Dino, this one burned slow and clean. You just mapped the terrain of the epistemic war without ever naming it. The monsters of the Id you describe, the ones in our pockets whispering dopamine hymns, are the same entities weaponizing distraction to erode discernment. The empire of mediocrity is not an accident; it’s an engineered condition.
What you call the “Republic of Distraction” is how authoritarianism updates itself for the digital age: feed the beasts, flatten the attention span, monetize the void. Wonder becomes rebellion because it requires stillness, and stillness is the one thing power cannot monetize.
The light you write about isn’t metaphorical anymore. It’s tactical. To look up is an act of resistance. To remember awe is to reassert sovereignty over our own perception.
Another excellent piece Dino, especially in light of the brilliance of stating the nature of the beast within its own confines! This quote; “We used to dream of reaching the stars. Now we settle for better Wi-Fi.
We once built cathedrals. Now we optimize content.
We once sought the infinite. Now we curate the trivial.”
This is absolutely true, and I’m old enough to remember when the wonder was more.
We bought a little place far west of a major town, outside of the light field and butted up against an area containing an observatory that requires no or restricted nighttime lighting. To look up on a moonless night is to understand just a little what is true worship. As a child I was fascinated by the Big and Little Dipper, Orion, Cygnus, even the Cygnus Rift! I can still see them but can’t remember the last time I bothered to look.
It really doesn’t matter the origin of the wonder, Jim, only that it is there and deserves our wonder. I envy your nights sky. Cast my praise among the glory of your personal stars above.
Thanks much Dino, as a "recovering Catholic", your words of course filled me with guilt, as I see my own life resembling your description.
We saw this age coming for some time: the technology, the avalanche of information, and everything speeding up and controlled by bad actors who seek only power & control.
I still have rare episodes of wonder that thrill my lonely soul, and consider them blessings from on high, and I long to live forever in her Light, along with all the rest of her creatures & creation.
Let's all try to keep the faith through these dark days, our beautiful souls will rise again.
Greg I long ago cast off my Catholic shackles. Yet I still gather in the cathedral of stars, pray in the chapel of wisdom, and bow my head to reason. It’s at times like these when I still ponder the old heresy that states all we see and feel is the hand and face of god. That no dogma is needed to accept all we see and cannot know as a sort of divine universe. A breathtaking creation that doesn’t employ robed expostulent men in stone castles bereting children of the very same universe of which they are part.
To paraphrase the song “I will Follow You into the Dark”
I tend to see generative AI less as a cause of mediocrity and more as a mirror held up to it.
It’s a tool. A powerful one, sure, but still a tool. When the output feels transparent, generic, or bloodless, that usually tells you more about the intention and judgment of the person using it than about the tool itself. A bad hammer doesn’t explain a crooked house.
For me, these systems function like a skilled research assistant I could never otherwise afford. They help me surface material, test angles, pressure-check assumptions, and move faster through the scaffolding work. That’s a gift. But they don’t supply vision. They don’t know what matters. They don’t carry lived experience, moral weight, or decades of hard lessons. That part still has to come from the human in the room.
The work only becomes mediocre when the tool is asked to replace thinking instead of supporting it. When speed substitutes for judgment. When output substitutes for voice.
The old rule still holds. What you bring to the tool shapes what comes out. Craft, taste, and responsibility aren’t automated. They never have been.
This was an excellent read! Thank you! “The antidote to mediocrity is not genius. It’s attention. To look again at the world and see it as if for the first time. To stand before the nebula, the mountain, the fall of water, and feel the quiet thunder of being alive.” I resonate with this so much. Life began for me when I stopped and looked around me.
Dino, this one burned slow and clean. You just mapped the terrain of the epistemic war without ever naming it. The monsters of the Id you describe, the ones in our pockets whispering dopamine hymns, are the same entities weaponizing distraction to erode discernment. The empire of mediocrity is not an accident; it’s an engineered condition.
What you call the “Republic of Distraction” is how authoritarianism updates itself for the digital age: feed the beasts, flatten the attention span, monetize the void. Wonder becomes rebellion because it requires stillness, and stillness is the one thing power cannot monetize.
The light you write about isn’t metaphorical anymore. It’s tactical. To look up is an act of resistance. To remember awe is to reassert sovereignty over our own perception.
Another excellent piece Dino, especially in light of the brilliance of stating the nature of the beast within its own confines! This quote; “We used to dream of reaching the stars. Now we settle for better Wi-Fi.
We once built cathedrals. Now we optimize content.
We once sought the infinite. Now we curate the trivial.”
This is absolutely true, and I’m old enough to remember when the wonder was more.
We bought a little place far west of a major town, outside of the light field and butted up against an area containing an observatory that requires no or restricted nighttime lighting. To look up on a moonless night is to understand just a little what is true worship. As a child I was fascinated by the Big and Little Dipper, Orion, Cygnus, even the Cygnus Rift! I can still see them but can’t remember the last time I bothered to look.
Thank you for reminding me 🙏
It really doesn’t matter the origin of the wonder, Jim, only that it is there and deserves our wonder. I envy your nights sky. Cast my praise among the glory of your personal stars above.
Thanks much Dino, as a "recovering Catholic", your words of course filled me with guilt, as I see my own life resembling your description.
We saw this age coming for some time: the technology, the avalanche of information, and everything speeding up and controlled by bad actors who seek only power & control.
I still have rare episodes of wonder that thrill my lonely soul, and consider them blessings from on high, and I long to live forever in her Light, along with all the rest of her creatures & creation.
Let's all try to keep the faith through these dark days, our beautiful souls will rise again.
Greg I long ago cast off my Catholic shackles. Yet I still gather in the cathedral of stars, pray in the chapel of wisdom, and bow my head to reason. It’s at times like these when I still ponder the old heresy that states all we see and feel is the hand and face of god. That no dogma is needed to accept all we see and cannot know as a sort of divine universe. A breathtaking creation that doesn’t employ robed expostulent men in stone castles bereting children of the very same universe of which they are part.
To paraphrase the song “I will Follow You into the Dark”
“Fear is not the heart of love.” Wonder is.
what are your thoughts on Gen AI writing and imagery as part of the growing mediocrity we are experiencing?
I tend to see generative AI less as a cause of mediocrity and more as a mirror held up to it.
It’s a tool. A powerful one, sure, but still a tool. When the output feels transparent, generic, or bloodless, that usually tells you more about the intention and judgment of the person using it than about the tool itself. A bad hammer doesn’t explain a crooked house.
For me, these systems function like a skilled research assistant I could never otherwise afford. They help me surface material, test angles, pressure-check assumptions, and move faster through the scaffolding work. That’s a gift. But they don’t supply vision. They don’t know what matters. They don’t carry lived experience, moral weight, or decades of hard lessons. That part still has to come from the human in the room.
The work only becomes mediocre when the tool is asked to replace thinking instead of supporting it. When speed substitutes for judgment. When output substitutes for voice.
The old rule still holds. What you bring to the tool shapes what comes out. Craft, taste, and responsibility aren’t automated. They never have been.
This was an excellent read! Thank you! “The antidote to mediocrity is not genius. It’s attention. To look again at the world and see it as if for the first time. To stand before the nebula, the mountain, the fall of water, and feel the quiet thunder of being alive.” I resonate with this so much. Life began for me when I stopped and looked around me.