[Seth Says] Less Is More
Q: Is it a problem if I keep a library book until it's overdue?
A: It's fine.
The other night I managed to wean (I'm a weanie!) myself away from my computer, which was offering an infinity of movies on Netflix and an infinity of fun games on Gamepass and an infinity of non-fun mindless scrolling on Facebook (you wouldn't think it would be so difficult to wean yourself away from something not enjoyable but that's why social media is dangerous), and I sat in our comfy loveseat (which we pretty much never use as a loveseat because one side has stuff piled on it)(the inevitable fate of all flat surfaces)(at least horizontal ones)(okay, we don't pile a lot on the ceiling)(unless you count A WHOLE OTHER FLOOR) and I read a library book.
The book in this case was one I'd read before (Hench, a charming little villainous novel which I was re-reading because the sequel just came out recently and I wanted to refresh my memory), but it was nice to just take an evening to sit and read a book. I think in the Internet Age, there's something to be said for taking some time to not be in front of a screen now and then (mostly then; I find it too difficult to leave in any particular now).
For that matter, I think more generally there's something to be said for just taking time to not have input, and I say it as a giant hypocrite who keeps myself immersed in a state of
CONSTANT INPUT
One of the things about brains is that in order to function they need a little bit of time and space in order to produce thought and not just reaction. Thought is, consequently, increasingly an endangered luxury good thanks to a world that makes it easy to have constant input all the time. I do think not all input is created equal (I hold that truth to be Seth-evident), since your brain has zero space to think and process if you're flipping through a seamlessly endless feed of tiktok videos, whereas if you're reading a chunk of writing with some ideas in it you can proceed at your own pace and thus easily pause to process even (let's all take a few seconds to think about the last time a piece of art affected us) mid-sentence.
But even constant text input is probably not ideal when there needs to be space for reflection. Thinking just can't happen when you're constantly shoveling text into your brain, which I should know because this is the third time I've returned to writing this newsletter after getting distracted by reddit or some other words in some other window (it's a pane)(how sill-y). Thinking takes time and space. No coincidence that writer's blocks are often temporarily solved by a solitary walk, eliminating all the input and leaving space for the brain to think.
STILL HATING ON AI
That's a big problem with AI (1 of 7,000)(7 of 9): People don't take the time or space to think if AI just instantly tells them things, hence the cognitive decline. Your brain muscles don't stretch if you don't do thinking, and do think is be good. (Me am grammar!) A friend recently pointed out that the lack of junior coders thinking about how to do things instead of just asking AI to do it is going to lead to a lack of senior coders who have thought about things enough to understand how to approach difficult problems. And that's true in every industry where AI use is prevalent. I even recently told a comedy coaching client that having AI handle your notes so you don't have to think about them is the opposite of what you want to be doing, which is spending more time thinking about the material so your brain has room to find the funny.
Ironically, my mother recently forwarded me an article about AI companies now scrambling to hire philosophy majors. But it makes sense. The world needs people who can think, and for all my antipathy towards AI, the thing computers are best at is analyzing large data sets and doing big calculations where a correct answer exists... and the biggest thing they're terrible at is having human thoughts based on a nuanced understanding of the world, because unlike human brains, all they have is reacting to input.
So AI needs input, while our brains need time and space, but one thing they have in common is that they function better when they're not overheated.
COOL IT!
Conveniently, this week's column addresses that very topic, so please enjoy some snippets of:
Last week we celebrated America's 250th anniversary with 250-degree weather, and although the weather this week is much cooler, odds are good that before summer's over we'll have another heat wave and another overhyped celebrity wedding.
While you can protect yourself from weddings by avoiding social media, some people are saying the US is the hottest country in the world right now. Well, okay, mainly just the President. So here are ten Trump-inspired tips for beating the heat this summer:
1) Surround yourself with fans. If you don't have an electric fan, try holding cabinet meetings of sycophants who just tell you what a great job you're doing. Find any non-partisan experts that might be heading government agencies and replace them with your fans. Cooler already!
[...]
3) Take more naps. It's no coincidence that the afternoon nap is a tradition in hot-weather countries. Sleeping through the heat makes sense - even if you can't be in your bed. You can sleep anywhere: diplomatic meetings, the Pope's funeral, press conferences, bill signings, cabinet meetings where people are talking directly to you, even loud arenas of screaming fans during the NBA finals.
[...]
5) Buy lots of ice and put it everywhere. Even when everyone says, "We do not want or need ICE here!", or "You're spending way too much on ICE!" and "This is just creating a big mess and making everything worse!"
[...]
8) Enjoy a swim in the pool. If you don't have one, just look for some water that you can turn into a swimming pool. Trump even found a little reflecting pool in the middle of DC nobody was using, and repainted it to turn into a swimming pool. Unfortunately once it's a swimming pool, people think they can go in it, so he had to put up a fence to make it a private pool. You want to avoid people.
And here's last week's Banner column:
PADDY O'FURNITURE
Over the past week I've had the pleasure of some patio dinners with friends and also Debbie, and there's just something very pleasant about getting away from all the screens to sit in good company, ideally with good food, and chat and stare up at trees and sky and other wonders of the natural world. Good for the brain, I think. (Good for the think, I brain.)
Anyway, that wraps up this week's newsletter. As always, I thank you for reading, will be back in two weeks with another column, and I hope you have a little boring time this week for your mind to wander with no input. (My problem is my mind tends to wander with no output.)(The problem with books that aren't Gulliver's Travels is that their man tends to wander with no Lilliput.)(At least I made my reference very clear that time.)
Swift and Murkyless,
Seth