sept/oct update
mostly a books + movies list
books:
too much economics reading, mostly to try to figure out what happens to labor markets as we approach agi. i started learning about this last fall, took a yearlong break, and was hoping to finish up this time
read autor’s the work of the future: building better jobs in an age of intelligent machines. the book was a good summary of how we traditionally understand labor in relation to technology but it felt excessively long; his paper the labor market impacts of technological change is 10x shorter and has roughly the same information so i recommend that instead
then read acemoglu’s power and progress: our thousand-year struggle over technology and prosperity, it was decent though he’s much more bullish than me on redirecting technological progress away from automation, which i believe to be inevitable under capitalism. it’s cool that acemoglu won the nobel prize right after i finished the book though, i guess that means i was slightly ahead of the curve?
also read thompson’s the making of the english working class, incredibly thorough and well-researched depiction of 19th century england. lots of interesting stuff eg. methodism as a precursor to organized labor, how transitioning from expensive bread to cheap potatoes allowed england to avoid peasant revolts even as the standard of living deteriorated (i think we have a lot of modern-day potatoes in drugs and the internet), banning child labor as a partial solution to labor oversupply caused by automation
in general i found the economists surprisingly uninsightful. i was looking for frameworks that would help me understand the future but it seems they are just as confused as everyone else, and the little theory they’d developed i already knew from prior reading :/ if you’re wondering why nobody has a more comprehensive proposal for the future of labor than “ubi” it’s because we actually just do not have ideas yet
read intermezzo. the style was interesting, i found the characters difficult to relate to though, because a) they seem to think sex is very important b) it felt like they were hung up on silly problems for most of the book and suddenly experienced growth towards the end for no particular reason, and i feel like a good story can have one of the two but not both? anyway i have been told that i should read normal people next as i am new to sally rooney
finally got around to waiting for godot. it was extremely bare and oddly beautiful in a way i find hard to describe, though i think this review does a decent job
watched too many things, mostly in chicago because i was sleepy that weekend and staying with film friends
no country for old men had great narration but was very stressful. i simply cannot deal with thrillers or horror
uncut gems was technically also a thriller but i never felt the suspense because the main character was such an asshole that i never started empathizing with him
coach carter was a pretty funny good-vibes basketball movie. it also has the “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure…” monologue that everyone loves
the tunnel to summer, the exit of goodbyes was kind of bad until the very end. they have a japanese anime version of the interstellar scene where cooper receives decades of messages from his daughter all at once, which made me cry and is quite well-executed (i would actually say it’s done better than the original, because in interstellar the messages come during a lull in the action whereas here they come in the middle of action)
three colors: blue was extremely french. slow but i thought the music and use of blue lighting to depict grief was very beautiful
finished the tatami galaxy! i loved the art and hilariously fast narration (so fast that my friend and i could not finish reading through the subtitles in the first episode) and character writing and how all the storylines came together at the end, though i do wish it were longer
rewatched soul 3 years after my initial watch in early 2021. it was still great - movie hits even harder when you’re out of school / decided on and started a full-time job / have spent more time in The Zone and maybe also experienced being a Lost Soul
saw wicked live in sf, it was great! the stage effects were very cool, and for good has always been a personally meaningful song
other stuff:
various work and travel updates but i am not listing them here as they are mentioned in other recent posts
started going to a jazz funk dance class. i am quite awful at everything but the instructor is friendly and i think i am starting to learn faster? it’s been a while (years maybe) since i regularly enjoyed an activity while being terrible at it, which i think is an important experience to have as it makes one much more open to trying new things. i still don’t know what jazz funk is though
small group dinner with sam altman happened. he was surprisingly friendly and optimistic about quite a few points. it was startling and difficult to argue with someone who has spent so much time thinking about the path to agi and its downstream effects. i’m not going to write anything else about him in public but if you’re interested and know me well you can dm me for notes