Let's save that for later...
At the start of the week I decided to start teaching my daughter some sewing basics. I am by no means a tailor, but I can manage if I need - and I think that everyone should be able to do some simple mends like sew a button, or fix a seam. Even if it only has to hold for a day - like the the dress I altered for my wife for our wedding.
Yes - I saw her in her dress before the wedding.
But using an old pair of jeans of mine for fabric, we went about planning and drawing a pattern (a dachshund), pinning it to the fabric, cutting it out, and bit by bit, hand-sewed it all together - as we don't have a sewing machine. After which, we turned it the right way out, and stuffed it with filling. The lesson wasn't for sewing anyway really - it was about planning, patience, and the joy of making something tangible.
Smallsteps gave the dog as a present to her mum.
Too much of what we do these days isn't attached to anything tangible. So much of the time we have is spent consuming and not creating. And I think we keep lowering the bar on what is creative. This has been sped along even faster with the mass adoption of generative-AI, but I think people should remember - it isn't called creative-AI.
I also reckon that there is a huge problem with the speed and ease of production, where in moments, a brilliant result can be accomplished that is far better than 99.99% of the users could do themselves, all with a few prompts.
The result might be good, but there is no skin in the game from the "prompter" and no cost to getting the design wrong. There is no hand skill necessary, no coordination, no learning from a missed stitch that splits open to reveal the stuffing inside. There is no inside, and the prompter has little insight into what goes into getting the result. Are they an artist?
The bar is low these days.
The value of what is created is lower. Which is what happens when there is oversupply, and bit enough demand. There are demands on the tools, but of there aren't the consumers to soak it in - it is just attention bloat.
With no one to attend.
All these calls on attention coming from spaces where there is no limit on venues, and the cost of creating a show is approaching zero. It is a small town with a thousand professional stadiums, all rubbing a game at the same time. The stands are empty, because there aren't enough people in the city to attend all, even if they were interested.
We understand that money inflation drives up the number cost of what we purchase. We know that a litre of milk is a litre of milk no matter the cost. And we also know that an oversupply of milk drives the price down. But, a lot of what is "created" now isn't like milk, and there is no limit on the supply, no land required, no cows, no farmhands - no farmer. So much of the consumer business is like this now, which means that profits can be maximized by concentrating the production. This also means the supply chain is cheaper, and less people get paid adequately along the way.
More wealth gap contributors.
Just like the businesses, we are also looking to produce for less - or perhaps it is "have for less" - where we don't want to produce, we just want the results. Like the idea of winning the lottery is far more attractive than doing all the work to become wealthy. We are looking for workless wealth, which is driven ever harder by the media industry - with influencer platforms, and porn platforms, and get rich quick schemes and all the celebrities peddling their wares. The bar for what is considered a "content creator" has been lowered to dancing naked on camera.
Yet, the more efficient people can generate content using the latest tools, the unhappier they seem to become. I think this comes down to our human need to actually create something of value - not just pretend to. And I think that a big part of making content creation efficient, is that it is no longer about enjoyment, interest, care, or love - it is transactional - just for the result.
There are few craftspeople these days.
Nearly everyone is a personally-branded business though.
I am hoping that my daughter finds some loves in her life. The kinds of things that she can turn to whenever, and just create for enjoyment. Just tonight, her grandma messaged my wife and said that she has knitted another pair of socks for her and asked, "is your sock draw full, because I don't know if I can stop this knitting passion?".
That is pretty cool, isn't it?
Maybe for me it is writing.
Is it tangible?
I will put a pin in that thought for now.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]