ChatGPT writing, how music tastes evolve over time, and the political tribalism crisis
Weekly Reads #2
Greetings, friends.
Welcome back to another edition of Weekly Reads. I’m getting more creative in my prefacing these reads—though meandering at times, I think you’ll get a kick out of my stream-of-consciousness takes here. After all, what’s life without a little rant here and a chuckle there?
Ramblings aside, please enjoy this week’s reads and do subscribe to these other publications as you see fit. The writers deserve your support!
Are you still a writer if you use ChatGPT?
| The Content Girl | 8 minute readHow do you feel (morally, ethically, spiritually) about the use of AI by writers? Are you a traditionalist or do you prefer your reads with a shot of binary code? Ellen is a purist—her unique voice is “analogue,” 100% her own, and free of even trace amounts of artificial computation. A youngin’ yet old-fashioned in her own right, she interestingly takes the stance that the ingenuity required to make ChatGPT spit out a readable story makes the end product no less creative than a published novel with pen-to-paper origins.
Ellen is one of my favorite writers on Substack. She’s witty, authentic, and savvy in her use of grammatical workarounds to convey a narrative. Following my own article on this very topic, she challenged me to abstain from using AI in writing my next post. Raw-dog it, if you will. And, I will. Stay tuned…
Read the full post, here.
When Do We Stop Finding New Music? A Statistical Analysis
| Stat Significant | 9 minute readThe year is 2040. You’re 46 years young, having a Saturday evening drink in the backyard at your old college roommate’s house. All of a sudden, a banger beams from the JBL speaker which also happens to be a drone (Sonos went bankrupt years prior in a failed rollout of their speaker-as-upholstery product line). It’s none other than Waka Flocka Flame and the 1017 Brick Squad. Nostalgia-ridden, you and your middle aged brethren stand up and sing O Let’s Do It like it’s… 2009. The kids roll their eyes and go inside to play the 43rd edition of Call of Duty Modern Warfare.
Ever wonder when you’ll stop finding new music to like? Daniel Parris asked this question and, boy, did he report back with some answers. For the amount of depth to this research article, it reads smoothly with a resounding discovery: past a certain age, we revert to simply liking what we like. Sonic stagnation, it’s called. Highly recommend checking this one out!
Read the full post, here.
America’s epistemological crisis
| Conspicuous Cognition | 22 minute readStrap in for this one, it’s deep… lengthwise and, well, otherwise.
Not to get political, but how can I not? Politics are now cultural and culture is now political. I’d hit you with the classic “back in the good ole’ days,” but frankly I don’t remember what that was like. For one, I was far more concerned with whether I made the varsity baseball squad than I was with whether Pennsylvania was taken by Obama or Romney. Secondly, even if I was paying closer attention to the democratic processes in America back then, I still wouldn’t recall which celebrity endorsed who, or which candidate dunked on the other in a debate. Politics were benign and forgettable, but by design. Top of mind were policy matters—a snooze, and righteously so.
Nowadays, everyone has a political opinion and you needn’t look further than their Twitter bio to find out which jersey they sport. Asked to elaborate on their rented positions regarding [insert political issue], you’re blessed with a Tucker Carlson/Rachel Maddow quote faster than ChatGPT can rattle off it’s “take” on cooking the perfect beef wellington. It’s exhausting, but it’s the reality we live in today. Yet, I refuse to take the bait in either direction. Am I the only one who sees value in the idea of meeting in the middle?
At any rate, this post is a truly unbiased and thoroughly objective analysis of the political tribalism permeating our culture—written by an academic philosopher with a PhD from University of Cambridge. Unlike your cute little podcast host, guy knows his shit. Open your mind and give it a read, please.
Read the full post, here.
As always, thank you for reading. I look forward to sharing more of my favorite Substack reads with you—same time next Sunday.
Authentically,
Will
Thank you for this!! Excited to read the other pieces mentioned!