It's something that I've often thought about recently. Not just about taking quotes out of context but writing a poem or an essay or a book that could be construed as something whether meant to be or not. I remember reading in horror and absolute incomprehension about philosophers and poets and artists who were banished or arrested or disappeared or persecuted or blacklisted for arguing or writing or painting or believing or thinking or for creating something that was out of favor with those who were in government power at the time they were alive. I couldn't believe this happened so recently in our own USA history and thank goodness it didn't happen here much anymore. What freedoms we now enjoyed. And appalled that it happened anywhere at all except for countries that were living in places where governments controlled every part of their lives. And the scary thing is now, I feel more and more like that nightmare is here again right at our door.
I think we need to be vigilant and check our sources. Context is more important than ever. This has become a feature of my domestic life. Nathaniel and I are constantly asking one another for the verbal equivalent of footnotes, even though we both occupy the same general political territory.
Unfortunately, there really is a lot of misinformation out there.
I remember the Gabby Giffords shooting (on my mind for obvious reasons) in 2011. Part of what was memorable, for me, was the media confusion. I read a lot of "developing news" that ended up not being true. That was an unsettling experience on top of the disturbing nature of the incident itself.
Notably, 2011 is just when Instagram was getting started. Jonathan Haidt, who I know is a bit controversial in some respects, likes to point to 2011 as when social media really started to become a problem for American youth (especially in terms of mental health).
That feels like a long time ago in some ways... It's unfortunate we, as a society, didn't step in and take action earlier to try to prevent Big Tech from becoming the behemoths they are today. I really wish we still had media that felt completely reliable and without s[p]in.
I asked Ada Limon (at a Q&A after her transcendent reading here in Cincinnati) what she thought was required of poets in a time of encroaching fascism—and do we have a duty to use our gifts to respond to the excesses of power. Her response was perfect and predictable: Poets' work reveals truths that tyrants have no control over — which is why our work is dangerous to them whether it addresses their excesses or not.
So keep writing. Keep discovering. Keep using poetic license!
I've heard recently that this is also why those in power like the idea of AI replacing human art and erasing the history of human art. Without reference points, we're lost. If we cannot imagine other possibilities, we are in grave danger.
So yes, the answer is to keep investigating, wonder, ask questions, create.
Side note: YouTube is applying a filter to shorts that are posted by real creators (with real bodies) so they look more like AI generated shorts — again conditioning us to be unable to distinguish between the two. (There's been a huge uproar about this so *maybe* IRL creators will get this practice changed.
It's something that I've often thought about recently. Not just about taking quotes out of context but writing a poem or an essay or a book that could be construed as something whether meant to be or not. I remember reading in horror and absolute incomprehension about philosophers and poets and artists who were banished or arrested or disappeared or persecuted or blacklisted for arguing or writing or painting or believing or thinking or for creating something that was out of favor with those who were in government power at the time they were alive. I couldn't believe this happened so recently in our own USA history and thank goodness it didn't happen here much anymore. What freedoms we now enjoyed. And appalled that it happened anywhere at all except for countries that were living in places where governments controlled every part of their lives. And the scary thing is now, I feel more and more like that nightmare is here again right at our door.
Yup, sadly, we are right on the edge.
I think we need to be vigilant and check our sources. Context is more important than ever. This has become a feature of my domestic life. Nathaniel and I are constantly asking one another for the verbal equivalent of footnotes, even though we both occupy the same general political territory.
Unfortunately, there really is a lot of misinformation out there.
I remember the Gabby Giffords shooting (on my mind for obvious reasons) in 2011. Part of what was memorable, for me, was the media confusion. I read a lot of "developing news" that ended up not being true. That was an unsettling experience on top of the disturbing nature of the incident itself.
Notably, 2011 is just when Instagram was getting started. Jonathan Haidt, who I know is a bit controversial in some respects, likes to point to 2011 as when social media really started to become a problem for American youth (especially in terms of mental health).
That feels like a long time ago in some ways... It's unfortunate we, as a society, didn't step in and take action earlier to try to prevent Big Tech from becoming the behemoths they are today. I really wish we still had media that felt completely reliable and without s[p]in.
Oh, so do I. There would be less bickering at my house!
I asked Ada Limon (at a Q&A after her transcendent reading here in Cincinnati) what she thought was required of poets in a time of encroaching fascism—and do we have a duty to use our gifts to respond to the excesses of power. Her response was perfect and predictable: Poets' work reveals truths that tyrants have no control over — which is why our work is dangerous to them whether it addresses their excesses or not.
So keep writing. Keep discovering. Keep using poetic license!
Good words.
I've heard recently that this is also why those in power like the idea of AI replacing human art and erasing the history of human art. Without reference points, we're lost. If we cannot imagine other possibilities, we are in grave danger.
So yes, the answer is to keep investigating, wonder, ask questions, create.
Side note: YouTube is applying a filter to shorts that are posted by real creators (with real bodies) so they look more like AI generated shorts — again conditioning us to be unable to distinguish between the two. (There's been a huge uproar about this so *maybe* IRL creators will get this practice changed.
disturbing...