techie neo-luddite

I write code as part of my occupation. It is now a mix of a few programming languages necessary for my field of practice. It continues to evolve due to developments in computational efficiency—which is why my peers and I have to regularly update our knowledge. Things become outdated so quickly these days. Even the language that we speak, whether our native tongue (Tagalog for me) or Modern English, is quickly being updated. Modern English continues to evolve as a hodgepodge of new generation social media colloqualisms and I cannot keep up. I’ve decided not to keep up…rather, I’ve decided to selectively keep up. 

On the topic of not keeping up with the Joneses, I have not signed up for ChatGPT. My gut and brain are telling me, not yet. A recent discussion at work mentioned something about malicious code that may or may not be included in AI-generated solutions. I don’t know anything about that and am honest about not knowing how to use ChatGPT. Attribute it to aversion or maybe fear. I’ve entertained the possibility that my profession may or may not exist in the future. Scary, isn’t it? I just need to be prepared to be adaptable. Or retire early? LOL. I was told that we won’t get replaced by AI anytime soon and should probably learn to embrace it. I suppose I don’t fully trust it. I’m still Team Homo sapiens. After all, the human brain that created and continues to create all these technological advancements is still many steps ahead of its artificial counterpart. It’s still incomparable in complexity. An incredible organic machine. 

In terms of new networking platforms…I’ve resisted TikTok, Threads, etc…I left Facebook a couple of years ago. I have Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn and log-out of those networking apps when not in use. I understand that many folks make a living out of those applications and that’s amazing. For me, I know that I’ve wasted many hours of leisure time by randomly and aimlessly scrolling the interwebs instead of moving my body, sleeping at the proper time, or resting my eyes from digital exposure. When I stated “wasted” I didn’t mean that social media engagement is bad. It’s just that I am not as disciplined in terms of the amount of time I invest in it when I’m immersed. I’m sure I’m not the only one. I certainly find enjoyment and inspiration in it. I just need to make sure that I don’t let it occupy most of my free time. The easiest thing for me to do is to log-out, which has provided me additional time for real-life endeavours. Simply due to the absence of notifications. I’m attempting to retrain my fingers and muscle memory to avoid clicking on particular apps. Works for me.

What I frequently use are my audio apps. Spotify has that new Smart Shuffle feature for personal playlists so that I can discover new music similar to the playlist I created…I have the option to skip that recommended song or add it to my playlist. I still have my Apple Music, because I used to have a tiny iShuffle and have purchased music and albums in the past. Amazon Music comes with Prime so that’s also a nice app for interesting playlists. Soundcloud is still great…I don’t use it as frequently because I only have the free version, but keep it because a lot of independent artists are there. It’s nice to discover gems.

I’d like to think that it’s possible to be a techie neo-luddite. Appropriately connected to the digital world. Such that the kinds of digital connectivity varies from person-to-person. Connected to apps that are essential and/or beneficial but completely unplugged from apps that are not useful to one’s activities of daily living. Not the complete luddites who have absolutely no connectivity nor the super social media savvy generation alpha.