Where A Variable Man, Cú Chulainn and Roxie Hart meet
Back in Dublin, my 'chronotype' led me to my desk early in the morning. Smell of silence and herbal tea kickstarted the stream of reflections.
THINK. I often find myself pondering questions of creative work, authenticity, imagination and leaving a legacy. Legacy is a funny one. Possibly a mild manifestation of a midlife crisis, in my view it brings the concept of opportunity cost to a zone where basic economic terms rarely apply. Choosing what to keep one's mind busy with is always equally saying 'no' to many other options. The time is finite and the world is full of stories never made.
I was thrilled to find a podcast series capturing that exactly. Authored by Malcolm Gladwell, whose early books 'The Tipping Point', 'Blink' or 'Outliers' made a lasting impression on me, the series explores stories of movies that... never got made. 'Development Hell' is a journey through challenges of creation, and, often painful, lessons learnt underway.
An episode that resonated with me the most was the one about 'The Variable Man'. Not only has it been based on the 1953' novel from one of the most intriguing science-fiction writers, Philip K. Dick, but also it delved into themes of possible futures, reliance on technology and... being different. The novel tells a story of a world where computers are proficient at making all decisions on behalf of humans, essentially knowing their thoughts and feelings better than humans themselves. No mistakes, nothing is hidden from their calculus. And on one day, machines become aware of a seemingly unavoidable humanity self-destruction event. The is no scenario where it can be prevented.
The solution is to confront the AI with a human being for whom machines have no datapoints... a man from the past before their existence. Unpredictable, unseen, out of radius. A variable yearning to be solved. This all does feel so familiar, doesn't it? Existential questions posed 70 years ago in the novel, now resonate more than ever. Algorithms dictate what we scroll on our screens, what we might intend to buy, what political messaging would trigger emotional reaction, which movie show would we binge watch on our sofas. Not a catastrophic event yet or...?
My position on the AI revolution is balanced. Not an existential threat, but not a panacea for all of humanity's issues. Blindly falling for its promises shifts power to those who draft the backbone of these algorithms. With business models, dressed as benign, hyper-helpful assistants in our ears, one might need a counter-balance of a never-seen variable. A force from another dimension.
FEEL. Reconnecting with my son after being away for a couple of weeks, I had a proud parent moment. It all started from me noticing a new book on his nightstand. An hour later, we were both lying on the carpet with a few other publications, tracing similarities and seeking connections between Irish mythical character(such as Cú Chulainn) and that of other cultures - Nordic, Greek or Slavic. I was blown away by the amount of detail Adam was able to memorize from all these stories, but also how we could talk about seemingly universal archetypes and trails, weaved into regional narratives. Supernatural, godly and sometimes creepy, they were also utterly humane.
My other, 'theatre kid', that I travelled with was open to share her experiences from a Live Action Role Playing summer camp in the mountains of Southern Poland. Immersed in imaginary settings and scenarios, she practiced thinking on her feet, expressing emotions and reaching within to draw from depths of self-confidence, creativity and joy. I could not recommend it more. One of the scenarios Nina played was a 1920's prohibition America, which brought us to watching "Chicago", a musical I took my wife to see on Broadway a few summers ago. Vibrant and coherent, it led us to explore a theme of femme fatale, as well as dangers of ruthless desire for fame, both elegantly embraced by the character of Roxie Hart.
The thrill of exploring various patches of culture alongside one's children feels next to none!
DO. I am fascinated by the pace of content generation in the last two decades. Use of technology and democratic access to media platforms enabled people to broadcast their thoughts and ideas. While one might argue the world needs better governance and moderation, and human brains are not ready to be absorb the ever-present stimulation, it is also giving people like me a better chance of reaching an audience that would otherwise be inaccessible.
I recently found a short story I wrote during pandemic lockdown, based on the very Role Playing Game we played with a couple of my friends. Since we have just continued with the same characters last weekend, I am tempted to use it as a trigger to continue... the weeks are very busy already though! The AI technology helped me create some images of places, characters and moods to illustrate the adventure and help with immersion, but I feel truly 'old school' about scripting. Well, the worst thing that can happen is meeting a few unseen variables, lively personas and altered versions of old legends... all in my imagination.
