Critical Nonsense

Is AI Art art, and should we be scared of it? 

This week, Joey, Jess, and Alex talk about AI art generators, DALL·E 2, Midjourney, creativity and craft, the proliferation of beautiful things, and homogeneity. They don’t talk about Allen Iverson ... or practice. (Not a game! Practice!). 

references 

• DALL·E 2 
• Progress Report: Jess on the difference "hand taste" makes 
• How to Create Synthetic AI Art With Midjourney 
• Revisiting Episode 134! The Story of Us and Fringe Theory 
• Twitter: @talyarkoni on AI art's evolution beyond "promising novelty" 
• Twitter: @SocDoneLeft on AI art winning an art competition 
• BBC: Go master quits because AI 'cannot be defeated' 
• Deep Blue versus Garry Kasparov 
• Twitter: (WARNING: creepy photos!) @supercomposite on Loab and horror AI art 
• Twitter: @fabianstelzer on AI applied to film 
• Twitter: @Anodesu on AI "artists" 
• American Scientist: Enter the Axion 

How do you renew your vows with your hobbies? 

This week, our Cutie Corner special continues with guests Nora Mestrich and Ash Casper joining Jess to talk about knitting, boredom, thumb wars, bird watching, snackable goals, and giving yourself room to fail. They don’t talk about the Australian Lyrebird. 

references 

• Sourdough Teddy Bears 
• A Bird Calling Champion Visits The Daily Show 

Why did hobbies become hobbies again? 

This week, Cutie Corner returns with special guests Nora Mestrich and Ash Casper joining Jess to talk about reading, BookTok, Colleen Hoover, productive leisure, the affects of the pandemic, and quiet quitting. They don’t talk about Henry Bemis. 

references 

• The New York Times: How TikTok Became a Best-Seller Machine 
• Brooklyn Public Library (BPL)'s IG: @bklynlibrary 
• The Atlantic: How Hobbies Infiltrated American Life 
• The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Best Seller List 
• NPR: What is 'quiet quitting,' and how it may be a misnomer for setting boundaries at work 
• Pottery Wheel Throwing 
• BPL's Books Unbanned 

Would you join a country that started online first? 

This week, special guest Eric Ferrer-Vaughn joins Joey and Jess to talk about Web3, blockchain, Balaji Srinivasa, network states, Neom, and zero-knowledge proofs. They don’t talk about *NSYNC. 

references 

• As always, Neal: Snow Crash | The Diamond Age 
• Free State Project 
• Balaji Srinivasan's The Network State 
• Jerusalem Post: How Satmar Hasidim used liberal values to create an American theocracy 
• Neom 
• Computer Scientist Explains Zero-Knowledge Proofs in 5 Levels of Difficulty 
• The Consilience Project 
• Daniel Schmachtenberger on exponential technology 
• Mike Cannon-Brookes and Australian Power 

Why does it feel so right to say something so wrong? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about category mistakes, synesthesia, projective questioning, names, berries, and, apperantly, not-berries. They don’t talk about De La Soul. 

references 

• Jimmy and Dash blowin' through the jasmine in their minds 
• Category Mistakes 
• The Power Of Categories and Entanglement episodes of NPR's Invisibilia podcast 
• Synesthesia 
• Projective Techniques In Qualitative Research 
• One is the loneliest number ... and Two can be as [sad] as One ... 
• but, Three will always be a Magic Number. 
• Jefferson Airplane to Starship: An Evolution 
• Jessie's Girl 

What's so wrong with using pictures in menus? And how do you feel about exploring new ideas that break your concept of reality? [22:48] 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about the fabric of the universe, cookbooks and menus, painting a sensory picture, quantum consciousness, Spacetime, and butt donuts. They don’t talk about A$AP Rocky. 

references 

• This is your brain on '80s anti-drug commercials 
• Revisiting our epic potato growing conversation from way back in Critical Nonsense 183! 
• Devil Wears Prada "stuff" scene 
• Bouillabaisse 
• Contra 
• Netflix: How to Change Your Mind 
• Cognitive scientist Donald D. Hoffman on the problems with spacetime 
• Spacetime 
• Nick Bostrom and the simulation hypothesis 

What is a better way to explain methods of writing your point of view? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about Mrs. Henry's Ping Pong Method vs. Mrs. Henry's Oreo Cookie Method, the Shit Sandwich Method of delivering feedback, music theory, the Straw Man Argument vs. the Steel Man Argument, Schrödinger's cat, and memetics (again). They don’t talk about Diddy Riese Ice Cream Sandwiches. 

references 

• George Mason University professor and alien proponent Robin Hanson responds to Critical Nonsense 182! Grabby Aliens and Leftovers 
• Critical Nonsense Merch 
• The Shit Sandwich 
• Straw Man vs. Steel Man 
• Schrödinger's cat 
• Memetics 

Should we be using language like "optimism" or "pessimism," or is there a different way we could look at these challenges that allows for better outcomes? 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about nihilism, venting, the time horizons of change, young converts, kidnapping, and genetic influences on optimism and pessimism. They don’t talk about Meursault, but he doesn't care at all. 

references 

• progressbysylvain.co 
• Progress Report 067: Power In the Face of Nihilism 
• Albert Camus: an absurdist. 
• r/nihilism/ 
• Huck Magazine: Why more young people are turning to nihilism 
• The New York Times: Is the World Really Falling Apart, or Does It Just Feel That Way? 
• The Journal of Positive Psychology: The Glass is Half Full and Half Empty: A population-representative twin study testing if Optimism and Pessimism are distinct systems by Timothy C. Bates 
• Übermensch 

Why shouldn't I grow my own potatoes? 

This week, Jess and Joey talk about fast food french fries, hybrid potatoes, tubers and roots, apple cider, ube, and taro. They don’t talk about Freestyle Fellowship. 

references 

• Eater's exposé on Blue Hill's Dan Barber 
• Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire 
• Eric Kim's Korean American: Food That Tastes Like Home 
• Umamicart 
• Oishii: The Omakase Berry 

Do you prefer living in a universe where humanity is a one-snowflake civilization—life exists here on a mote of dust in the outer reaches of the Milky Way—or do you prefer living in a universe that is loud and noisy and populated? And how do you handle leftovers? [34:31] 

This week, Joey and Jess talk about loud and quiet aliens, LaMDA, Santa, unfortunate dinners, waste aversion, and dumplings. They don’t talk about Isaac, Tayler, or Zac. 

references 

• Revisiting bathroom ventures in episode 155! Introducing: Nonsense VC! 
• Lex Fridman Podcast #292: Robin Hanson: Alien Civilizations, UFOs, and the Future of Humanity 
• Future of Humanity Institute 
• The Astrophysical Journal: "If Loud Aliens Explain Human Earliness, Quiet Aliens Are Also Rare" 
• Drake Equation 
• "... on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam ..." 
• Scientific American: "Google Engineer Claims AI Chatbot Is Sentient: Why That Matters" 
• USS Nimitz ‘Tic Tac’ UFO: Declassified Video 
• CNBC: Watch the Pentagon's three declassified UFO videos taken by U.S. Navy pilots 
• grabbyaliens.com