From silicon to slime ⊗ We need more than fewer, better things ⊗ Automated Liminality

Welcome back! I hope you’re doing well, this is a chockfull return issue so it’s a tad longer than usual but entirely worth it, imho. I’m trying out a new ↯ thingy to point out thematic connections between articles. What do you think?

From silicon to slime

Loooved this interview with Claire L. Evans. It’s a 12 minutes read that took me at least 45 minutes to finish. Highlighting, searching for things, noting something in other places, etc. The interviewer, Willa Köerner, writes this in her intro and it’s actually a pretty good summary of their discussion; “I’m even more excited about her current body of research and writing: A mind-bending, ultra-futuristic conglomeration of topics, from slime mold computers, to evolutionary simulations, to programmable organisms. When taken together, there is a central question that emerges from these far-out areas of inquiry: How does computing shape our lives—and how will it shape our future? ”

Like a lot of my favourite pieces shared here, it’s not only in the ideas represented but in the language, I’ve already read most of Evans’ writing but there are always new formulas, new phrasings and angles that are so well put, it makes understanding clearer and even brings new (or deeper) insights.

Finally, I like this part; “Perhaps imagination is its own kind of computer, where we’re modelling something to ourselves as a way to experiment with it.” We can link that with the third featured article below, ↯ Automated Liminality, with Herndon’s idea of “collective intelligence,” and with this feeling I have that a parallel between AI “hallucinations” and how our own brains remember in a kind of collage is actually a better frame than thinking of LLMs as encyclopedias or search engine. (See Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness for one take on how memory works, and Clear’s notes about the book, especially imagination’s three shortcomings.)

Wish → All I want for Christmas (asap actually) is to read Evans interviewing Daniel Schmachtenberger. See his quote further down, which links to the complexity of ecologies in the piece above.

↯ While the term doesn’t come up in either piece, you can definitely link this one and the next through biomimicry, “the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems.”

We’ll never be smart enough to create an algorithm with that kind of open-ended generative power, although it’s precisely its evolutionary creativity that brought us intelligence to begin with. For me, the ongoing life force that resists entropy—whatever it is that organizes living systems and makes them capable of complex emergent behaviors—is the most mystical thing. Thinking about it is as close as I get to religious feeling. It’s at the center of everything. […]

I’ve always had a recursive relationship to writing about history. I’m looking for things that can help us recontextualize the present, while also creating new pathways towards a different, better future. […]

In a sense the output, the imagination, is a model. It’s rooted in something descriptive, but it’s just one picture of the world, among many. […]

How can we align our interests with what living organisms and systems naturally do? How can we yoke ourselves to what they’re doing so that our relationship is no longer exploitative, but rather one where we’re putting existing capabilities to productive ends?

We need more than fewer, better things

The chance to have both Evans and Deb Chachra in one back-from-vacation issue is a lovely bonus to get me back on track. Here Deb argues that we need to rethink our approach to objects, focusing not just on longevity or minimal purchases but on how well they match their intended use and afterlife. She gives the example of biodegradable bee plastic-like biopolyester, which demonstrate an ideal balance between durability and eventual degradation. Rather than adhering strictly to the mantra of “fewer, better things,” we should seek innovative methods to limit the environmental harms of production and disposal.

↯ See the zero-carbon podcast interview below for new possibilities enabled by cheap renewables, something Chachra writes about in her book.

Given this understanding of benefits and harms, then, the mantra of “fewer, better things” carries an implied equivalence between better and longer. But I’m pretty sure that my nonexistent grandchildren aren’t looking forward to inheriting my inexpensive plastic garbage can, manufactured in the millions, as a treasured family heirloom. They would want something better. […]

And that’s what’s so remarkable about them: The bee plastic is incredibly resistant to biodegradation because there’s an equilibrium between the robustness of the nest cell material and the task they’re used for, after which they dissolve gracefully into the soil. […]

What we actually want in our objects—what we need from our artifacts, as a civilization—is not that they last forever. We want ways to better match the life, and the afterlife, of an object to its intended use.

Related → Clive Thompson writes that the cure for disposable plastic crap is here—and it’s loony (I’ve only breezed through it so far).

Automated Liminality

Intriguing paper on the use of LLMs in foresight and futures research. The authors propose that these disciplines are already “identified as interdisciplinary and inherently liminal” and suggest that “LLMs’ ‘hallucinations’ or inaccuracies can be redefined as unforeseen scenarios providing crucial contributions to future envisioning.” In other words, their otherness and ‘wrong’ answers can be a feature, not a bug, in helping us to come up with original ideas within the possibilities research identifies.

I quite like their idea of an “active dialog between irrational synthesis by automated LLM systems and human creativity.”

However, by not being human and therefore not being constrained by judgment, emotion, or political will; LLMs might help to navigate the issues that workshop participants usually encounter (e.g. idea blocks, linear thinking, biased vision, team politics), and enable practitioners, scholars, and clients to more quickly identify unexpected knowledge gaps, or increasing the ratio of known unknowns versus known knowns. […]

From a foresight workshop perspective, AI can be used to reduce the time needed to get through the foresight process. Therefore, it can support facilitators to involve more people to further democratise the process. AI can also support facilitators to make the workshop customizable to the participants’ needs in real time during the workshop.

Related → Matt Webb believes that hallucination should not be a dirty word.

§ The best thing I read or listened to while on vacation (pro tip: it’s harder to disconnect during a ‘staycation’), by a mile, was definitely this interview of Daniel Schmachtenberger by Nate Hagens: Moving from naive to authentic progress. Some concepts will be familiar to readers but others won’t, and like the first two features above it’s also in the style, the language, and in this case the ‘connective tissue’ brining everything together. It’s a three hour listen but definitely worth it and there are links galore in that page to better understand the concepts and their lingo. As well as a 91 page (!!) PDF transcript.

I don’t need to try to optimize every, I don’t need to understand every bit of how the soil microbiology does everything it does. I have to just pay attention to what it needed to do that evolutionarily and continue to support that. This is that thing again, where I have to appreciate the thing that is already here with its evolutionary complexity and seek to maintain it and make sure that what I’m adding to it is not debasing that which it depends upon.

§ I haven’t looked into it further but the possibility discussed here, that we might be closing in on zero-carbon cement is quite incredible. I was going to skip it until I did some research but the quote below just lines up too well with Chachra’s work to not put both in the same issue.

“Super, super, super cheap renewables that are unlocking these possibilities, like one after the other. Stuff that it would have been too energy-intensive and expensive to do up until very recently. But renewables getting so, so, so cheap is just like one after the other, unlocking all sorts of possibilities in all sorts of areas.”

Futures, Fictions & Fabulations

We created a fake delivery company
“Designing a fake delivery company seemed to be the most logical, straightforward way of contacting a person. Hence, ''Future Delivers'' was born. The company's concept is that it delivers parcels from the future. This allows your future self in the year 2064 to send a parcel to your past self in the year 2024, filled with good advice, artefacts from the future, and warnings to hopefully improve your life ahead.” (Via The Near Future Lab’s Discord.)

How Sci-Fi movies have changed since the 50s
“In this visual essay, Alvin Chang shows how science fiction movies have gotten darker and more complex since the 1950s, when many movies were set in the present with a clear existential threat that was then overcome.”

Scenarios for assessing climate-related risks
“The majority of currently available climate scenarios focus on long-term perspectives to explore climate risks, with only a limited number taking the short-term into account. This report, and the accompanying short-term climate scenarios tool, aim to bridge this gap in climate scenario analysis by identifying short-term scenario narratives for financial use.”

Algorithms, Automations & Augmentations

AI has become a technology of faith
“An important thing to realize about the grandest conversations surrounding AI is that, most of the time, everyone is making things up. This isn’t to say that people have no idea what they’re talking about or that leaders are lying. But the bulk of the conversation about AI’s greatest capabilities is premised on a vision of a theoretical future.”

Eno documentary: behind the first generative feature film
“Each showing of the movie, which opens today in New York at Film Forum, will be a different version. It is, according to its makers, “the first generative feature film,” meaning pieces of it will change shape and structure per viewing, thanks to some clever software ingenuity designed by director Gary Hustwit and his partner Brendan Dawes.” I had no idea Dawes was involved, met him a lot of SXSWs ago and still flip through his Analog In, Digital Out once in a while.

The AI boom has an unlikely early winner: Wonky consultants
I’m sure this is going to turn out just great. “Rattled by tech’s latest trend, businesses have turned to advisers at Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey and KPMG for guidance on adopting generative artificial intelligence.”

Asides

• 🤩 🧑🏼‍💻 🍎 Objects of Our Life. “Steve [Job]’s talk at the 1983 International Design Conference in Aspen.”
• 🗺️ 📸 🤩 🇺🇸 How New York City Was Mapped by Air in 1924. “Though urban aerial photography began with images of Paris taken from a balloon in 1858 by Gaspard-Félix Tournachon — better known as Nadar — the real forebear of today’s ubiquitous imagery of the Earth’s surface came a century ago this month, with the unveiling of the first aerial photographic portrait of an entire metropolis.”
• 🏢 🎥 😍 🇳🇱 The $1.8 Billion Plan for Amsterdam. Beautifully made video providing an overview of the design of Amsterdam’s newest neighborhood—the Houthavens.
• ☀️ 🤯 🏢 🇹🇷 Wow! Also, there’s bound to be a sci-fi movie shot in there and/or it’s going to be a super villain lair. Kalyon Karapınar 1.350 MWp SPP - Central Control Building. “A similar opposing situation in the design of the facade is also present in the courtyard of the building. In the center of the structure, a lush courtyard has been positioned, creating a contrast to the arid texture of the region. This courtyard, designed with endemic plant species requiring minimal irrigation and maintenance, establishes a sustainable microclimate.”
• 🌳 🇯🇵 The Murou Art Forest: where art and nature become one. “This park combines breathtaking natural scenery with impressive modern art and offers visitors an unrivalled experience. Nestled in the wooded hills of Uda, the Murou Art Forest creates a harmonious connection between art and nature that attracts both locals and tourists.”
• ☀️ 👏🏼 Solar Power Reaches New Heights in 2024. “The solar energy sector is seeing major global growth, with a host of large-scale projects coming online and new discoveries with the potential to revolutionize the industry even further.”
• 🖼️ 🇯🇵 Keita Morimoto’s Glowing Street Scenes Pit Connection Against Solitude. “Meeting and getting to know people in the city, and observing how such a vibrant place can still isolate so many, has profoundly influenced my work, these experiences have pushed me to explore deeper themes of connection and solitude.”
• 💙 🎬 🇯🇵 A Guide to Miyazaki’s Weird Little Guys. “One of the things that Miyazaki loves, and that he returns to in The Boy and the Heron, is a bunch of weird little guys. The warawara might be Miyazaki’s weirdest little guys yet — bubblelike spirits in a strange magical land who rise up to the heavens to be born.”