philosophy / poetry

The fence that keeps us penned

Aside Athousandbitsofpaper13 Comments

There is an arc

Barely visible

It can be noticed sometimes

At the peripheral

Of our lives

It is created by our tastes and tendencies

It is unconscious choice for the most part

We breathe on, unaware of its encompassing, channeling affect on the direction of our lives

It is the playlist we listen to

The foods we eat

Whether we choose to exercise and how that experience is

It is whether we drink alcohol, how much or not at all

Smoking

Drugs

Whimsy’s

Flaws

Addictions

Afflictions

So many things we choose seemingly at random

Are not random at all

And they become our habits

Create our earthly pall

Shadow keepers

Guiding

Tweaking

Flickering at the edges

We blame fate

Others

Circumstances

Yet always

It is our tastes and tendencies that led us

To this point, another

If you want to know a result

Cast some Gypsy spell

Looking far off and ahead

Who you will become

Well

Then

It’s already being written in your head

So start there.

*my playlist this morning was chosen by Siri.

My watch, my phone, these sentinels to my life. They know what I like to eat and wear via google, what I listen to via habit, they predict, they discern and they grow more knowing by the day.

More knowing about me then me it would seem at times

The playlist Siri chose and the order which the songs were played blew me away.

I had Beethoven followed by Uptown Funk followed by James Taylor followed by Taylor Swift followed by some gorgeous musical composition that I cannot even remember downloading followed by Rhianna and Eminem, then Pink and some John Butler trio and others that I cannot recall but were perfect wherever they fell.

Many of the tracks were several years old – songs I hadn’t listened to in years – how did she know I needed to hear them

Right now

Just then

And she isn’t even a she

She is an it

Yet over time she has become she, with her never flustered female voice that has talked me calmly through fraught moments in traffic

I’ve always said google probably thinks I am actually ten people – I would have thought Siri thought so too but she gets me.

Which is what she is designed to do

One day psychologists will ask our watch what the problem is

Or perhaps we will

And there won’t be a need for psychologists anymore

Won’t be a need for anyone anymore

…

13 thoughts on “The fence that keeps us penned”

  2. Hmm, a bit scary. As one who wants to get rid of google and technology, I hope it doesn’t replace humans. 🙂 Brave New World, I guess. 🙂

    Reply

    • I love technology and gadgets – within reason. Like anything they have the power to be used wisely and well with great advantages for humans – then there is the downside … interesting times.

      Reply

  3. I like to keep myself a mystery to Siri as I don’t use her. No instagram, tweeter, Reddit, tiki tiki 😂 no playlists, I use YouTube but never save anything, I keep google guessing as we never travel in the same circles. 😅

    Reply

    • I don’t leave Siri “on” but I use her in maps etc when I travel, I use her to skip a track when I’m running that sort of thing – I have all the crap, Instagram etc – I did read a really good book by Jared Lanier – 10 arguments for deleting all social media and it was convincing – that was a couple of years ago though and unfortunately since then I have started using more social media as I live fairly remotely and it gives me more reach and enjoyment to chat to and connect with so many other people from around the world. But I’m aware at the same time there is a cost, and it is paid every time I give away another piece of information.

      Reply

  5. I’m a gadgets-n-tech person too, but I draw the line at my ‘decisions’ being made for me by … not the actual gadget or piece of tech … but the coder who wrote the program that runs them, and the corporation that stands behind her/him.

    Reply

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