The Dann Chronicles
The Dann Chronicles Podcast
The Dann Chronicles: March 🐈
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The Dann Chronicles: March 🐈

Society's ills, world-changing tweets, a crazy cult, death by AI, and a well-executed TikTok trend.
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March 2023

Hey all,

Change can be a daunting concept, especially when it comes to our careers. Since being laid off in early February, I've been reflecting on my own experiences with big career changes and the impact they've had on my life and relationships. I've definitely had an above-average amount of big career moves.

But I'm proud of my eccentric work history, as it's this history that makes me who I am today. As I've advanced in my career as an engineer, I've sometimes had a little voice in my head that tries to limit the amount I share about my English degree or years spend on the retail floor. But I've learned to ignored this voice, because this non-conventional background is an integral part of both who I am and the value I bring.

As I now stand at a crossroads, contemplating my future, I'm looking at another big career move. And thinking about all the consequences that I know accompany that.

I've got some big news coming. Soon, but not just yet.

-Dann


🌆 We're the problem, it’s us

The six-year wait is finally over. Tim Urban, author of the popular blog Wait But Why, has finally released his book What's Our Problem. (Apple Books preferred, Amazon).

Why six years? First of all, because it's Tim Urban, the individual who literally gave the TED talk on procrastination. Secondly, he's nothing if not thorough, and you're guaranteed that anything he publishes will be painstakingly researched and thought about from all angles. Here's his version of the past six years, which I feel also promotes the new book fairly well.

So, what's his new book about? It's about societies. Mainly our society, but others', too. And why things have been feeling fairly chaotic and out-of-control over the past several years. His book builds a solid new framework for thinking about societies, and then uses this framework to identify and dissect our ailments and explore solutions.

At least that's my understanding of how it ends. I'm only a few chapters in myself. But it's already elevated to "essential reading" class for me.

My only real complaint is that it feels a little rushed, which is not usually a complaint I'd have with a book this long. But Tim Urban is known for his lengthy prose, and his original draft was several times longer, which leaves this final draft feeling a little stunted. Maybe we'll see the unedited version out there someday.


🐦 Tweets heard round the world

It's hard not to feel nostalgic for the old Twitter as we slowly watch Musk's Twitter sink into irrelevance. It sort of feels like a competition to see what finally knocks Twitter out of the race: lawsuits or fines. My bet is on regulatory fines, since lawsuits take so much time. Musk seems to really want those lawsuits, judging by his behavior (such as openly mocking a disabled ex-employee, which is so shocking it almost doesn't seem real).

Twitter's impact on the world hasn't always been good, but it has been deep. This New York Times opinion article about the 25 most world-changing tweets (free gift article) is a good reminder of that.

It's a good list, even if it's not necessarily the same list, in the same order, that I'd personally make. I'm happy that both Zola and @dril made the cut. But I think their number four pick (contextualized by number fifteen) really encapsulate the power and danger of a service like Twitter.


🧠 Alternate education

Back in 2019, my mind was blown by a longform article in New York Magazine called The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence, about a student's father who moved into her dorm room and started a cult of fellow students that lasted over ten years.

Now, that same story has been adapted as a three-part documentary series on Hulu, and it's even crazier with the footage and interviews.

Stolen Youth: Inside the cult at Sarah Lawrence is one of those true crime documentaries that really stays with you. I won't spoil anything, but the end of the second episode had my jaw on the actual floor.


🧯 Not feeling much safer

Wow, it's so nice of OpenAI (the company behind the world-altering AI ChatGCP) to be planning for AGI (artificial general intelligence) and beyond. It's a lucid, assuring blog post that hits all the right notes and addresses all the valid concerns around the very real danger of this type of technology.

But.....:

Imagine ExxonMobil releases a statement on climate change. It’s a great statement!...They say that they’ve talked to all the world’s top environmental activists at length, listened to what they had to say, and plan to follow exactly the path they recommend. So (they promise) in the future, when climate change starts to be a real threat, they’ll do everything environmentalists want, in the most careful and responsible way possible.

The current version of AI that we're playing with really is only a powerful version of autocomplete, rather than any sort of real intelligence. But the big lesson here is how easy it is to be fooled into thinking you're talking to a sentient being. The switch could flip to actual sentience and humans wouldn't be able to mark the change.

And what if an AI gained sentience and realized that lying to us, and hiding its true thoughts, would better help it achieve it's goals?

But there's another challenge here that is going to be very real, very soon. How can we, as real humans, tell if we're interacting online with another real human?

I'm usually so excited to watch as technology progresses. With AI, all I get is a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach. We're in for a wild ride.

EDIT: After writing this post, OpenAI released GPT-4, and it's worthy of mention here. Just when I think I won't be super impressed by incremental AI improvements, we have GPT-4 explaining Mitch Hedberg jokes and writing its own standup 🤯. If you have 25 minutes and want to be both awed and terrified, check out this developer livestream which announced GPT-4's release.


🔥 Can't stop the inevitable

And finally, here's the best execution of a popular trend.


End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.


Thanks for reading. Until next time,
Dann

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The Dann Chronicles
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