Yashas Mahajan's Blog, page 7
May 23, 2023
Word of the Week #373:
If you note which roles and occupations are being taken over by AI and robotics, you will learn a lot about human society.
One would have assumed that as robotics continued to advance, it would be used to replace humans in difficult, hazardous, and often demeaning occupations, right? Well, if one did, one would have been naive.
Have robots replaced child labour in the Apple factories in China? Or in disposal of human excreta from open sewers? No and no.
Is it at all surprising? When profit is the driving force for every decision in the world, why would the cheapest resource available on earth be replaced?
The facts are simple. Unskilled, underrepresented, and disenfranchised human labour is filthy cheap and easy to find, dispose, and replace. And on top of that, we humans have the interesting ability to pay for our own maintenance and for the production and preparation of the next generation of labour.
This modern society will continue to consume human resource to fuel the system that create the world as it is today.
Fun, right?
May 16, 2023
Word of the Week #372:
My wounds have healed.
My scars still itch on rainy nights.
Try as we may, we cannot be unhurt.
All we can do is keep moving forward.
May 9, 2023
Word of the Week #371:
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has left many wondering whether machines will one day replace human writers. While the idea may seem far-fetched, recent advances in AI technology have made it a possibility worth considering.
On one hand, AI-generated content can be quick, efficient, and cost-effective. With the ability to process vast amounts of data and analyze trends, AI can generate data-driven content at lightning speed. This can be particularly useful for tasks like reporting, where accuracy and speed are key.
On the other hand, there are aspects of writing that are uniquely human. The nuances of language, the ability to connect with readers on an emotional level, and the creativity required to tell compelling stories are all things that machines have yet to master.
At the end of the day, the question of whether AI will replace human writers comes down to the type of content being created. While AI may be well-suited for data-driven content, it is unlikely to replace the human touch required for more creative endeavors.
That being said, it is not inconceivable that AI could one day be used to augment human writing. Imagine a world where writers work alongside intelligent machines, using AI-generated insights to inform their writing and enhance their creativity.
In conclusion, while the idea of AI replacing human writers may seem like science fiction, the reality is that AI is already changing the way we write and communicate. Whether it will ever fully replace human writers remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the future of writing will be shaped by the collaboration between humans and machines.
Note: This post was written entirely by an AI that was supposed to analyse and copy my style. Did it create a bunch of coherent content? Sure. Is it ready to replace me? I doubt it…
May 2, 2023
Word of the Week #370:
People tend to hate bad news.
I mean, who wouldn’t, right? It is only natural, after all…
However, it is worth noting that there is something that is worse than bad news: complete silence.
I believe a piece of news, no matter how tragic or disheartening or devastating, at least closes some paths in front of us, and perhaps also opening some others. But hearing nothing at all… What do you do with that? How do you keep moving forward when you can’t even tell which way that is?
Feedback is essential. And sitting around waiting, wondering… is the worst.
April 25, 2023
Word of the Week #369:
There are times when we need to remember to be a little kinder to ourselves.
As long as we keep doing our best and keep moving forward, we could certainly cut ourselves some slack, right.
Life is tough enough. No need to it tougher than it needs to be.
April 18, 2023
Word of the Week #368:
So, a friend of mine said that I don’t really feel my feelings. I just intellectualise them as a way to cope.
And honestly, I don’t know how I feel about that… but I think they might be right.
April 11, 2023
Word of the Week #367:
According to Dunning and Kruger, I must be extremely dumb, right?
April 4, 2023
Word of the Week #366:
When I started the blog almost 7 years ago to this day, my plans for it were way different from what it turned into over the years.
It’s quite fascinating to think about everything that has changed since 2016.
It might sound weird, but I think writing this blog has really changed the way I deal with my inner voice and let it exist outside myself. The way I interact with the world around me has evolved in ways I never would have expected.
Being a writer, being any artist, has two parallel aspects to it: the art and the craft. When I started writing this blog, I hoped it would help me hone my craft. I could experiment with different styles and formats and use them in different situations and circumstances. It was vital, and it was honestly quite fun.
However, the part that I did not foresee was the way I was able to tap into my feelings, emotions, thoughts, and experiences, sharing them openly, clearly, and directly.
I had long held my deepest self far away from the outside world—a world that had never really understood or accepted me. Now, over the past few years, I have been able to open myself to the outside world, and I have been lucky to find a few kindred spirits who have come to understand and accept me.
Of course, I’m still as weird and crazy as I have ever been, and I still keep finding people who love me not despite but actually for it. But one of the words I can now use to describe myself now is a word I would have never expected—expressive. It took me a while, but I’m glad I finally made it here.
Without expression, there is no art.
Without art, there is no life.
March 28, 2023
Word of the Week #365:
So, how does it feel to have finished the entire week’s work by Tuesday afternoon?
Well, why write a thousand words when I can use a single picture?
March 21, 2023
Word of the Week #364:
Why do we like the people we do? That’s easy to answer, right?
Some people are just pleasant. That makes them easy to like. On top of that, they may be intelligent and interesting. That helps. Then there’s a level of compatibility—emotional, cultural, this and that. Just a fundamental overlap of what you like in the world.
It’s easy to determine likability. Hell, I argue I could manufacture likability. Kids with people pleasing tendencies survive on that, do we not? It’s easy to become likable. Just be nice and kind and caring and attentive and intelligent and informed and interesting and funny and, well, just keep adding more and more to yourself. We keep becoming more and more likable to the world.
But what makes us love each other? What can make someone love us? What makes us love them?
The answer is not that simple, but I think there is an answer.
You see, the reasons why we like the people we like is largely based on their “strengths”—the things they do well. But there is a pattern for what makes us love someone.
What makes some people just adorable on a whole other level? Let’s make a little list?
Maybe they’re just short enough for you to keep teasing them about it; I mean, talk about shortcomings, right?
Maybe they’re clumsy and tend to fumble and fall and drop things and what not; that’s always fun.
Maybe they’re selfish and bratty around you in ways they’d never be around anyone else; it’s like a stamp from them telling you that you’re theirs, now.
Maybe they tend to randomly doze off in the middle of an episode, only to groan, “Yes, I’m watching!” at least thrice till you turn off the TV; cute.
Maybe they’ll sit next to you and ugly-cry for a good half hour, holding nothing back, and you’ll feel like you have never done anything more worthwhile in your lifetime; and you’ll be right.
Overall, sounds like an adorable person, right? Or not. I don’t know. Maybe some of these things can’t be explained. Maybe what makes them adorable to us is unique to us and just has to be felt. Maybe anyone who wasn’t there with you two won’t get it.
Maybe when we love someone, it is for their “weaknesses”. Their shortcomings and failures. Their wounds and scars. Their little annoying and peculiar habits and fears and pet peeves that we have learned over the length and depth of our shared experiences.
Maybe love comes from having seen—and perhaps from them having been able to let you see—exactly what’s wrong with them, gaining an understanding of who they are and why, and finding great joy in just watching them be themselves around you, wholly and without inhibition.
“When you like someone, you like them in spite of their faults.
When you love someone, you love them for their faults.”
Hermann Hesse
