O thou of eyes that have the colour of smoke, I bow to thee.

Your (un)Friendly Neighborhood Maenad. Double Blooded. Knock off Pythia, Apsu dweller, Durga's secretary, in serious need of a Soma dealer. Siduri's apprentice alewife wannabe. Down to earth, or rather underground, practically chthonic. Fera Com Hera. 𝔖𝔥𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔫𝔬 𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔥𝔩𝔶 𝔐𝔞𝔫 𝔫𝔬𝔯 𝔚𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔫 𝔪𝔞𝔶 𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔯𝔞𝔠𝔢, 𝔱𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔶𝔢𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔚𝔥𝔬𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔄𝔏𝔏

[laveneredissepolta]

Scott Radke - Hands

[thevulturesquadron]

text: [ “Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing an essay, writing a eulogy, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing for 5000 years.” ]

[rudjedet]

And they're absolutely specifically pushing it, make no mistake. It's not just a matter of "it's there, it's convenient, so people are going to take the path of the least resistance", it is a legitimate and concerted effort on the part of these companies to get people to outsource all these things to their models.

They're preying on insecurities to do it. Yes, you can write an essay - but can you write a good essay, they ask you. Do you not want to improve your output? Do you not want people to think of you as competent and very clever? Why go through the mortifying process of failing and failing and failing until you succeed if you can just skip the "learning" part of doing, and simply generate a ready-made product?

I'm preaching to the choir here obviously but it's a concerning thing to witness nonetheless. My kid is 6 next week and I've been teaching her that failing at things is morally neutral and in fact necessary even before the advent of AI, but it's becoming ever more important that we teach the kids that criticism and failure and discomfort aren't necessarily bad things, but just a part of the growth process.

AI companies are heavily invested in making themselves relevant. They want people to believe they can't do the things they have done unaided before and to make them become reliant on the AI models, so the AI models' existence is artificially justified.

[heylsgowt]

[charnel-grounds]

The Mask | 1961 | dir. Julian Roffman

[389]

Ange de Carbone by Cahetel Rosier

[vohugaona]

In the last couple years I ask myself more and more often not only why did I blindly move to Austria of all places, but also why did I stay, why am I still here?!?!

[memories-of-ancients]

German black and white breastplate, possibly from Wurttemburg, circa 1580.

from The Worcester Art Museum

[medievalengravings]

The Hell, Hortus Deliciarum Herrad von Landsberg, 1180

[segamascott]

[myglyptothek]

Portrait of a roman, perhaps Sextus Pompeius. 30s BC. Bronze. State Hermitage Museum, Saint-Petersbourg. Inv. B 2047

myglyptothek: Faces of ancient Rome

[vohugaona]

[thebeautifulbook]

Book Cover (Persian)

KORAN (17th Century ) Persian translated, illuminated manuscript written in Naskhi script

[achillesinhighheels]

kadiwéu body paint, brazil, 1935

[ancient-mesopotamia]

Gilgamesh kills the Bull of Heaven, terracotta votive relief, 2250–1900 BC. Such votives were placed in temples as offerings or carried in camels’ saddlebags to gain the gods’ protection. (Musées Royaux d’Art et d’Histoire, Brussels)

[enchantedbook]

'Fireflies at Ochanomizu' by Kobayashi Kiyochika , 1880

[ghw-archive]

Gilt silver haircomb, early 19th century

[barbucomedie]

Bronze Roman Cavalry Helmet and Mask excavated from Luxembourg dated between 70 - 110 CE on display at the Great North Museum in Newcastle, England

Parade armour was often decorated with motifs such as animals, gods and mythical figures. These often had special meanings for cavalrymen and tell us about their superstitions and beliefs.

Photographs taken by myself 2017