Ways of Being

I feel a bit conflicted about this book.

Foremostly, it was full of interesting thoughts and information. Like the velocity at which climate zones crawl across the earth every day, which I think makes climate change very tangible. Or the fact that agro-mining is a realistic way of pulling metals out of the earth with the help of plants, which is a beautiful image of collaboration.

Yet, what slightly bugged me is the fundamental premisis. Yes, we should absolutely value our environment more, cherish flora and fauna, and reverse the damage that years of exploitation have inflicted on them. But, is building computational tools in the image of nature really the way to do that? And yes, most current A.I. usage is in service of capitalistic causes, often exploitating nature. But, that's not the models' fault, it's the people's fault. Bridle argues, that executing computational tasks with analog/biological mediums makes us more aware and sympathetic to the world around us. But surely, an education that teaches everyone (not just engineers) to value nature more, would be a more solid foundation for that?

There's a poetry to building analog computers, and yes some biological computers (think parallel computation with bacteria) might be crucial components of our future. But, there's still a place for super simple code, that functions without a hugely complex analog feedback system, as long as someone with empathy and ethics designed its goals.

A great book nontheless. Great books make you think.
And look at all the gorgeous cover art for its editions.

I found that chapter on randomness useless though (seriously, why did this book need so many pages on John Cage?)