Here, Michael explains: “This is a quote from the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883-1891). It is often considered a triumphant and liberating idea for Western culture. In a way it is, but as you can see from the rest of the quote, Nietzsche was a little worried about the idea. If you kill God, then you must take full responsibility for you life. For all your fortunes and all your misfortunes. We in Western civilization are finding it an incredibly exhausting idea to take full responsibility for our lives. Sometimes it’s a relief to have decisions made for one. Perhaps our quest for AI might be a resurrection of God. To create someone to take some of the responsibility away from us. Although some believe we don’t need a higher order to submit to, I believe it’s necessary to give up a measure of control, else we become the fascists of our own lives and burn out.”

 

“It’s a commonly held perspective that self-reflection is a positive thing. After all Socrates famously said “The unexamined life is not worth living”. It’s also a popular belief that narcissism is a bad thing. I often wonder if too much self-reflection leads to narcissism. Or maybe self-reflection could be a bad thing if one’s mind has a tendency to rely on masks.”

 

“Last year I left the city and moved to the country. To a large extent, I dropped out of the world. Partly as an act of defiance and partly out of exhaustion. It has been lonely yet interesting to get a perspective of the world in isolation. Sartre said that “Hell is other people”. I think that’s a little harsh, but it is interesting to experience life free from the constraint of others points of view.”

 

“This image is strongly linked to “Magician”. It describes the same idea of scalable creation only using the power of imagination to create one’s world. I’d prefer to live my life where imagination rather than necessity is the mother of invention.”

 

“When I drew this, I was imagining a scene in the future. Sitting in a little room that I had not yet built and drawing a picture, while catching a saboteur drinking out of my mug. Strangely enough, this scene is currently playing out in my life. I have built this little room and there seems to be little saboteur stealing my attention. I’m not sure what he wants. I’m not yet sure what to do about it.”

 

“I was living in Melbourne, Australia. A long term relationship I was in had ended. I quit my job. I was building a little house for myself and the winter has stopped my progress. I decided to drive westward to Adelaide. Back home to the place where I grew up, to spend time with my family and work in my sister’s funeral home. An old way of living for me was dying. As I was driving into the setting sun, the light was such that there was no distinction between the sky and the road. There was no distinction between heaven and earth. Quite strange how the outer world can reflect our inner world sometimes.”

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