Does Sam Altman Know What He’s Creating? by Ross Andersen

The brain that lets us analyze, model, and conceptualize systems tends to see itself as being outside of the system. This most clearly manifests as being a consumer of the environment in which we live and not a member of it. We routinely do not integrate into our environment but look to shape it to our needs. We interrupt the system instead of participating in it. Perhaps we are not able to comprehend how to participate and are just following our animalistic programming.

I visit the bookstore at least three times per month. I find it relaxing to see what is new and discover what I have not seen. Books were always important to my father. He eventually managed a large bookstore for a few years. I started working at Bookstar when I was twenty, which was purchased and finally converted to Barnes & Noble. Then I worked at Borders, the superior bookstore with a much better and more diverse selection. For the record, I am still quite disappointed that Borders didn’t make it. My time there was at the height of Infinite Jest, Anne Rice, and R. L. Stine.

I often wonder how many people understand the difference between dirt and soil. The human species has spectacularly consumed much of the planet’s soil that has been generated over millennia in such a short period.

I compose my site on Apple devices using the Draft application. It’s quick, easy, and syncs across devices. It is a fabulous application to just open and start writing. I keep a draft of running field notes ideas where I will write out the next post. It’ll expand, revise, and edit continuously over two weeks.

The next project for my Kitchen Refresh Program is to redo the overhead lighting for the island. Previously there were two pendant lights above the smaller island and a chandelier over what was the breakfast nook.

This succinctly summarizes my worry about the Corporation as an entity without the ability to have the best interest of society as a factor in its constitution.

School started this week where I live. One of my favorite things to do was to attend the High School meet the teacher night. This would usually happen within the first month of school. Since I live close enough, I’d ride my bike there and follow my kid’s schedule. Each teacher has about 7 minutes and the parents would rush from one class to the next, just as the kids must. It was a great opportunity to see what life is to be like for your child that year and get some anchoring to the classes and teachers. For me, a bike ride back in the twilight before it gets dark. I felt a sense of pleasure in not having to find parking or deal with the traffic.

This book has been hanging over me for a year and the timing felt right. I was able to mostly skim through this book and read the sections that were relevant to me. What I picked up was validation of why I operate in the world the way I do. What I am to do about it is what I am already doing about it. I guess that is good news.

Raising teens means a lot of training to be competent adults. This should result in being conscientious of the world around them. What I affectionately think of as the sphere of awareness. The greater the sphere, the better you’ll be able to coexist with other humans. I have realized I have very specific and absurd rules around using the doors to get in and out of the house. I’m pretty sure they are terrible to navigate as a teen.