whip’. Apparently this was taken from Otto von Bismarck’s expression of ‘ zuckerbrot und peitsche ’ (pastry / sugar bread and whip). These are generally equated with ‘carrot and stick’ in English, the basic idea of positive and negative incentives to shape behaviour.
A quarter of the way through the year, a quarter of the way through the century. On a recent visit to Australia, I had the opportunity for another in-person meeting with Pete Chambers. Previously we have tried to avoid focusing on the United States, conscious of how much of our collection attention it demands.
In terms of describing the odd mix of the present, Peter Chambers offers the formulation of ‘3SD’ - Surreal, Stubborn, Stupid + Dangerous, Destructive, Dumb. There is something quite remarkable how we seem to be threatened on the one side by incredibly stupid behaviours and decisions, and on the other side, the risk of all-powerful and all-knowing AI to rule them all.
In December, I published a note that finished with: This reflection was connected to a longer piece I was writing for The Journal of Global Ethics . The article is now available and open-access, so it is free to read and download: Christopher Hobson. ‘The Passing of Another Golden Age: Global Ethics in a Time of Deglobalisation.’ Journal of Global Ethics , March 2025.
Last year, Hu Wenhui, an editor in Guangzhou, asked: ‘How should those unfortunate enough to encounter the garbage time of history conduct themselves?’ Good question.
Franz Kafka, The Zürau Aphorisms : - Arthur Miller, ‘Why I Wrote The Crucible ’ : - Robert Musil, ‘Questions for Volume Two’ of The Man Without Qualities : - Joseph Roth: ‘Our Homeland, Our Epoch’ - Neil Postman, ‘Future Shlock’: - Hannah Arendt, ‘Franz Kafka: A Revaluation’: - Franz Kafka, The Zürau Aphorisms : -