A Time For Reflection

Hey There !

Dave from McElhoes Family Farm/Belmont here.

I hope you had happy times during the holiday season. I was fortunate to spend some happy times with some of my family, though the ache of missing those I did not see remains.

There is not a lot happening on the farm this time of year. It is a time of chores and routine, often a struggle to maintain normalcy through difficult conditions. Even though the trough is frozen, the animals still need to drink. Even if the hill is slippery, hay needs moved and feed carried. Such times mean progress is slowed and thoughts have time to gather. Feelings long buried, can be briefly exposed, only to be covered again with snow and duty.

Perhaps that is a part, maybe even a big part, of what it is to be human. The feelings, the work, the taking the hard way.

As I have been delayed from sending the newsletter, I have, between distractions and little emergencies, been inundated with offers to have Artificial Intelligence write it for me. When I have ignored or resisted it, I have been exhorted to accept the inevitable and allow the system to write, format, market, and sell wares that a machine will choose for me.

Thus far, I have resisted. Mostly out of principal, but also a little out of fear. Not fear for myself, I'm far too old and set in my ways to give in to minor temptations, (though admittedly still human enough to not underestimate the big ones).

My fear is more for humans themselves. My family and friends, sure, but more for a greater good and against a greater evil than I can really articulate. This is often my problem, and I believe the machine probably could articulate it better than I. But I believe that the promise of AI making tools smarter and better, while true, beautifully disguises the fact that human dependency is the real business model. While they are selling you power, the real cost is that human independence, human strength will be lost, and with it human meaning.

Struggle is not necessarily bad. Adversity and hard work strengthen. Have you ever really been proud of something that was easy, or was it the hard thing accomplished that brought you pride? Do we celebrate climbing Mt. Everest or walking across the parking lot to the doughnut store? Always taking the easy way weakens. The system owns the path of least resistance. I urge you, do not walk on it. Take the harder, more human way.

I am not as much of a Luddite as I appear. I worked in the software industry in the 80's and was up to date on the trending technologies. Moreover, I continue to do much of my own thinking. One of the things that concerned me then, and continues to concern me now, is simply stated, "If a robot can do all of your work, what are you going to do?"

That is really a loaded question. If the work is being done by someone or something else, you will need to find another purpose. No one will want to pay for your leisure, moreover, how much leisure does one need? How much leisure is good for your body, your soul? Now that could be a long discussion, and one best left for another day - I gotta go haul hay in rain and frozen mud.

Thanks for Listening,

Dave

P.S.: If you are interested, I still have frozen chickens to sell. I am also trying to plan for next year, so please be on the lookout for an upcoming offer that I have yet to actually figure out. Still, I reckon I will figure it out in a human fashion.