The possibility of closing a book, like skipping chapters, moving forward or backward, should never leave our minds while we read, since reading, in order to be worthwhile, must be motivated and sustained by our interest. Unless an inescapable duty speaks louder, which therefore underpins the need to read from the first to the last line, when a sudden lack of interest manifests itself during reading, action must be taken to avoid wasting time and even incomprehension. By always remembering that reading is a choice, we can enjoy it much more.
Tag: literature
What the Latest Artificial Intelligence Does
What the latest artificial intelligence does is impressive. What we envision it can do, or rather, what we surely know it will do in a short time, is even more so. For this reason, many suspect that literature is under threat, or that authors will somehow be “overtaken” by the machine and become irrelevant. This is certainly untrue. Advance as much as it can, improve as much as it can, but artificial intelligence will never get rid of the adjective that is attached to it. For this reason there will always be a limit to what it can do, there will always be the impossibility of it expressing something that manifests an individual, real and unique experience, something that serves as the embodiment of a consciousness that evolves and registers itself in time through letters. And may this intelligence improve! May it reach levels of spectacular accuracy! Then it will be clearer than ever what is artifice in art and what is substance.
The Beginning
It seems that the outcome of any artistic project is fundamentally dependent on the enthusiasm and vigor with which it is started. The spirit with which this start is imbued is decisive. For a bad or weak start, there is not much to be done, while a vigorous start can be extended by manual labor and simple discipline. That is why it is so important to do the ideation separately, at a time that precedes the execution. In this way, one can take advantage of the unsurpassable stimulus of those moments when the idea is ready and seems to explode.
Creative Work
Creative work essentially depends on two things: (1) the ability to stimulate, allow and grasp new ideas and (2) the ability to make the most of them. In the first case, we briefly have intellectual effort and attention, qualities that, even if unintentionally, are incited by the simple desire to create. In the second case, there is something more costly, and perhaps the biggest difference between the fruitful artist and the unfruitful one lies precisely in this: in the ability to put their ideas into practice, not letting them get lost and go as naturally as they came. This ability is simply the ability to act. From this it can be seen that creative work, in order to be effective, requires not only ideas, conceiving them and capturing them—something that can be done effortlessly—but it also requires a state of mind that can be summed up in a permanent readiness for action.