The booger critic

That's not AI is it?

There is beauty in imperfection. That one jagged line in a spider web is tantalizing to the eye and draws you in. The mushroom that can only push up on one part of the earth and sits still half submerged allows you to recognize its strength and its struggle. It’s all there in variety and wonder and a constant reminder that the world is not all here just to please us. It has very little concern for us at all.

And yet we drive for perfection in ways that, in my opinion, numb the world and make it less interesting. Plastic surgery so that everyone’s nose is the same? Boring. Extinction of character. Extinction of age. In an effort to blend in, we disappear.

All our new AI stuff is highly annoying to me. The lazy use of AI makes me think of some people I know that travel the world but then go to Subway for dinner because they know what they will get. It’s the same everywhere*. Formulaic. This is not what life is about. Yeah, sometimes it’s a handy thing, but while you’re traveling the world? Really? AI to me is like a cake mix. yeah sure… you can go to the store and get a cake mix and it makes a tasty cake but I’d rather eat one that’s made from scratch just because it was made from scratch. Far more interesting.

I am especially impressed when things are made by people and I don’t know how they did it. I got some Ttobongee Chicken yesterday.  Tasty tasty tasty.  I don’t know how they do it and I love it and I’m pretty sure they didn’t use AI to do it. Today I had leftovers and it made up my entire, imperfectly balanced meal. 

Now, there are interesting parts to AI - I will admit that. An excellent learning tool if used correctly. If you’re in a hurry and need a starting point, fine. But still, at least take the time to make whatever it makes for you your own. And make sure to give proper credit to the sources that were used. Don’t skimp or be lazy with your morality just because the tool is easy to use. 

Sorry, I went off on a tangent there. Distracted. Imperfect. 

Imperfection. It extends to me now. I am certainly aware of my faults. I have a weird bump on my head, mostly bald, my back is messed up…  Socially I can be awkward. I will become overly focused on specific contexts and miss the big picture and say things that are short sighted or without tact. I did that today, in fact. I even lied to a friend. Not intentionally mind you. And not a big thing, I just made a general statement about how I function which was in fact, not true and was only in regard to a very specific situation. Misleading. A lie. And then I said something else that just was intended to be nice but just came out weird and it’s been eating at me all day. Sigh. 

And funny thing. These are just both little tiny things and yet my brain is hanging on them like I’ve destroyed the planet. And I wonder. Am I just desperate for criticism? Do I need a good solid beratement?  Perhaps I do. I don’t think I’ve been properly put in my place for quite a while. I do miss the brutal honesty of Katie. If I put a spoon in the wrong place in the kitchen, I would hear about it. If I had a conflict with someone at school and told her about it, she would invariably take the other side and point out how I was largely at fault. I’d be mad, but it would still sink in and I’d think and I’d probably apologize or at least change my ways. I’m quite sure if she read my substack she would find all sorts of logic and grammar errors as well as point out how in post 2 I said this and in post 17 I said that and they are not consistent and what do you really mean? Yeah. I need that. 

So that then makes me think of the value of honesty from a trusted source. We need friends that will tell us we have a booger hanging from our nose. We need friends that will tell us we’re being a jerk and we need to shape up. They’re important for our growth. Without them we may never realize how imperfect we are and our heads will grow and we’ll think the world revolves around us. I know, for me, when I’m writing here, the world revolves around me. When I teach my classes, the world revolves around me and I am a dictator. King me. 

Speaking of boogers… When Katie and I would become annoyed with each other she would look at me and call me “booger”.  I would then reply “snot”  and we’d giggle and we’d be done. Well, done most of the time. Sometimes boogers are sticky. 

I hope you are grateful to the ones you love that are asking you the hard questions. 

I am looking forward to some hard questions and some fierce criticism. It’s time. 

*not all fast food is the same everywhere, btw, but I hear Subway is.