20 Nov 23 Monday Briefing
A conflagration of both personal and professional factors last week have left me quite drained, so this week’s briefing is short but meaty.
Just another manic Monday, because reversing a firing is possible for Sam Altman! (and having watched a video interview of him and Jeff Lawson earlier in the week, he needs a vocal coach stat) But oh no, wait, OpenAI’s board has once again defied investors and tapping Emmett Shear as CEO, so Altman is packing up and heading to his investors to set up an AI team there. Nyeh nyeh. Such SV tech dudebro psychodrama, and they call women hysterical…
Feast Your Eyes
The dearth of Hollywood cookie-cutter network TV is a boon, really, if you think about it. Smaller names get some screen time that they wouldn’t otherwise, and we viewers get respite from the smorgasbord. Gadis Kretek on Netflix is a good example, and you should put aside any notions you have about pacing and simply let this sumptuous, epic tragi-romance draw you in until you shed a tear or two at its ending. Similary, The Curse pokes fun at all those home improvement series that inundate programming, and Saltburn is a distinctly Fennell-esque take on Brideshead psychodrama.
A Dao for the Modern Age
What wisdom can Daoist history impart to those of us finding our way through the modern age? That all actions are collective, and that we are interwoven beings? Is the nascent science of complex systems a reflection of Daoist principles? I trust this trilogy will keep you occupied for the rest of the week.
Farmers or Foragers?
Nothing is ever that simple, or black and white. Were pre-colonial Aboriginals farmers or foragers? Such short-sighted, siloed thinking does no one any favours. As always, the answer lies somewhere in between in the rich tapestry that is the history of food production and the survival of our species.