I was reading an article today about some bikini show saying how there is "little left to the imagination" by what were largely unflattering and impractical designs. But, fashion shows aren't about practicality, they are about getting attention. But, the terrible bikinis aside, I was more interested in the phrase of nothing left to the imagination - because that seems to be the culture now.
And no, I am not talking about the women who are draping see through material over themselves in some kind of emperor's new clothes scenario, whilst simultaneously complaining about people looking at them, objectifying them, and judging their bodies. Or Kanye West's wife who doesn't even bother with the pretence that she is even trying to hide any bit of her body from view. I am talking about how so much of what we consume now has no mystery, and no space to really think about what is going on, and work out pieces for ourselves. It is all spelled out, leaving nothing to the imagination to solve.
And I think this is what ruins the storytelling process, because it makes a lot of what is created immature and lacking subtlety, as it assume the audience just can't work things out for themselves.
But, maybe that is true. As it could be that audiences these days are less practically experienced than audiences of the past, so they don't necessarily put "two and two together" as they haven't ever done the working themselves before. They are used to having answers at their fingertips with a simple search, and this means that they don't need to understand the process to get to an answer, they just have to ask the question.
But, this is highly risky, because without having the experience that knows the process, that can do the math, it is impossible to know if the answer is actually correct. If it seems correct and there is no better option on the table, it must be correct. But, a lot of the correct answers are counterintuitive and that means that when heard, they don't feel correct, unless there is the experience of application and testing prior.
If chatgpt was around in the time of Gallileo and was asked what shape the world is, the answer provided would say it is flat, right?
This was the question of an intelligent teen (thank you 
In another story, I was reading the predictions of someone who estimates that half of white collar jobs could disappear in five years. That might be overzealous, it might not, but we are heading in that direction. However, in the article the guy was saying how their software is already capable of doing entry level work, and coding at the level of an intelligent university student. And while that might not be high-end, it creates a problem.
How do you become very good at something?
Everyone starts from the basics, but if everyone is skipping learning the basics because there are tools that do all the working for them, can they move into the highly complex? Did Einstein or Heisenberg not understand basic maths? Did Jordan and LeBron not practice dribbling the ball?
And this is the problem with having all the answers at the fingertips, because it means not having to think through how to actually solve problems. And while we might think it is awesome as adults today, the thing is that our brains develop and mature from our experiences, building actual neurological circuitry. If we are skipping to the answers all the time, the foundational processes of the brain and the psyche aren't getting built correctly, which makes us physically less capable than previous generations. At least when it comes to problem solving.
And the problem with not having the problem solving foundation, is that it doesn't much matter what information is available, a person is unable to use it effectively. Much like me with a high-level physics book in front of me - it is inapplicable. not because it is irrelevant though, but because I can't apply it.
We keep getting served increasingly "complete" content, that has been engineered to be easier to consume, without considering that in order to grow, the brain needs challenge. And yeah, while it will still feel challenged by increasingly simple formulas, it means that it also gets increasingly worse at dealing with the complexities of life.
Despite so many "baring it all" what is actually happening, is that we are becoming more narrow, more conservative, and less able to grow our world. We are becoming so conservative, that we are on the edge of returning to infantilism, throwing tantrums whenever something challenges our world view, or someone breaks one of our personal beliefs of what we hold to be true - even when our truth is an obvious fantasy.
But without an imagination, it is impossible to challenge ourselves.
So we must be right. Right?
Taraz
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