An Explosion of Information

I write often in various posting methods. I have this blog to release my thoughts along with other platforms to put the thoughts out of mind so they can be reviewed from an alternate perspective. I know I should be focused specifically on housing, development, architecture, construction, and technology, however, I have other thoughts that pop into mind related to current news and personal events.

One topic I consistently turn to is the various levels of adversity we all encounter. I think about these situations and I feel a tremendous gratitude. Those things that shake you up are the things that become icebergs that you slowly steer the ship around. Imagine if there were no icebergs. For those already programmed with higher ambitions, the world is yours.

For the rest of us predisposed to simply finish school and get a decent job, that is a life that is average and comfortable. That is what it is all about right? To face no adversity here I guess would be a happy place that most people experience. Then there are those that believe there is more. First, it begins with the reach for a far-off destination, then, the adventure becomes the chase and the process of doing. You finally reach the achievement and wonder what is going on next.

If you have dabbled into the world of self-help and self-improvement, you have heard that you will fail your way to success. That can be true but it does not speak to navigating obstructions. It is a process of discovery and a beautiful one at that.

When you are young you encounter the adverse obstruction and it is a extreme challenge; it is a fight. As we get older, we view the obstructions strategically. What is the adversity? What is it made of? Where is it coming from? Is there any reason why the adversity exists? Encountering and overcoming adversity is an engineering process of deconstruction, analysis, reassembly, and integration. Once you quickly decipher the challenge you can begin to think of your solution, or what I like to call, your positioning.

I do not think of challenges as having a solid, pre-determined solution or course of action. I see it more as a means to position oneself in a zone where there are chains of multiple methods and approaches. These methods are able to shift and adjust as needed. There is a calmness to it all. What do I need to do? Why am I doing it? Where, what, how? Most important is who; who do I need to be? Do I need to become something else?

This has been the long pinball like process of advancement. Each ricochet is a new discovery beyond what you could have ever thought. I have written about it many times. I started at a job making $4.25 per hour. That place is now closed, but I imagine I would have never made more than $25, $30, maybe $40 per hour. That would have been it, if that. I believe that being there meshed with this internal idea that there was so much more would have been the road to madness. But it did not occur like that. I bounced around and the discovery was a reemergence into school without the authority and control, which lead to the rediscovery of the love of learning. “A job is the trap that they give you to give up on your dreams.”

On and on and on and here I am now. I have a project that is slowly meandering its way through the various approvals. Meanwhile, I was struggling to find what to do now. There are many other responsibilities that encumbrances our time. Long ago I would find tension in those gaps, now I know that is where the maps to the hidden treasures exist.

When you get into those gaps is it a moment when you can detach your attention that is zoomed in on a project and scan the horizon. You can then refocus, make an adjustment, pivot, or disengage completely. You can only look back by moving forward.

Imagine if that project zipped through the approvals. There would be no time to scan. Imagine if I was still working in construction. Sure, I would be making some pretty good money, but I had unfortunately resigned the idea of becoming a registered Architect. I found that the obstacles reveal the accomplishments.

Now when you encounter an obstacle, quickly scan around. What is going on in the world? What has changed and what is changing? I learned this notion of scanning from watching futbol (soccer). When a player receives the ball he makes movements while taking a series of rapid scans. look at the ball, see the defenders, see the open spaces, look at the ball, see the goal, look at the ball, see a pass potential. Even when a player does not have the ball he is scanning to see how the fluidity of the game is progressing.

That current scan lead me to A.I. We can all say we are familiar with this new thing that to some is not so new. The tech media says this time is similar to when the internet emerged. I remember that time, but was not in a position to capitalize on it. Then I tried ‘ol Chat GPT. They are all correct: this thing is going to change the world. It is going to change everything.

Did we think that the internet was dangerous, yes. Is A.I. dangerous, yes. It depends but one thing is for sure, A.I. and the language models are going to change the way that the world does things. 2023 will be the year that things got shook up. There was an explosion of information; an explosion at a level that is beyond atomic; it is supernova. If you are an Oasis fan a “Champagne Supernova.” Where were you while we were gettin high?

So I continued to use the Chat and I can see its massive power. It is so powerful that the issue is not what can I use this for, the issue is what should I focus on? I see the issues arising from the overwhelming energy contained within this blast of information that society cannot manage. A disciplined society will thrive with A.I. as a supplement to human intelligence. An undisciplined society will also utilize A.I. in interesting ways but with a byproduct of chaos creation.

For me, the explosion of information combined with the stagnation provided the moment to see the A.I. world coming into focus. During the internet years, I missed it because I was focused on architecture. Imagine if I did not have that focus. I might have taken not that there is thing called the internet and there is huge avenues to create things.

A.I. lead me to the discovery of what could it do. That lead me to programming and the realization that grasping A.I. meant that we need to be able to understand the language of computers. Not only do we need to understand how computers communicate and learn, we need to learn how to control them. Programming is the way in.

I got started slowly and there was a point where you could see how much information was required and the amount of energy needed to get involved. I reviewed the long video courses and I must say that I get it. If you gave me a task I would be totally lost, however, after reviewing the course material numerous times, I understand the concepts, which at this point is the important part. The journey is just beginning.

It is a slow process similar to becoming an Architect. The first task is to fully review the course material and then write a bit of code without assistance. So, with that - Hello, World!