David, this reflection should be marked as one of your best. You point the way to the redemption or rescue for which we all yearn: first seeing the old man, walking on, then really seeing the old man, stopping and turning around and doing what you could do in the moment to acknowledge and respond to his existence among us, if not his immediate real needs.
I also affirm your pointing to cultural changes that mark resistance to the dominant culture or “civilization” that we tolerate without much thinking but which damages creation, particularly in the long run.
David- I echo this all the way: "watching the baby crawl underneath our long legged and very indulgent old dog, one treasures the moment." Hope you're well, David? Cheers, -Thalia
I noticed that notch common to all BMWs in the early 1980s. It is the first thing I look for in the new models. I’m delighted to know that this distinction bears a name. Thank you!
You are very welcome! You might want to look up some (better) pictures of E9 models. There were a bunch of variants in the late 60s and early 70s. What's hard to see in a photograph is the purity of line. Nothing is out of place. My strong suspicion is the car couldn't be built like that today for safety reasons, but . . .
Why do we value things and people? Because they are unique and can't be copied.
If you make a copy of an MP3 file, and given computer files are copied perfectly, the files are then indistinguishable, other than superficial metadata imposed over the top (i.e. filename).
But do you then have two separate pieces of the music, or just one?
Computers are digital and were designed so. What's important about digital? Well, it collapses Reality into a deterministic proxy for Reality, which we take as Reality itself.
What's important about determinism? Everything is "pre-determined" at the start. That means nothing new comes out of it.
And nothing has any value because nothing is fundamentally unique. Everything tends towards the average. Witness the collapse of AI models when fed with their own output.
Yes. I will probably write this out more formally, with you know, arguments and references and suchlike, ho hum, but the little not quite aphorism makes a lot of the point in a hurry, as you demonstrate. But it probably only makes the point, or better, fosters thoughts, for people who are already thinking along similar lines.
Thank you! Yes, I was walking through the parking lot, trying to find our youngest, and stopped - oh wow. My brother was long with BMW, so I sent him the photo. In Palo Alto, home of thousands of Teslas and any number of exotics, somebody made an elegant statement, effective for car guys.
David, this reflection should be marked as one of your best. You point the way to the redemption or rescue for which we all yearn: first seeing the old man, walking on, then really seeing the old man, stopping and turning around and doing what you could do in the moment to acknowledge and respond to his existence among us, if not his immediate real needs.
I also affirm your pointing to cultural changes that mark resistance to the dominant culture or “civilization” that we tolerate without much thinking but which damages creation, particularly in the long run.
Thank you, John!
David- I echo this all the way: "watching the baby crawl underneath our long legged and very indulgent old dog, one treasures the moment." Hope you're well, David? Cheers, -Thalia
Thank you, Thalia! Yes, I'm well. The dog still with us, and the baby thriving. I hope all well, or at least manageable, on your end.
I noticed that notch common to all BMWs in the early 1980s. It is the first thing I look for in the new models. I’m delighted to know that this distinction bears a name. Thank you!
You are very welcome! You might want to look up some (better) pictures of E9 models. There were a bunch of variants in the late 60s and early 70s. What's hard to see in a photograph is the purity of line. Nothing is out of place. My strong suspicion is the car couldn't be built like that today for safety reasons, but . . .
It's like they're not even trying. I used to get excited to see a Jaguar on the road. I'm invariably disappointed when I see a JaGUaR in the wild now.
Why do we value things and people? Because they are unique and can't be copied.
If you make a copy of an MP3 file, and given computer files are copied perfectly, the files are then indistinguishable, other than superficial metadata imposed over the top (i.e. filename).
But do you then have two separate pieces of the music, or just one?
Computers are digital and were designed so. What's important about digital? Well, it collapses Reality into a deterministic proxy for Reality, which we take as Reality itself.
What's important about determinism? Everything is "pre-determined" at the start. That means nothing new comes out of it.
And nothing has any value because nothing is fundamentally unique. Everything tends towards the average. Witness the collapse of AI models when fed with their own output.
As if any of this was a surprise!
Yes. I will probably write this out more formally, with you know, arguments and references and suchlike, ho hum, but the little not quite aphorism makes a lot of the point in a hurry, as you demonstrate. But it probably only makes the point, or better, fosters thoughts, for people who are already thinking along similar lines.
I agree with you on the e9. Timeless.
Also, Happy Birthday!
Thank you! Yes, I was walking through the parking lot, trying to find our youngest, and stopped - oh wow. My brother was long with BMW, so I sent him the photo. In Palo Alto, home of thousands of Teslas and any number of exotics, somebody made an elegant statement, effective for car guys.