I watch a youtube series by a guy reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time, and who has now moved to The Hobbit. He is interesting and thoughtful. He reminds me why I love those books and why I love reading in general. His channel is called First Timers. Today he talked about a line in The Hobbit, a children’s book, explaining the difference between goblins and orcs and other creatures. The book says, “ They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.”
I like this. The goblins have tools and the ability to make things. They are not mindless monsters. They can make tunnels to find gold, they can make weapons and traps. But they make no art, no music, no funny stories. They are missing a core ingredient that determines humankind as apart from “other.” We are creators. We create, whether it is in painting, writing, cooking, gardening, making up stories and songs for children, thinking of better ways to explain some school lesson, and on and on. We are willing to strive and work to create something just for the joy of creating, for the beauty of the thing. We are able to walk in nature, and stop to enjoy a birdsong. We are able to become lost in the beauty of the shadows flickering through the leaves of a tree. We contemplate a sunrise, or the peaceful scene of a hayfield. We have children, and we help them to discover this aspect of humanity, or, as is often the case, the children remind us and help us to remember this aspect of humanity. Goblins cannot do this. We need to remember we are not the goblins, we are the humans. We will survive because we love, we sacrifice, and we create. Artificial Intelligence is a goblin. It can create, but only as a clever thing, stealing and copying from the humans as it was designed to do. AI cannot enjoy the creation, cannot reflect on sunrises or sunsets, and cannot truly create a new thing. It creates on the backs of real artists and writers. It is a goblin, and we are humans. AI is clever, but we are the ones who make beautiful things.
I have been facing some kind of existential dread over AI, as well as over so much of what is going on in the world right now. After watching the First Timers video I began thinking about creation and beauty, and I feel better. It rained today, and I stood on my porch watching the water as it splashed on the driveway, and as it dripped on the flowers and leaves. I can see and enjoy the loveliness of the world I live in. I picked a pepper from the garden for my salad. The vegetable was wet from the rain, and when I cut and tasted it, the flavor was sharp and fresh. I listened to music today, and read a book. I am a human. I can enjoy beauty, and to a degree I can create beauty. I talked to my grandkids over the computer today. They laughed and smiled and were mischievous. They are humans. We will not be replaced. We can see and create beauty, we find purposes to life that cannot be understood or copied by machines, or by goblins.
I have walked some since the last post. When I walk I think about these kind of things, and so for me walking is a kind of meditation, a chance to think and cheer up and maybe even have hope. Walking is a kind of therapy, and who doesn’t need therapy in this climate. While bombs are falling, people are being mistreated in so many ways, and AI is threatening to take our jobs, destroy the environment, and ruin education, I begin to fear the goblins. These goblins may come in authoritarian costumes, or in computers that are wiling to think for you. Either way, we need to remember, we are not goblins We are the humans. We create. We see beauty We love our children and families. We need to love our neighbors, even those that look different than us. We need to pursue peace and goodness, and to create beauty. Do not be a goblin!
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I am between Wapiti shelter and Doc’s Knob shelter in VA. Wapiti shelter is the site of a double murder on the AT. A local man shot two hikers, a woman and a man, and fled with their truck and some money. He was found in SC, and sentenced to 15 years for both murders. Once released he settled down for a time, then ended up shooting 2 men, also on the AT. These men survived, and the killer was injured fleeing from the police. He died from the injuries. . According to what I have read a couple of people die every year on the AT, mostly from hypothermia or weather incidents. There have been a few murders, but not many considering the numbers of people who are out hiking on the trails every day. I’m sad to think of the victims, out enjoying nature and trusting their fellow outdoorsmen, only to have their lives ended in such a way.