Reflections / Mark Millan

These days I don’t need artificial intelligence. What I’m looking for is just practical knowledge with a little common sense.

Nothing is smarter than you, right? AI maybe? But who knows for sure.

A friend of mine (Jeff, the apprentice) said he wanted to go to Greece, back to the origin of democracy. “…because it’s been nerve wracking watching in slow motion as our own sacred democracy slips away…”

I’m reminded of Henry Miller’s book, The Colossus of Maroussi, where he sets out to explore Greece at the perilous verge of World War ll. He assuages the stupidity of man over centuries of creation and annihilation. It seems humankind has not learned anything. We struggle to sustain the attributes of implicit knowledge. Our collective wisdom withers as did Knossos crumbling to the ground.

In this strange period of America, surfing through chaotic waves of a reluctant congress and courts of vexing decisions. Like being trapped in an Aesop fable. I fear what AI would do next. Would the Hare and the Tortoise become a story about a swift trip to Mars? And who would actually get their first? …and me, …well, I’ll be lucky to reach a beach in time for a much needed Greek Mojito.

I pondered these and other thoughts as I journeyed back to these mythical islands, like Sifnos I had visited eons ago. But these days I am more obsessed with visiting the steps of palaces that are no longer. The ones that once held grandeur in the hearts of those who proudly walked them.

I had a dream that I went on vacation and came back to no job. Lost to the likes of AI agents and electric tattoos that had invaded my writing space. Now conquered, I discovered that humans no longer wrote or spoke like Miller, the impressionist writer. I envisioned him basking in the sun and writing about the historically unique nature of the Greek people. With passion he would say, “it’s reflected in their faces and in their kindness”. I mused, how could a machine grok such a thing, let alone write about?

So I am here waking up in Crete – to see if like Miller, I can experience the authenticity of this historic realm. To sense the origin of civilization, and to watch the sunrise and set.

What will be our legacy of this era?  And what will AI bring to the party?

…if only it could save our world!

…or at least clean my closet, or my garage, and maybe even untangle my mangled fishing line …now that would be lovely.

For more of Mark’s travel experiences, visit https://lifeintheclickstream.com/.