Confessional Method
If I possessed a methodology of thought, it would be characterized by a rejection of normative structures and a support for the larger work through a “meandering” approach. This approach actively seeks to unlearn as well as learn, engages anecdotally rather than comprehensively, and resists the easy categorization of arguments and examples. I contend that meandering resists structures imposed or assumed, fostering serendipity and chance insights.
Of course, this is all well and good until I try to communicate to another human. Then I am often accused of negligence in thought and writing. I will own up to this, confessing the sin of inconsistency. My only defense is that my negligence is human-derived and not automated by machines. This does not absolve me of a responsibility to communicate honestly. But it lays claim to the idea that machine-augmented thought is anything close to honest.
Automated Negligence
We need an adequate language with which to describe our technologically mediated actions. Negligence names a morally culpable dereliction of duty. If I automate a task or action that I am morally obligated to attend to or assume responsibility for, then I am not merely outsourcing or delegating or optimizing. I am engaging in a form of negligence, and I should be held accountable accordingly.
#Poetry
I have had insights while reading books.
I have had insights while sitting still.
I have had amazingly insightful conversations.
Yet the greatest insights came while slowly meandering around in the deep forest, with a curious 5-year-old by my side.
~ me
If I possessed a methodology of thought, it would be characterized by a rejection of normative structures and a support for the larger work through a “meandering” approach. This approach actively seeks to unlearn as well as learn, engages anecdotally rather than comprehensively, and resists the easy categorization of arguments and examples. I contend that meandering resists structures imposed or assumed, fostering serendipity and chance insights.
Of course, this is all well and good until I try to communicate to another human. Then I am often accused of negligence in thought and writing. I will own up to this, confessing the sin of inconsistency. My only defense is that my negligence is human-derived and not automated by machines. This does not absolve me of a responsibility to communicate honestly. But it lays claim to the idea that machine-augmented thought is anything close to honest.
Automated Negligence
We need an adequate language with which to describe our technologically mediated actions. Negligence names a morally culpable dereliction of duty. If I automate a task or action that I am morally obligated to attend to or assume responsibility for, then I am not merely outsourcing or delegating or optimizing. I am engaging in a form of negligence, and I should be held accountable accordingly.
#Poetry
I have had insights while reading books.
I have had insights while sitting still.
I have had amazingly insightful conversations.
Yet the greatest insights came while slowly meandering around in the deep forest, with a curious 5-year-old by my side.
~ me