The truth - presented with a sensible budget of clarifying terms, and also - something I really needed to read today. My favorite kind of piece. Saved it. Thank you 🌸
Wrote about this: “[T] he True Believer is someone who becomes deeply committed to a movement’s ideals because it offers the potential for escape from the dissatisfaction in his/her life. He writes, “Mass movements can rise and spread without God, but never without a belief in a devil.” Hatred of another group, he argued, is the most successful and comprehensive of all unifying agents.”
You mention not being able to play instruments, produce songs, remove repetition or edit your stream-of-consciousness writing. Also, instead of drawing or painting your “Casual Presidents” series, you gave Midjourney a prompt, which leads me to believe that these are skills you are probably not currently practising (I could be wrong, but then I would see no reason why you’d need AI to get the series done… besides your beloved efficiency?). Almost all of these skills can be learned without AI- I mean, you could probably also learn them with the help of AI. Learning an instrument, practising painting or drawing. Pattern recognition or detangling journal entries could be somewhat trickier to learn— but not impossible (for example, I practised chess and coding for pattern recognition, after which an easier detangling of journal entries would be possible). I imagine your answer to this is that it is simply not efficient, but then I am not able to believe that you enjoy writing or making music; rather, the reaction or amount of people “resonating” with your media. Practising these so-called “technical skills” means continuously learning about your practise and the people involved in it- the use of AI cuts this part of “the process” out.
ah yes, the old “if you really cared, you’d suffer more” argument (which i addressed thoroughly in the piece you're referencing). you could’ve just said i resent that you found a way to create without groveling at the altar of technique and saved us both time
but sure, i'll spell it all out for you again since you clearly missed it in the essay. you’re not defending art—you’re defending a belief system where effort equals virtue, and ease equals fraud. but i’m not interested in proving i’m worthy of making something. i’m interested in making something that’s worthy
you’ve mistaken the means for the meaning. i never claimed to be a session musician or renaissance oil painter. i claimed to have ideas—and i used the tools available in my century to bring them to life. i’m not cosplaying as mozart, i’m creating as myself, with the full force of what modernity makes possible
what’s wild is that you actually proved my point. your entire critique rests on the idea that creativity must be earned through technical suffering. but that’s a romantic hallucination
you talk about practice like it’s a moral obligation. it’s not. it’s a choice. and i’ve chosen to practice discernment—taste, clarity, execution. those are muscles too, just not the ones you fetishize
but let’s be honest. this isn’t really about art or effort. it’s about discomfort. discomfort with the fact that someone can bypass the traditional gatekeepers, hit publish, and actually resonate
you say you can’t believe i enjoy writing. i can’t believe you enjoy being this bitter
the only thing i resent about your ‚non-groveling‘ is that you equate learning these skills with suffering- how dare i pose to ask if you might actually enjoy learning a skill which may or may not be useful for your writing. what is it that you get out of your writing besides other people’s resonance? what makes it more personal for you? if it is not time, so-called ‚suffering,‘ or therapy (as your decels are doing), or what you learned from the production of the piece, what is your personal gain? being able to look at the piece and say ‚this got 5000 likes and i also spent 5 minutes on this post (overexaggerated here)?‘ why is it that you most value the reaction to the product ??
Love it. Love you. You're killing it!
glad to hear it resonated—tysm! 🥰
I wrote so much of this down very quotable :p love it thank you 💖
I have to say that since I've discover your substack, I've become immediately in love with your writing and pov about things. Relate so much.
Thank you, that means so much, wow. 🥰
The truth - presented with a sensible budget of clarifying terms, and also - something I really needed to read today. My favorite kind of piece. Saved it. Thank you 🌸
Tysm, I'm glad to hear it resonated with you, Amy 😊
This is absolutely exceptional writing. This is next level understanding. I'm so grateful.
Leerte es como leerme a mi misma, gracias 🌻
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum, Stepfanie. Write on!
Wrote about this: “[T] he True Believer is someone who becomes deeply committed to a movement’s ideals because it offers the potential for escape from the dissatisfaction in his/her life. He writes, “Mass movements can rise and spread without God, but never without a belief in a devil.” Hatred of another group, he argued, is the most successful and comprehensive of all unifying agents.”
https://www.whitenoise.email/p/the-true-believers-and-useful-idiots
Thank you. I am dealing with severe psychological harassment at work now and this helped me a lot. ❤️
That's awful, I hope it gets better for you. Sounds like you work with some miserable humans, I'm sorry to hear that. 💔
Thank you so much.
have you ever tried learning some of those technical skills you mention not having?
and what skills might you be referring to, quinn?
omg i replied to the wrong post loll… i meant to reply to your post on your AI usage. (“It’s my party, and I’ll use AI if I want to.”)
ok? same question.
You mention not being able to play instruments, produce songs, remove repetition or edit your stream-of-consciousness writing. Also, instead of drawing or painting your “Casual Presidents” series, you gave Midjourney a prompt, which leads me to believe that these are skills you are probably not currently practising (I could be wrong, but then I would see no reason why you’d need AI to get the series done… besides your beloved efficiency?). Almost all of these skills can be learned without AI- I mean, you could probably also learn them with the help of AI. Learning an instrument, practising painting or drawing. Pattern recognition or detangling journal entries could be somewhat trickier to learn— but not impossible (for example, I practised chess and coding for pattern recognition, after which an easier detangling of journal entries would be possible). I imagine your answer to this is that it is simply not efficient, but then I am not able to believe that you enjoy writing or making music; rather, the reaction or amount of people “resonating” with your media. Practising these so-called “technical skills” means continuously learning about your practise and the people involved in it- the use of AI cuts this part of “the process” out.
ah yes, the old “if you really cared, you’d suffer more” argument (which i addressed thoroughly in the piece you're referencing). you could’ve just said i resent that you found a way to create without groveling at the altar of technique and saved us both time
but sure, i'll spell it all out for you again since you clearly missed it in the essay. you’re not defending art—you’re defending a belief system where effort equals virtue, and ease equals fraud. but i’m not interested in proving i’m worthy of making something. i’m interested in making something that’s worthy
you’ve mistaken the means for the meaning. i never claimed to be a session musician or renaissance oil painter. i claimed to have ideas—and i used the tools available in my century to bring them to life. i’m not cosplaying as mozart, i’m creating as myself, with the full force of what modernity makes possible
what’s wild is that you actually proved my point. your entire critique rests on the idea that creativity must be earned through technical suffering. but that’s a romantic hallucination
you talk about practice like it’s a moral obligation. it’s not. it’s a choice. and i’ve chosen to practice discernment—taste, clarity, execution. those are muscles too, just not the ones you fetishize
but let’s be honest. this isn’t really about art or effort. it’s about discomfort. discomfort with the fact that someone can bypass the traditional gatekeepers, hit publish, and actually resonate
you say you can’t believe i enjoy writing. i can’t believe you enjoy being this bitter
of course you responded to the wrong post LMFAO
the only thing i resent about your ‚non-groveling‘ is that you equate learning these skills with suffering- how dare i pose to ask if you might actually enjoy learning a skill which may or may not be useful for your writing. what is it that you get out of your writing besides other people’s resonance? what makes it more personal for you? if it is not time, so-called ‚suffering,‘ or therapy (as your decels are doing), or what you learned from the production of the piece, what is your personal gain? being able to look at the piece and say ‚this got 5000 likes and i also spent 5 minutes on this post (overexaggerated here)?‘ why is it that you most value the reaction to the product ??
🫶🙌
This is so beautiful. I can relate very much and I feel gratefully seen. Thank you for this.
It's a bummer how often we need to hear it 🙈