Swathy and Sky

The Experience Syndrome.

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embracing uncertainty, fear, anxiety, new perspective, personal growth

I do a lot of unnecessary introspection and interpolation. And, sometimes, the by product is random nonsense and going from point A to point Z through skies and oceans, things which do not make sense if you do not live in my brain. Let me put it more concretely.

I am on an experience kick. Embracing uncertainty and uncomfortable situations for growth and to interact with life. Now, as part of that I realized we humans are extremely scared of the possibilities of limitlessness.

The brain does not have the capacity to imagine what it does not know. For example, I can not fathom for the life of me how to spend a day if I was Modi or Zuckerberg or anyone else. Because, I do not have the necessary resources to even begin comprehending the scale of their lives. And, to imagine reaching that state is in itself terrifying. Simply because that success is not imaginary, it is existing in the real world but my life and experiences are so vastly different from that end point, I can never think of reaching even midway to that journey.

Which brings me to the point – What makes anyone say they like something or they do not like something, especially when they have no experience with it. Will the said person try out everything and then decide whether they like the activity or not? But, then, one does not say Yes to everything. Some of the activities may be termed as a Maybe and some are straight out No.

The question is what makes them say Yes or No. Is it because they already know they do not want to try it out or just because it is unfamiliar and, therefore, uncomfortable.

Take hiking or trekking, for instance. I have never done it so I have no idea if I would like it or not. But, would I want to try it. The question is a bit intricate because if I consider the sole physical demands of the activity, I am not adventurous or outdoorsy and do not like insects or leeches clamping onto me. And, any changes in weather puts me off. But, I could definitely try out a beginner-friendly hike of a small enough duration before setting the Everest base camp as a goal.

Whereas, if you talk about Skydiving, that’s a straight out No. Because, I am scared of heights and I have no inclination to jump from a plane into nothingness when I can not jump from three stairs to the ground below.

So, there are levels of experiences and degree of discomfort we may be open to experience and the more we put ourselves into those situations,, our tolerance for handling a slightly more uncomfortable situation increases, thereby widening the range of activities we may indulge in.

Note to Self: Next time an opportunity comes, do not knock it down immediately. May be, it’s a chance to transform my horizons,.

What do You Do for Yourself Everyday?

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dog sniffing flowers, therapy, mental health

A Therapist posed this question to me. Two years back when I sought out for an emergency session with a crazy expensive celebrity counsellor on an impulse. While I had been itching to run away, my desperation kept me glued to the sofa as I waited for her.

As she asked me the question, I was stumped and flabbergasted.

I listed down my routine. I am great at doing what is required. But, none of them included anything for myself. Essentially, I was in the survival mode doing things to keep the days turning.

In hindsight, it was this question which changed everything for me. This was the start.

I realized my bucket list was untouched even though I had reached my mid-life crisis. One day, I woke up to the realization of how I was waiting for weekends desperately and passing by the working days, to the extent of not having a life on the weekdays.

In order to change that, I started to look for activities and challenges I could easily accommodate in my daily life. Thereafter, I went on heritage or nature walks, joined a book club, got over my fear of driving, took a starter course in playing piano and read a lot of new genres I would never have bothered.

I still have bad days and still do not have a system to combat them. But, I know when to push on and when its time to regroup. I am still trying to figure out things, still feel hopeless and spend days and months being disillusioned and depressed.

It started small and then I came across an interesting experiment somewhere. The idea was to divide the entire year into quarters and devote each quarter for a skill or a hobby. I decided to try it out and I wrapped up the first quarter successfully. The hobby for the second is planned and good to go.

But, then what’s life without curveballs. A big change is incoming so I don’t know if my hobby would survive the test of the hour or I might just have to cook up a new one!!

Will AI take away Our Jobs?

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AI and human jobs
Photo by cottonbro studio

For today’s prompt, I chose to ask chatGPT to give me the topic based on its understanding about my writing and interests. In the past, I have shared a couple of articles and prompts I have written for its feedback.

However, what chatGPT suggested back to me was uninspiring and un-original. Which is exactly what AI is. It is meant to automate monotonous and repetitive tasks but it is NOT supposed to replace Thinking Skills. Yes, of course, it can generate data and images and articles and essays but they are all from the same kind of data it has already been trained on.

NO, Humans are not going anywhere and not losing their jobs. However, Yes, You Need to be Better than AI. The competitive standards are sure getting higher.

What AI is supposed be is a great personal assistant. As a science student, I do understand the impact and significance of creating a machine which can replicate human brain and create something on similar level involving the same complexities. But, the greater question is if it’s worth doing it.

Many people have asked me if AI would replace jobs. I never believed it would and now even more NOT. With the current trends, I find the human touch going out of fashion and in couple of years or decades, the need and the novelty of human touch will be paramount and will demand high remuneration.

No, AI is NOT supposed to copy the trends or art in the name of paying tribute. However, I would definitely say I wouldn’t have known about Ghibli art had it not been for the trend. But, does that mean AI infringing on copyrights is okay. Nope, what AI is doing is making the requirement of humans even more imperative.

Good designers, engineers, artists, writers are all the more important to do the actual work. Because, AI will at the end of day produce a mish-mash of what it has learned from what is available. And, it has not yet learned to mimic human brain with all its complexities. Yes, I am aware that the progress is towards the same end but I sure will value a human more than a machine if I want my coffee.