The host, Peter Diamandis, sometimes annoys me and I don’t know why. There’s no real reason for it. He seems a just fine person in most every way, so I guess it’s a style issue and on me. The other 3 standard guests he always has are fun to listen to; experts each and every one in various fields, mostly software and venture, they discuss the latest breakthroughs of the week. These days that’s going to result in a 2-hour podcast even if you’re trying to keep it concise.

In this episode they make the case that even as Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) has several definitions, depending on who you ask, we are in it. At least somewhere in the bell curve distribution of those definitions, and probably not just barely (my view).

Further, we are officially in the Singularity — that moment in AI advancement where exponential change goes vertical. It just oddly feels mostly normal because we’re going about our daily lives, taking care of business, rolling with the changes. Meanwhile multiple revolutionary breakthroughs are found via AI pretty much on a daily hourly basis across nearly every discipline. It will appear as a Step Change in history, when future generations look back.

A couple of paraphrased snippets from the podcast:

If you fold a sheet of paper in half, doubling its thickness, and then do that 49 more times, the thickness is roughly equal to the distance between the Earth and Sun.

Intelligence and Compression are the same thing.

Exponential change. Humans weren’t really built to deal with it. I don’t know what anyone with young kids can tell them right now, regarding the next several years to come, but today’s adolescents may find they live in a shockingly changed world by the time their voting years hit. It’s going to be a challenge, but I suspect they will adapt better than my older generation will.

Back on AGI, and whether or not we currently possess such a thing. The trigger for me was when Google’s DeepMind effectively solved protein folding via Alphafold. Shortly after, I found myself with a real-time, on demand, encyclopedia-professor of all topics in my pocket. One that I could converse with in natural human language, and then receive a logical response in kind.

What is it like to wonder what the answer to something is? We barely find ourselves in that situation these days. This seems to me to be AGI. Some others have a higher standard, but will we arrive there in 6 months? A year? Probably. Or maybe I’m wrong and it takes 5 years. In the expanse of space-time these are all the same moment.

All math is likely solved in the next few years, then all biosciences right after. Big ramifications. Putting the results of this into beneficial human practices may take a while, but what a time to be alive.

There are many issues to be addressed. What is the human role in science going forward? What even is money in a world where robotic intelligence is fully in charge of production? Do we completely discard the system that has worked mostly well for centuries? Will humans feel a loss of meaning? Drift toward the Arts? Will AI compete with them there? Will it lead to depression among the masses? Or will the gift of a slower and more present life be a welcome destination for most?

Just a few of many questions to be answered by history. Clearly there is still space to wonder.

We’re very fortunate to have the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge here in the State. It’s gorgeous, interesting, ancient, and rarely crowded. It truly is the gateway to the Great American Southwest — a rugged semi-desert environment, full of resilient flora and resourceful fauna. It’s a proper introduction to a vibe that continues through West Texas and arrives fully mature somewhere just on the other side of the New Mexico border.

The weather was perfect, the crowds virtually nonexistent, and the parking lot nearly empty as I arrived. Backpack and water secured, I took off to the nearby bridge and trailhead that’s easily seen from the lot. I had hiked this trail once before, and it features an interesting small valley full of large granite boulders. Traversing this part of the trail is what I was looking forward to the most.

Here’s an important point:

The parking zone for the Charon’s Garden Trail is also the parking zone for the Elk Mountain Trail. It’s easy to get on the wrong one!

With that fact established, the rest of this post will share photos of the beautiful pieces of nature that I experienced while hiking along the wonderful Elk Mountain Trail. 😎

Elk Mountain Trail, you were a fully enjoyable hike.

Charon’s Garden Trail… I’ll be back.

So why start a blog 31 years later?

In short, I have lately yearned for a place to occasionally share content that doesn’t instantly disappear in this short-attention social media dominated world we find ourselves enduring.

That’s it. That’s the entire reason.

So then. What kinds of things will be shared at The Dismal Arts?

My general interests. Which will include, but not be limited to:
Random photography, especially nature pictures, destination recaps, science & technology goings ons, crypto-tech / modern finance, and whatever else might come along.

Why “The Dismal Arts”?

1. It’s a whimsical play on a historic label for economics, The Dismal Science. Finance and Economics are in the midst of a historic transition (my opinion) so it seems a timely quip.

2. Art is the expression of human experience, so is a blog.
   #GrandioseComment

3. The word-tandem invites pondering. [visualize a mesmerizingly pondering emoji HERE]

4. I just liked it, and no one had bothered to domain-level register the phrase in the past 3 decades. #Snooze #Lose

Bottom Line: I am seeking a place to share, from time to time, in a manner that doesn’t disappear with the next day’s rapid fire attention expiration. A location to post my best pictures from a day trip, a walk around town, a destination summary. A place to link a thought-provoking podcast, an interesting article, a fascinating factoid, an impactful current event, a [whatever].

Most of all, I wanted to be able to find what I posted a year later if I wanted!
And wouldn’t it be nice if it wasn’t lost in an amalgamated onslaught of unsolicited content and invasive ads? Why not.
#TheZuckerbergFrustration

I’m not sure how often I will post here, but aim/hope for a couple times per month. #NoPromises

With that, The Dismal Arts entry #1 is complete.