When Dan Simmons died earlier this year, I put Hyperion and its sequels on my reading list. It’s long been one of my favorite novels, but it’d been almost 6 years since I last read it.
When I revisit a novel so many years later I find that different aspects of its story stand out. With Hyperion this time around, the TechnoCore got me thinking. Without spoiling the plot, think of the Core as a network of super-intelligent AIs that separated from (and yet still control large aspects of) humanity.
The Core jumped out to me because, amidst all the present day chatter about AGI, it can be easy to think in singular terms. What will AGI look like? What will that AI’s perspective on humans be? The AIs of Hyperion, though, are plural. There are 3 groups: the Ultimates, Stables, and Volatiles, all with different proclivities and priorities. Perhaps the future will be less homogenous than we fear.
Sam Holden’s post about human and artificial scale is a good one and I particularly appreciated his observation of, “the meaningful rewards derived from effort and attention.” Efficiency can be wonderful and friction can be meaningful. Our present scales have tipped too far toward to the former.
Chris Arnade’s newsletter remains one of the best out there (as is his book Dignity). His recent conversation with Colin Marshall about Seoul included this gem of a quote from Lawrence Osborne:
If you think about the way in which you get to know a human being in all their complexity, it’s something that happens over many, many years. You don’t meet somebody in one period of time and decide that they’re a friend or a lover. You do in some ways, but what you really do is drop in over and over again, you get to know that person over a very, very long period of time.
Around our mini-farm, we have reached peak spring. Vegetables are in the ground (and growing quickly), the chickens have ramped up their egg production, and the weather is often idyllic. I frequently look out to the hills across the valley and think the sky looks like something from a cartoon. My weekends are a hopeful dance that the rain holds off for just long enough to mow the grass lest it get too out of control. Lugging bagfuls of semi-wet grass clippings over and over again is no joke.
I can feel the physical benefits of all this work, too. I’ve lifted weights multiple times a week for years, and yet the 7+ hours of work outside every weekend tax my body in ways a gym simply can’t. It’s a gratifying way to spend “down” time. I end each Saturday and Sunday feeling like I’ve spent what energy I had and made the day full.
We’ve settled into a lovely Saturday routine as we drive down to Skibbereen for groceries. After groceries we get coffee and pastries at Brew (where we’ve been often enough to be recognized as regulars) and wander through the busy farmer’s market across the street. Brew was a great find as they have some of the best decaf espresso I’ve had anywhere.
