Antonym: The Fascia of Ideas Edition
Connective issues, one more thing from Steve and why actually being kind counts.
Dear Reader
I’m speechless about Succession right now. We best stick in our comfort zone: AI, the future of cognition and simple stuff like that…
The Above image is an excerpt from Fascia, a collaboration between artist Tobias Gremmler and dancer Lico Kehua Li.
If Twitter is allowing links from Substack this week this is the fuller version (and if not cut and paste this into your browser): https://twitter.com/TobiasGremmler/status/162881641169827
In anatomy, fascia is the strange part of your body you may have heard of but since forgotten about, unless you’re an expert in physiology or possible somatic movement and yoga. It’s like a layer of stretchy wrap that spirals around your whole body holding your muscles and sinews in place.
We have models of our bodies in our minds from when we were at school, but they are just models: incomplete, composed of elements – organs, bones, limbs – and hiding the complexities, the huge importance of how they work as systems.
If you like Fascia, take a look at Gremmler’s YouTube channel for more work.
Sparking curiosity
What happens in our brains when we’re curious? A lot, according to Chantel Prat. I got curious there about analogies between bodies and models and systems. If you were a physiotherapist or anatomist maybe you started thinking about the possibilities for seeing anatomical systems in motion. If you were a dancer or choreographer did you start thinking about possibilities for new ways of trying out ideas?
Curiosity is wonderful but it isn’t free. We trade-off in the choices and preferences we make all the time. We’re primed for it by what we know already. While we are being curious we aren’t doing other things. When does exploring an exciting idea become procrastination? When does procrastination become innovation and invention?
Speaking of tangents…
Discovering the Connections Between Systems Thinking and Garden Design
I started write 100 words about working with AI this week and it turned into a longish essay, so I’ve published it as a separate Antonym Extra this week and also on my blog if you’d like to see the full article.
In a recent experiment, I explored how artificial intelligence (AI) could help me learn about organisation design by drawing inspiration from renowned garden designer Piet Oudolf. I used GPT-4 to find connections between his design approach and systems thinking and used insights from that to suggest improved methods for organisation design.
It blew my mind. But, as I say, how it did wouldn’t fit into this newsletter, so I’ll let you take a look if you’re interested in the special edition.
The experience revealed several key insights:
AI is excellent for idea exploration. AI tools can help create multiple versions of a concept, allowing for rapid experimentation and development.
AI can be a smart study partner or tutor. The speed at which AI can help us learn and explore adjacent domains is unparalleled.
The better your questions, thefurther you go. Engaging with AI through well-crafted questions can lead to deeper insights and connections across various fields.
Search engines may struggle to compete. Traditional search engines may feel limited compared to the efficiency and potential of AI-driven exploration.
Affordable, for now. At $20 a month for ChatGPT premium, the cost is reasonable for those who use it in their work. Other tools like Claude from Anthropic and the note-taking app Notion offer similar capabilities.
In the words of Donella Meadows, "We can't control systems or figure them out. But we can dance with them!" AI has the potential to revolutionise how we approach intellectual work, management, and collaboration, allowing us to dance with the great powers of technology.
To learn more about this fascinating journey and the potential of AI in transforming our work and learning experiences, check out the expanded version of this article on my blog or check your inbox as I’ve sent it out as a SPECIAL EDITION.
Advice for thinking fast
Second excerpt from AI Idea-Finding.
The following would be my advice to a colleague or friend who is a knowledge worker or creative and is comfortable, but not expert with using search engines and standard productivity tools (Microsoft Office, Google Worksuite or equivalent).
Invest $20 a month and an hour a day to learn to dance with AI. I recommend a month at least with ChatGPT, Notion, or Claude (all of which charge a similar amount) and using it on at least one task where you have a little time to experiment. I’ve found it saves more time than it takes to learn on things like planning, analysis and admin (meeting notes, preparing structures and guides for writing anything from business documents to copy), but this may not be the case for everyone.
Keep notes. Take screen grabs and write a little journal of what you notice, what works and what doesn’t. These may be useful to review later on, but even if you don’t, it will make sure you reflect, if only briefly in the moment, on what is happening.
Be disciplined about process. This is a topic for another article, but being clear about the steps you will take to create something, even designing a big meeting, or sending a concise analysis of a topic, and creating a check-list for the job will help you see where it will be worth trying working with a generative AI tool.
Double check outputs for facts and accuracy. GPT-4 and equivalent generative AIs are more accurate, but still liable to make things up?—?this includes checking links are real and references to articles or other sources actually exist and say what it claims they do.
Find your rhythm, make your own moves. Every breathless claim of a prompt or tool that can save HOURS or make $$$$$?—?there are so many on social media currently?—?should be treated with extreme caution. What worked for one person may not replicate for you. Even scientists find it hard to replicate results in some controlled experiments. Instead of looking for magic spells or artefacts, use the metaphor of dance to learn how to give and take with the tools, find what’s possible and what suits your mind. As well as the unpredictable nature of AI sometimes, the different demands of our specific work and our individual brains are all going to require different techniques and use of tools.
50 loops of Jupiter
NASA is celebrating 50 orbits with Jupiter with its Juno spacecraft. So many amazing images from this project. Take the excuse to go and gawp at the mind-crumblinglyawesome (in the original sense) visions of our biggest planetary neightbour.
Steeeeeeve!
The Steve Jobs archive has produced a beautiful book curating images and words about and from the man himself. The various formats of ebook are available for free.
The official ebook edition of Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words is free to read on Apple Books and from participating libraries through our partners at Libby. You can also download the book to view it on any compatible e-reader: our EPUB file works on almost all tablets, smartphones, desktop computers, and digital reading devices.
One more (wonderful) thing…
Call me sentimental, but this is a beautiful article from Vox about the science of being nice to people and doing small things make people’s days better. Read it all, but this bit sang to me about just saying “hello” to old friends you haven’t spoken to in a while:
“I think people felt like there was an obligation,” says Gillian Sandstrom, a senior lecturer in the psychology of kindness at the University of Sussex, who is currently studying people’s reluctance to reach out to friends with whom they’d lost touch. “There is no commitment. I can just have a one-off thing, walk away. There’s something really beautiful about that.”
Small Acts of Kindness Matter More Than You Think
That’s all for this week. I hope you enjoyed it and if you read the SPECIAL EDITION let me know what you think.
See you next week!
Antony