AS ART DESCENDS into its final grave, so goes humanity. Humans are the only species capable of artistic expression whether through a canvas, clay, stone, music or the written word. We are in awe of ancient stone carvings that date thousands of years in history. Eastern countries are replete with magnificent carved rock formations. Centuries later we wonder how such sculpting was of such profusion. And yet, the answer is quite remarkable in its reality.
There are numerous examples of cathedrals, monuments, caves, and palaces built into solid stone dating from 17,000 years ago to 650 AD. Ornate. Meticulously carved. Without error or mistake. Perfection. The Ajanta Caves of India, the Lycian Tombs of Turkey, the Longman Caves of China and Petra, Jordan, among others. Each unique – and yet similar. Some majestically, others archeologically, while others seem to be more advanced in their knowledge of environment and architecture meet as one.
The ones we have unearthed are scattered across the globe and yet they share a theme; built to withstand extremes. As though planet earth was experiencing weather anomalies requiring humans to shelter inside mountains and underground to survive. Entire cities sprawling as much as 11 miles and capable of housing 20,000 with a regulated constant temperature and access to underground streams.
Today, we build boxes on open land subject to every imaginable extreme – hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, ice storms, etc… The box tends to require constant repairs and is typically abandoned after 100 years. Why?
Art is a Mentality. Psychologists tended to register art with a person’s use of right brain matter. An over-simplification. Today, neuroscience shows that training and practicing art actively rewires the brain. Learning to draw or paint builds new white-matter pathways and restructures brain regions over time, meaning an artistic brain is shaped by a mix of innate inclination and dedicated practice.
Dedicated Practice. In ancient times, the activity of building majestic cathedrals, and cave palaces adorned with intricate design, was a dedicated practice wherein all participated. The concept of ‘it takes a village’. Tasks did not include driving to an office and sitting in a chair for 10 hours. They did not include driving trucks, building highways, data entry, etc… With each advent of another task, added to our log of tasks, our brains white matter was continually reduced simply out of nonuse. Tasks thus replaced Art.
Could these ‘humans’ have permanently moved underground as less evolved humans began the endless ritual of war and killing?
That last shred of white matter is now facing its final shovel of dirt in the grave as we give over this last vestige to AI.
The very people building AI are the most likely to have little white matter left in their brains. Their focus is not in creation, but in the task of replacement. And therefore, they cannot grasp the unholiness this will cause. Instead, we are given a graphic, a hologram, or a virtual reality that bears no resemblance to the majestic. And with each evolution our brains will become smaller and smaller due to neglect or even abandonment. Which elevates the concept of how ancient peoples may have actually had significantly of higher IQ’s – measured by their power to create.
Idleness softens the brain’s intellectual capacity. Thus, when Musk claims that humanity will have absolutely nothing to do and make a high income… it is a dystopian future, not utopian. Consumed with nothing but tasks taking care of robots, we will become the machines. As AI expands book-burning is yet another means of not just altering facts and truth to fit a programmed narrative, it destroys the art of the written word. Only a person whose white matter had dissolved would envision a bored, useless society as utopia.
The Death of Art has gone through various plagues throughout history. Hegel claimed, “Art “ends” or reaches its historical peak with German Romanticism, as human thought transitions into a phase where philosophy and conceptual reflection replace sensory artistic representation.”
Modern aesthetics paint a circle on a canvas and call it art. Or erect a glass and steel skyscraper and call it architecture. Or frame a banana and call it sculpture. The phase before the final AI death. Modern art is defined by absence and minimalism with little to no actual talent. The brain’s fusion is not even sparking in such a creation. And society accepted these transitions as philosophical evolution because the ‘experts’ tell us to. Yet another subtle mass hypnosis.
The nostalgia we feel when looking at ancient art is due to absence. Art no longer is an extension of nature, it is a battle against nature. Which is an extension of a battle against God as humans attempt to become a new version of god – a replacement. We call them government.
Beauty. The beauty of nature, of talent, and of women is lacking, creating a vacant and sometimes grotesque version that is unrecognizable. Modernists instead look for ugliness, thrill, and Brillo boxes wherein skill is manufactured through snake oil salesmanship. Art becomes a monetary business with little true aesthetic value while museums and galleries promote it’s awe for consumerism. And the skillful are left behind to blow in the wind
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Dedicated To ~ Rick