#1263 - Thanos, DALL·E and the resistance to change
I am always amazed at how much more I can see when I am in subtraction space. In a space where all inner distractions are subtracted, my attention expands and transforms the outer distractions into possibilities. Like a conversation with a friend where we are both fully present with each other and what is. Everything that emerges is welcome with openness and magically finds its place in the conversation.
A few days ago, I watched a few random videos on YouTube in a moment of leisure. One of those videos is a scene from an Avengers movie in which Thanos talks to a few of the good superheroes, and he says a few words that, for apparently no reason at all, stuck in my mind.
As long as there are those who remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be.
I left those words in some corner of my memory and moved on. A few days later, a dear friend showed me a few images he made using DALL-E, a "new AI system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language".
Because we had been in a space of subtraction since the day before, the conversation quickly became a profound one. We discussed the impact of such technology on art and creativity. And we both noticed a resistance in me. I was more prone to see the risk than the opportunities of advanced technology like DALL-E. When we explored that together, I realized that when I have invested my life into something, like becoming a writer and seeing myself as an artist in some ways, I struggle to accept the new because I keep comparing it with what was before.
And then I remember Thanos's words. And the conversation leapt to the next level. But that's for another day.