sweet ‘n’ sour tape #9: solarpunk
I was practicing the island strumming pattern on my Ukulele. Which looks a little like this:
Technically, I can play the pattern just fine. The caveat is if that’s all I’m doing. It is hard to juggle a strumming pattern and switching chords.
Playing each chord is fun and switching is fun too-it’s that switch that turns noise into music. But something happens when I switch chords and try to keep the strumming pattern. A chemical reaction in my brain that should end with a dopamine release ends with me sad and my ukulele on the floor.
This time was different. I’d been strumming for a while. I had this island stroke on lock. Each down stroke brought a loud bbrrrriiiing each up stroke a light burring. Bbrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing burring!
Ok, so this sound is echoing across my room.
Bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing burring!
Bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing burring!
My hands line up for the chords. I go to C, bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing burring!
I swiftly switch to F, bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing burring!
My hands need to move to G. I’m keeping pace with the strum and then…
Bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing burring burring bbrrrriiiing bbrrrriiiing!
In a fit of rage, I take the ukulele and smash it against my wall. It shatters. Ukulele shards fly full throttle back at me. A piece is heading straight towards my face until something magical happens: time completely stops.
The shards are frozen in air.
I’m in complete awe right now. I take a step back and look around. My clock is stopped, the air feels dead, the flickering sunlight is still — time has completely stopped. I keep going back and I bump into something. It sorta feels like a wall, but it also sorta feels like a giant six foot tall monkey man. I look up —
“You were really going to die like that. How disappointing.”
I gasp. “Hanuman-ji?!?¹” My jaw is completely open.
His face slowly moves from disappointment into a warm smile.
I’m in shock. I could barely comprehend him. “Wow…thank you?”
Hanuman-ji takes a seat on my bed. “ Look, that ukulele would have bounced off the wall and smashed straight into your skull. It would have left you mortally wounded bhai³” He shakes his head.
“Mortally wounded? I was going to die?”
“Yes, I already said that.”
There was a long and awkward pause as my own fragile mortality was made aware by the bluntness of an immortal.
Hanuman-ji takes a breath. “It’s chilly in your room!” he exclaims. “You know I usually protect people in a much warmer continent.”
I nod.“I’m sorry I can raise the temp — ”
Suddenly, everything starts to move. Hanuman-ji takes in a mouthful of air, the ukulele shards begin to shake, and I grab my wall for support. He pinches his nose and everything comes to an abrupt stop.
“Oh I’m sorry bhai, I was about to sneeze. The force of my sneeze sends me home. The good news is I caught myself!”
Hanuman-ji claps his hands. “Let’s go on a walk.”
Still shaken up from the semi- earthquake caused by Hanuman-ji’s semi- sneeze, I only say “Ok.”
He instinctively heads out of my room and down the stairs towards the exit “Grab your face-mask would you. Death by virus would make this whole thing pointless.”
I run over and grab it. Then I quickly race down stairs to catch up with Hanuman-ji.
He smacks my back. “Stop being so tense! Think of me as your friend!”
“Yes, Hanuman-ji!” I’m internally freaking out. This god, this entity, is in the apartment patiently waiting for me to go on a walk.
Hanuman-ji smirks. “I’m surprised you aren’t worried to walk with me I tend to stand out.”
I look around and say, “But time is frozen.”
“Good observation. No one will notice me.” There was a pause in his words. “And, we can take our time.” Hanuman-ji extends his arms.
“Is that what you’re here for? To teach me to take my time.”
He bursts into laughter as we take our first few steps down the street. “If that’s how you interpreted things, but I just want to hangout my friend.”
“Friend? We’re friends Hanuman-ji?”
“Yes, I thought you seemed pretty cool”
Wow flattery from a god. “Well Hanuman-ji thank you, I think your — ”
“I know you like Ganesh more than me.”
I froze, absolutely mortified.
“I saw your shrine. You need to add a little me bhai. Has Ganesh ever saved you from an untimely death via shards of wood?”
As I begin to mouth the word no, Hanuman-ji interjects. “Of course not!”
Hanuman-ji looks both ways before he crosses the street. I think he forgets time is frozen.
“No worries bhai, I shouldn’t get too distracted anyway.” We head down the street and then through an alley way, finally arriving at this open grass clearing. We sit down and take it in.
“I love the sun on my skin, what about you? It’s my favorite feeling in the whole world.”
“I love it too Hanuman-ji! Nothing better.”
“Let’s relax here.” Hanuman-ji lays on the grass and closes his eyes. “You know friend, life is nice when we let it be.”
I lay back “When we let it be” My eyes close.
The earth starts to shake. Gusts of winds start flying and trees begin to tremble. “Don’t sneeze!” I scream.
Hanuman-ji pinches his nose and smiles “No worries, these trees seek companionship”
“Seek companionship?”
“Well you see, there was a time when all these elm trees covered America. It was quite nice. But eventually a fungus from Europe came across the ocean and just decimated these elms. Elms are good for your little towns because they’re hermaphrodites so the trees always had a companion. But the new trees Americans planted were all male so no companion. Without a companion the pollen has no where to go except our nostrils.”
“Wow you really do know all”
Hanuman laughed. “No bhai I saw this fun little video.”
“Why would a god watch a video on Youtube?”
“Well we get bored too and we also are curious what humanity has been up to bhai. It’s fun to watch.”
I nod my head. “So Hanuman-ji, what is it like being immortal?”
“I don’t know, what’s it like being mortal?”
“I don’t know, kinda boring.”
“Well death gives you a sense of urgency, right? That seems interesting.”
“Yeah I kind of feel like I’m supposed to be hurtling towards something, but that something always seems to be more nothing.”
“That’s so sad. You get older though, which must be nice”
“More expectations,” I sigh.
“And, more responsibility!” Hanuman laughs. “That’s tough!” He pats me on my shoulder and says confidently, “No worries friend, I know you’ll find your way.”
“How did you find yours?” I ask him.
Hanuman -ji starts smiling. “Well when you have a bunch of little humans like yourself define your life, it’s not hard to have a way.”
“That must still get difficult.”
“It’s a gift nonetheless. A lot less confusing then what’s happening with you, but also a lot less exciting.”
“That’s true.” Suddenly the ground starts to shake, the winds whirl, rain pours, lightning flares and thunder howls. Hanuman-ji let out a mighty sneeze!
I wake up. My laptop on the floor. My phone laying next to me. A candle still lit. It’s 1:08 AM.
I roll over and write a poem, it’s a little bit all over the place but I think you’ll like it.
A home transformed by the lightning
the balanced alcoves smother
this insatiable earth of a planet, Earth.
They attacked it with mechanical horns
because they love you, love, in fire and wind.
You say, what is the time waiting for in its spring?
I tell you it is waiting for your branch that flows,
because you are a sweet-smelling diamond architecture
that does not know why it grows.
I know not really my usual style. I actually wrote it listening to the new Charlie XCX project.
Except I didn’t write it. It was written by an AI. It was also published to a Duke literary journal called the Archive. Who thought the poet was Zackary Scholl, not his algorithm.
Here, is the article about it in-case you want more info.
AI and automation are so interesting to me because these two process ultimately teach us a lot about ourselves. Which is why I care so much about it.
I think that’s why I could never be a computer scientist or a natural scientist. I’m only interested in how the world relates to the human experience. It isn’t a pure yearning for knowledge for knowledge's sake.
AI and automation have already shown us the ugly side of humanity. Social Networks have offloaded the work of human editors to AI. These AI driven algorithms are in charge of curating a culture while being incapable of understanding it. This of course is all in an effort to maximize how long someone spends on that site. These AI run algorithms have now led global instability via meme.
Social media has rightly been described as a match. Ready to make the whole world blow.
Social media has incited the Arab Spring, turning Buddhists violent in Sri Lanka, or brainwashing lonely old people to follow an influencer³ called Q. And, most recently helped to organize the riots in our own country. Whether or not we agree with the riots/protests does not matter. My only point is that Social Media has led to instability.
Under the guidance of irresponsible rich brats.
I would also throw in Jack Dorsey of Twitter and Susan Wojciki of Youtube.
It is sad to see how tools we created to connect everyone and make the world better have become corrupted. What is frustrating is everyone in the cutting edge of this technology dodges responsibility.
“We are a platform, we believe in free speech, we aren’t held liable for the content on the site or the actions of our followers.”
Those are the usual excuses.
All of these platforms are right in the sense they’re not the root cause of the problems. Which is religious, political and racial tension. These websites have turned every area of contention into a powder keg ready waiting for a spark. S/o to when the powder keg was just the Balkans.
I hope these platforms one day fade in obscurity. One thing is certain their messes won’t.
This technology still has potential to make the world better. As AI and Automation start to be implemented in slower moving fields like medicine I think we’ll start to see societal dividends. Hopefully, we can use hindsight to get ahead and regulate newer AI industries. If not, I think we’ll be doomed to a cyberpunk dystopia.
As you mentioned in your last tape the future doesn’t become the future until it’s commercial. And, we are only trapped to thinking about the future in ways we can fathom it. So maybe the future won’t be like dystopias I’ve referenced above.
That being said, the future is still in our collective hands and having some sort of vision is a good guiding post. When Bezos started Blue Origin he did so to partially erect a future that looks like a version of Star-Trek.
Elon Musk similarly envisions a future with human’s leaving Earth and traveling across the solar system. Maybe going to Mars to terraform it. Hell, we might even leave our solar system.
I’m going to call that Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos version of the future “Cosmic Splurge.”
Cosmic Splurge is a term I created to describe the future if we keep our current course.
Cosmic Splurge is a bit more positive than Cyberpunk. We still get into space and explore the solar system. Technology continues to advance and we are not confined to giant mega cities.
In Cosmic Splurge great technology is created to keep up with endless consumerism and demand. When we can’t get any more out of the Earth, we simply leave it. A future where never satisfied human beings can go on Amazon and buy electric cars made out of asteroid rock which are teleported right into your home. Anyone that can’t afford it live inconsequential meaningless lives.
We’re headed in that direction thanks to the intense competition of big tech. We are headed there faster than ever before with less and less people getting a share of the pie.
The vision of the future I am hoping for is called Solarpunk. It’s an optimistic future in which humanity deals with the environmental issues of Earth. Solarpunk creates a world that’s a little more equal and where humans are a little happier.
Solarpunk is a literary movement, a hashtag, a flag, and a statement of intent about the future we hope to create. It is an imagining wherein all humans live in balance with our finite environment, where local communities thrive, diversity is embraced, and the world is a beautiful green utopia.
-Ben Valentine of Hopes and Fears
Not to sound too preachy but we need to focus on saving the Earth and not leaving it. I also think space is not for humans to travel. It’s too hostile. I think AI and Automation can provide a safer alternative. When there is a safer alternative who really wants to be in a clunky space suit and risk death? Of course there will always be a few who are ready to risk it all to see the stars. (Not me though)
We can have robot avatars explore space. They can be automated to create other versions of themselves and explore. If we want to experience it all we’ll need to do is throw on our VR goggles and grab our Wii remotes to move those robot bodies around. Hell exploration of the universe can get crowed sourced through a video game. Something like this has been happening with SETI (Search for Exterterisal Intelligence) called SETI at home which launched in glorious 1999.
SETI at home is also another example of something to lost to the void in 2020.
2020 is ominous. It is foreboding. A warning for the carnage that is going to come —
Or the carnage that will never ever happen.
As crazy as everything is right now. I think the life of the average person is on a global upswing. Even for the average American this mayhem has not had a real impact.
The pandemic has been difficult for some but for many nothing has changed. If everyone in the Southern United States had been impacted the same way as New York people would beg to extend the stay-at-home orders.
Even with the riots think about our walk home. How many people were clueless or apathetic? Why would they care? It doesn’t directly change their life.
This is what scares me, our complacency. I am mortified the future will be created without any input of the middle class or the poor or powerless minorities.
When Uber ushered in the gig economy. It was marketed as a way to save the poor and create jobs. In reality it has led to people getting paid less and working more. Why?
It is because the gig economy was designed by the wealthy in Silicon Valley. Who are so far removed from what’s it like to even be poor. They did not think of or worry about repercussions.
What did local government do?
Not much clearly. Uber, Lyft and other tech companies get a pass. This needs to change. Local governments have lost millions in tax dollars to these corporations. We must stop them from playing by different rules because they’re “cool” or because out of touch politicians do not understand the platform.
That being said, am I taking a Lyft to work in a few weeks? Yes. Will I tip a little bit more because I am able to. Yes. And, the driver probably doesn’t have health insurance.
2020 has shot us into the future. Majority of the work force at home with some of us never going back to the office.
This future is lonely, chaotic and existential. In capitalism what are we when we do not work? Or when companies decide our work is not necessary? These existential questions that pop into our strange brains on a bi-monthly basis will soon be everyday questions for a good portion of the population.
Questions that we’ll need to answer in our lifetime.
How we answer those questions will define our world. It will define if we enter Cyberpunk/Cosmic Splurge dystopia or a Solarpunk utopia. Of course it’ll end up being something in the middle.
I think the future should be humanity using automation and AI to collect resources from lifeless asteroids and comets to create better, happier and safer society on Earth.
A society that has a sustainable future for Earth. In this scenario we’ll never feel the need to leave. Even though the more restless will want to anyway.
We need a world where humans are bound to each other by a complex web of familial relationships and friendships. These relationships must be local to ensure our own stability.
The picture I’m painting isn’t all too different from the vision of Musk or Bezos, especially the asteroid mining. What separates Solarpunk’s vision from the rest is the intention.
If humans can come together to accomplish the feats that Musk and Bezos want to reach we will be better off, but only if the intention is in the right place. These decisions for the future have to be made thoughtfully. We simply cannot move fast and break things.
Sometimes the thing you break is the stability of the world.
Companies and people need to slow down. We have to understand whole implications of these new industries sprouting up through technology.
We need to make sure our intentions are in the right spot so we actually see through our vision. Otherwise we’ll create our hell.
To tie this sweet and sour tape together. It’s important to look at our own intention and our own visions. I’m glad we’re slowing down in a way.
The future is constantly being created around us and by us. The protests going on across the country are a very timely example.
Humanity will just need to have the discipline to work towards a good one. Coupled with endurance to see it through. While staying patient to make sure we don’t screw anything up a long the way. As a microcosm of the greater human whole we’ll need to use to these own principles in our lives.
Life’s nuanced. We don’t know that much about it. Too many variables for our minds to comprehend. We only know our life experience. Sometimes in this experience we are complacent. We let life happen to us. That is our problem. We have the right intentions so lets finally act on them.
Excited to read your next tape, see you in June.
- The -ji at the end is a Punjabi way of showing respect.
- Bhai is the hindi word for brother.
- I call Q an influencer because I also want to point how dangerous any influencer has the potential to be.
