So many interesting points in this article both on beauty and AI.
"You go to London and the telephone booths have been decommissioned, but they’re still on the street because they’re just so nice to look at"
"We think of aesthetics as superficial, but style is an external expression of a culture’s inner spirit. What we make is who we are. When you compare buildings from the 1970s to those from the 1930s, or even Gothic architecture, you can see how we cast our values in brick and stone."
"I’m working on a documentary with my friend Sheehan Quirke from The Cultural Tutor and we’re gonna publish it. It’s about why the world is becoming less beautiful. We’re publishing a pre-pilot soon and then we’re gonna get it on Apple or Netflix."
People need to wake up. It saddens me that in my low-rise Victorian London neighbourhood, plans for 30- and 42-storey tower blocks look set to go through, threatening to overshadow the character of the place.
On AI
"Obviously AI is better at the information part, but when I read Joan Didion or David Whyte, I don’t read it for information. I read it for that feeling, and the fact that they did it."
"It’s what I call the paradox of abundance. As you get more abundance, what you get is people who get this massive increase in how well they can use it, and then it hurts the average person."
"Another thing that I’ll do, which always makes me laugh, is I’ll have ChatGPT rewrite all my notes in the style of Theo Von. I do it for almost every interview. And it comes out with the funniest stuff that always changes how I think about approaching the conversation."
Thanks again! Your interviews and newsletters are the only ones I read and listen from the start to finish. This is already the quality > quantity approach being talked about here.
It also makes perfect sense because even before Substack, I only read (and was excited to get every week) one newsletter: David Pierce's The Installer from The Verge.
It is like reading my digital twin. This "Wow, I can't wait to get it every Saturday!" effect, is basically my north star.
I can't stand the myriad of Substack success coaches who run around with the same nonsense tips, that may have worked years ago but all are focused on quantity and "consistency". Nah, it's basically BS.
Quality is where the treasure is hidden and thank you for making this so clear! 🙏
Thank you, I really enjoyed this interview. I appreciate there are leading voices out there touching on the subjects of beauty and the quality of the things we produce. There's many of us who share these views and produce with these values in mind - unfortunately, they are often crowded out in the digital realm. I take solace in the fact that they do exist though, and choose to seek them out. Looking forward to more of these interviews
Great conversation, especially the part about “publishing as an event” vs. something you post every week to your followers.
Content on the internet now falls into two types:
1. Short form material that can be easily remixed. e.g. Jake Paul / Sam Altman videos on Sora. This post on “Clipping to Cloning” was excellent: https://hiddencap.com/stories/sora.
2. Long form material that breaks through the noise, e.g. the Situational Awareness blog post, a great documentary or show
This was my favorite talk…I’m still making my way through the other ones.
Btw, I was told my zine would arrive around September 18. But I have not received anything. Who can I talk to about an accurate expected shipping date?
So many interesting points in this article both on beauty and AI.
"You go to London and the telephone booths have been decommissioned, but they’re still on the street because they’re just so nice to look at"
"We think of aesthetics as superficial, but style is an external expression of a culture’s inner spirit. What we make is who we are. When you compare buildings from the 1970s to those from the 1930s, or even Gothic architecture, you can see how we cast our values in brick and stone."
"I’m working on a documentary with my friend Sheehan Quirke from The Cultural Tutor and we’re gonna publish it. It’s about why the world is becoming less beautiful. We’re publishing a pre-pilot soon and then we’re gonna get it on Apple or Netflix."
I hope David gets his YouTube: https://youtu.be/tWYxrowovts?si=2sIb3rriPKE25XEs or a version of it onto
Netflix asap.
People need to wake up. It saddens me that in my low-rise Victorian London neighbourhood, plans for 30- and 42-storey tower blocks look set to go through, threatening to overshadow the character of the place.
On AI
"Obviously AI is better at the information part, but when I read Joan Didion or David Whyte, I don’t read it for information. I read it for that feeling, and the fact that they did it."
"It’s what I call the paradox of abundance. As you get more abundance, what you get is people who get this massive increase in how well they can use it, and then it hurts the average person."
"Another thing that I’ll do, which always makes me laugh, is I’ll have ChatGPT rewrite all my notes in the style of Theo Von. I do it for almost every interview. And it comes out with the funniest stuff that always changes how I think about approaching the conversation."
Agree these were so good!!!
Thanks again! Your interviews and newsletters are the only ones I read and listen from the start to finish. This is already the quality > quantity approach being talked about here.
It also makes perfect sense because even before Substack, I only read (and was excited to get every week) one newsletter: David Pierce's The Installer from The Verge.
It is like reading my digital twin. This "Wow, I can't wait to get it every Saturday!" effect, is basically my north star.
I can't stand the myriad of Substack success coaches who run around with the same nonsense tips, that may have worked years ago but all are focused on quantity and "consistency". Nah, it's basically BS.
Quality is where the treasure is hidden and thank you for making this so clear! 🙏
thank you Atmos - comments like these keep us going!
Keep these coming, so good!
Thank you, I really enjoyed this interview. I appreciate there are leading voices out there touching on the subjects of beauty and the quality of the things we produce. There's many of us who share these views and produce with these values in mind - unfortunately, they are often crowded out in the digital realm. I take solace in the fact that they do exist though, and choose to seek them out. Looking forward to more of these interviews
The reference to Master and his Emissary is fantastic and a propos. Have you read his opus, “The Matter with Things”?
It is huge but develops the thinking so much more deeply.
Great post
I've seen and loved that short movie. So true. Had no idea David was behind it. Thank you Sari
Great conversation, especially the part about “publishing as an event” vs. something you post every week to your followers.
Content on the internet now falls into two types:
1. Short form material that can be easily remixed. e.g. Jake Paul / Sam Altman videos on Sora. This post on “Clipping to Cloning” was excellent: https://hiddencap.com/stories/sora.
2. Long form material that breaks through the noise, e.g. the Situational Awareness blog post, a great documentary or show
This was my favorite talk…I’m still making my way through the other ones.
Btw, I was told my zine would arrive around September 18. But I have not received anything. Who can I talk to about an accurate expected shipping date?
I loved this one too and Joan (coming next) was exceptional.
Let me check in with Jake about your zine, back to you shortly.
Is this recent? I noticed he says o3
Recorded about 2-3 months ago!