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A lot of replies mentioning that they will do their hobbies despite how good AI is at them, are missing the point. Right now you are living in a scarce world wh

A lot of replies mentioning that they will do their hobbies despite how good AI is at them, are missing the point. Right now you are living in a scarce world where the ability to pursue hobbies has required you to overcome other challenges. And that is why things like playing a musical instrument, rock climbing, etc. is a catharsis. What value will you provide in the AI world? What role will you have in protecting/providing for your family? What hard challenges will you choose to pursue that will aid you in your psychological development knowing that whatever you are doing is not actually hard? If there have been any moments that shaped you profoundly in your life that were hard at first, maybe you will understand what I'm talking about. Second thing is, since this is a hacker forum, most of us are in a field where supply exceeds demand. So we are very comfortable with the thought of destroying our own business, because we don't truly grasp the reality behind it. Because we are the elite right now who have destroyed older businesses through software decades ago. Who's to guarantee that AI will not result in a rapidly shrinking centralized elite that does not include you? There is no guarantee of AI being shared equally amongst all in the post-scarcity fantasy. "The Unabomber Manifesto will shape the 21st century the way the Communist Manifesto shaped the 20th. I don’t agree with the conclusions in either, but they state the problem well." -- George Hotz

throwaway675309 4y ago
"lot of replies mentioning that they will do their hobbies despite how good AI is at them, are missing the point. Right now you are living in a scarce world where the ability to pursue hobbies has required you to overcome other challenges. And that is why things like playing a musical instrument, rock climbing, etc. is a catharsis" Spoken very confidently and purely anecdotally. Most of my hobbies I pursued in my formative years as a child, I was neither cajoled into them by my parents and they certainly weren't a means of an escape from school. If anything I had more time as a child - summers were completely free and lackadaisical, and I performed those hobbies just the same. If your underlying reason to pursue something is because it's difficult, then I would argue your motivations are flawed. I chose to play the piano as a child because I love the sound that I could produce, being able to glide up and down in sweeping arpeggios made me happy. It's a simple as that.
- abhaynayar 4y ago
  > Most of my hobbies I pursued in my formative years as a child I will specify my stance on this for childhood since it is a special case and the brain is also very different. So: I also had hobbies as a child that I pursued for their own sake. The key thing is when you grow up, you are either able to pursue those hobbies, or not. You can only do the former if they provide enough value to the world in that case it may become a hard thing, latter is as a catharsis. > If your underlying reason to pursue something is because it's difficult, then I would argue your motivations are flawed That’s separate from hobbies. I’m saying we need hard things in general to grow. They come to us, not that we seek them like hobbies, although sometimes it may overlap. For example what was the one thing you didn’t have as a kid? Or something you yearned for, and still didn’t have as an adult? I really don’t think people who “have it all” are that enviable. It has to be a balance. When you go through a process for that, you grow. It’s the “chase” or the “journey”. Very different from leisure time. Both are important. We are shifting that balance now, and shifting it on either side is not good. I would say we have had enough technology for a utopia for the last few decades. The problem that remains is political not technical. AI will only exacerbate that technical problem, without solving the incentive problem. See social media designed to make you stay hooked. Will the next generation want to play piano or draw stuff when they are in a forever trance of amazing content delivered by Big AI?

throwaway675309 4y ago

"lot of replies mentioning that they will do their hobbies despite how good AI is at them, are missing the point. Right now you are living in a scarce world where the ability to pursue hobbies has required you to overcome other challenges. And that is why things like playing a musical instrument, rock climbing, etc. is a catharsis" Spoken very confidently and purely anecdotally. Most of my hobbies I pursued in my formative years as a child, I was neither cajoled into them by my parents and they certainly weren't a means of an escape from school. If anything I had more time as a child - summers were completely free and lackadaisical, and I performed those hobbies just the same. If your underlying reason to pursue something is because it's difficult, then I would argue your motivations are flawed. I chose to play the piano as a child because I love the sound that I could produce, being able to glide up and down in sweeping arpeggios made me happy. It's a simple as that.

abhaynayar 4y ago
> Most of my hobbies I pursued in my formative years as a child I will specify my stance on this for childhood since it is a special case and the brain is also very different. So: I also had hobbies as a child that I pursued for their own sake. The key thing is when you grow up, you are either able to pursue those hobbies, or not. You can only do the former if they provide enough value to the world in that case it may become a hard thing, latter is as a catharsis. > If your underlying reason to pursue something is because it's difficult, then I would argue your motivations are flawed That’s separate from hobbies. I’m saying we need hard things in general to grow. They come to us, not that we seek them like hobbies, although sometimes it may overlap. For example what was the one thing you didn’t have as a kid? Or something you yearned for, and still didn’t have as an adult? I really don’t think people who “have it all” are that enviable. It has to be a balance. When you go through a process for that, you grow. It’s the “chase” or the “journey”. Very different from leisure time. Both are important. We are shifting that balance now, and shifting it on either side is not good. I would say we have had enough technology for a utopia for the last few decades. The problem that remains is political not technical. AI will only exacerbate that technical problem, without solving the incentive problem. See social media designed to make you stay hooked. Will the next generation want to play piano or draw stuff when they are in a forever trance of amazing content delivered by Big AI?