The Convivial Society
Welcome to the first installment of the Convivial Society for the year 2025. Most of you know the drill: this is a newsletter exploring the intersection of technology, culture, and human flourishing. I’m glad to have kept up a decent pace of writing over the last couple of months, and hopefully that will continue. This post comes just a few days after the last, which is a bit unusual, but I’ve also learned that I need to write the thought quickly or else it will take leave of me. So here, briefly, my reflections on a contrast that I hope illuminates the difference between a creative human act and AI generated content. I hope you find it both helpful and hopeful, even if it is not all that needs to be said about the matter.
My writing is reader-supported and an important part of how I make a living. But there are no paywalls. My work is supported by those who are both able and willing to do so. If that’s you, you can subscribe at the usual rate of $5/month or $45/year. If that seems a bit steep, you could use the second button below to support the Convivial Society at about $3.50/month or $31/year. You know, a cup of coffee a month or something like that.
On New Year’s Eve, I had the good fortune of having a question raised by one experience in the morning and the answer presented by a second in the afternoon.
