Marlow's Musings 1/28/24

Insights, adventures and fun stuff from this week.

Audio narration by David Marlow

Of Chickens and Chatbots by David Marlow ©2024

Two Trends I’m Noticing

We often look ahead with no idea what is coming our way. We just as often look back and feel everything that did happen was evident in retrospect.

It’s easy to find the light switch once the light is on.

Chickens

Aaron lives along the running trail through our neighborhood. His house backups up to it, so when he started raising chickens in his backyard, it became part of my runs to watch the progress.

At first, there was a small hen house and one chicken. Later I noticed a second chicken. Then when everyone was home during the pandemic, he built a deluxe multi-story hen house and added a couple more hens.

It wasn’t long before another family whose house backed up to the trail started raising chickens. Then another and another.

Now many families in my neighborhood host henhouses with egg-producing occupants.

Apparently, it is a ‘thing’ around the country.

Aaron told me he’d never had a pet before. Once he got the first chicken, he added the chickens I mention and then a dog. He said the chicken was his ‘gateway’ pet.

Chatbots

For fun, I asked a chatbot to tell me what a chatbot was and how it was used. This is what it gave me.

A chatbot is a computer program that simulates conversation with users to automate customer service, provide information, and assist with transactions. Some use natural language processing, while others use pre-programmed responses. They can be integrated into various platforms.

The world is abuzz with talk of Artificial Intelligence, most specifically chatbots that have become widely available.

For research on this article, I asked the chatbot if there were more people or chickens in the world.

📌 It told me people outnumbered chickens, as there are 8 billion humans and only 23 billion chickens.

While I’m no artificial intelligence expert, that answer does not give me confidence that AI will take over the world any time soon.

Ikigai

Most of those 23 billion chickens are raised on farms ranging from family farms to industrial-size operations.

Even though most chickens are raised that way, there remains room for Aaron and my other neighbors.

There is room for people who do things themselves. Raise your own chickens for healthy food, for a connection to nature, as a learning opportunity, and for the sheer fun of doing it.

There is no doubt that AI will produce a significant volume of writing in many forms at some point, as the giant chicken farms do with chicken.

And like Aaron and the other artisan chicken farmers, there will remain a place for artisan writers. People who write original content to express their thoughts, their art, and their humanity.

And like the difference between industrialized food and farm fresh eggs, the industrialized paragraphs of AI will pale in comparison to the writer expressing their Ikigai in words.

Word of the Week

Rizz (n.)

riz

1: Style, charm, appeal, or attractiveness in terms of popularity

2: Appeal or charm in a romantic, sexual or seductive sense

Rizz is a shortened version of “charisma” and was chosen as the Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2023.

The interesting thing is the origin word, charisma, has nothing to do with popularity or seduction.

Since 1875, charisma has meant a "special spiritual gift or power divinely conferred, talent from God.” Latinized form of Greek word kharisma "favor, divine gift," from kharizesthai "to show favor to," from kharis "grace, beauty, kindness.”

It is perhaps a sign of our times that a word with such rich meaning as charisma has been reduced to only the base level of appeal.

It is something to consider when we explore our Ikigai. Are we looking to share our divinely granted gifts, or are we looking to achieve some equivalent of ‘influencer’ status or worse?

In case you missed it…

Earlier this week’s Ikigai Thought for Today was on Insights from the Thought Library.

You will always find open on my desktop what I call my ‘Thought Library.’ It’s where I store all the best insights and ideas I come across.

I shared five entries to inspire some pondering in your life.

You can check it out here…

Ikigai Thought for Today: Ideas

Ikiquest+

This week’s Coffee Contemplation for Ikiquest+ subscribers was about ways to increase the time you spend experiencing your Ikigai at work.

I share a fun and practical story about one way I was able to stop doing a useless task at work and reinvest the time in improving my life and career.

This one was again all audio with the transcript available for reading.

Ikiquest+ subscribers can check it out here.

Coffee Contemplation: Delete the Line

Comment of the Week:

This week’s comment is actually two comments on Insights from the Thought Library.

It was a reflection with five quotes selected specifically to prompt a unique reflection for each person as they read them.

For Scott, two of the five caused deep reflection, and the last one caused some reflection and disagreement. Here’s what he said about the quote from Wu Hsin.

I am not sure I agree with Wu Hsin. Every day I feel like I am being caused to become something I am not yet. This is not to say I am not worthy or never good enough. It is to say, given the interpretation of those other two thoughts above, it is impossible for me to imagine the extent of improvement and impact I may see in my future.

---

Reading the same list, Matthew had this to say about the Wu Hsin quote.

"Pursue with the fullest energy

That which you already are

There is nothing to become."

-Wu Hsin

That will do me for today, David.

Thank you.

And that is a perfect example of why I share these this way. To provide a spark and support an Ikigai reflection as unique as the people reading and pondering.

Quote I’m Pondering

This thought is from Luke Burgis…

You should expect that (if you're lucky!) your spouse—and maybe one good friend—will read and understand your work, but that as a general rule: the people who are closest to you will care and understand the least. Their very familiarity breeds a kind of incomprehension of anything that goes beyond the person they thought they knew.

I found this to be my experince as a kid. It contributed to ‘de-genius’ me regarding writing for many years. If I had known at the time this was a normal reaction from those close to writers (or anyone stretching to do something unique), it would have helped me persevere.

Regarding Burgis’ idea, I am lucky as my spouse and several good friends understand and encourage my work.

Interesting Thing I Saw This Week

I came across a splendid website where you can browse high-resolution classical and modern art pieces that are in the public domain.

Artvee

Browse, download, and enjoy endless inspiration—for free! Dive in and explore.

I found one featuring chickens and last week’s highlighted animal, sheep. And no, I’m not starting a weekly animal theme; it was a coincidence.

Sheep and Chicken in a Landscape (1873)

Final Thoughts

This business of uncovering and expressing our Ikigai is ultimately about asking ourselves, “How alive am I willing to be?”¹

Quest well

1. Quoted portion from Anne Lamott